Macquarie University: New innovative app aims to enhance management of Australian soil under national scheme
Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, has today revealed details of the Australian National Soil Information System (ANSIS) project, supported by the Australian Government’s National Soil Strategy, which will allow improved sharing of nationally consistent soil data.
It will drive a better understanding of the nation’s diverse range of soils and provide the data and information to enable improved decision-making about the management of important soil resources.
Researchers from Macquarie University’s Field Acquired Information Management Systems (FAIMS) Project have developed the app to be used in the project, providing a consistent method of obtaining soil samples.
Currently, soil data is collected by different organisations, using different methods, and at a range of depths in the soil. This makes it difficult to access, compare and use data from different sources.
Professor Shawn Ross, Macquarie University Director, Digitally Enabled Research and FAIMS project leader, says enhancing access to quality soil data and information will help promote digital agriculture innovation and is key to sustainably managing Australia’s soils.
“The app will support farmers, field researchers, innovators, and the Australian Government by providing high quality and efficient data collection tools, bringing a consistent digital workflow for soil sampling across Australia,” said Professor Ross.
“This will lead to a better understanding of our nation’s natural resources through higher quality and more efficient data collections.”
The multi-user electronic app works entirely offline and cross-platform to upload data directly to ANSIS consistently and efficiently. It provides geospatial data and uses controlled vocabularies to reduce inefficient data exchange and standardisation.
The FAIMS project is led by Macquarie University researchers from the Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Science and Engineering and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Office in collaboration with the Australian Research Data Commons, CSIRO, Aarhus and individual researchers from 30 partner organisations. The project aims to transform field research by dramatically reducing the cost of creating digital and compliant data.