Digital soil mapping in the news

Digital soil mapping in the news.

Not often soil science research is in the news.

Nature News: Digital Soil Map for Africa Launced http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090113/full/news.2009.17.html

A better one from Science Magazine: Dirt Diagrams Developed  http://blogs.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2009/01/dirt-diagrams-d.html

Still not sure how Digital Soil Mapping becomes making Dirty Diagrams?

The project, called the African Soil Information Service, was launched 13 Jan 09 at the Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute in Nairobi. The project will produce a digital map of 42 African countries. The project, funded with a US$18 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, will gather existing local soil maps and combine them with new measurements to produce the digital map, which will be freely accessible on the web in a user-friendly format.

The African initiative is the first phase of a bigger project to develop a global soil map, called GlobalSoilMap.net, which will be launched in New York in February.

The project will be coordinated by Alfred Hartemink from ISRIC – World Soil Information in the Netherlands, who will ensure the same techniques and standards are used by the coordinating centre in each continent. Over 50 soil scientists will be involved in the mapping effort.

Read also

BBC News http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7826275.stm

For more info on GlobalSoilMap, see http://www.globalsoilmap.net/