04 September 2020

Invitation to contribute on Special Issue

A Special Issue on “Global Gridded Soil Information Based on Machine Learning” is open for contributions in Remote Sensing (IF: 4.118, ISSN 2072-4292). The deadline for manuscript submission is 31 December 2021.

Recent technological advances in both remote sensing and soil mapping approaches and progress in establishing harmonized soil profile datasets have opened up the potential to derive global gridded soil information. This has been possible because worldwide researchers have gained a growing experience in building standardized soil profile datasets with measured physical, chemical data and taxonomical information; filling data gaps; using Earth observation data for soil mapping; optimizing soil sampling strategy; processing big data; applying machine learning algorithms; and assessing uncertainty; which support the preparation of global soil maps with increasing accuracy and spatiotemporal resolution.

Data-intensive computing solutions to process and analyze the exploding amount of environmental information are continuously updated. Machine learning algorithms are among the most frequently used tools for data preprocessing and describing the complex relationship between soil properties and environmental covariates with the ability to assess the uncertainty of the predictions. One of the greatest challenges in deriving global gridded soil information is to make the most of the predictive power of machine learning algorithms with the continuously increasing amount of environmental information. This Special Issue is dedicated to machine learning-based methods in: (see link below).

Guest Editors: B. Szabó (Tóth), E. Ben-Dor, Y. Zeng; S. Manfreda, M. Nussbaum
Read more: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/remotesensing/special_issues/Gridded_Soil_Information_Machine_Learning

IUSS – FAO-GSP Children’s book contest on Soil Biodiversity

IUSS and FAO-GSP launch together a scientific children's book contest on Soil Biodiversity in the framework of WSD 2020. The motto is "Keep soil alive, protect soil biodiversity". FAO, IUSS and GSP invite all those interested in soil and biodiversity - soil scientists, researchers, professors, teachers, classrooms, individual students, soil practitioners, designers, photographers or experts from any professional background - to submit their freestyle book proposal by 10 November 2020. In the submission email, author(s) must fill out and submit the mandatory Registration form.
The winner will receive a cash prize of 1 000 USD, second and third prize will receive a cash prize of 500 USD and 250 USD respectively from IUSS and FAO’s GSP. The winners will be announced on World Soil Day, 5 December 2020.

FAO Webinar: Sustainable Soil and Land Management for Climate Smart Agriculture: Preventing and mitigating land degradation

This international technical webinar, which took place 20 June 2020, is part of the series organized by the FAO eLearning Academy, Agreenium (l'Institut agronomique, vétérinaire et forestier de France) and UN-ESCAP (United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific).
Link to the webinar: https://vimeo.com/432460070

Forwarded message
Webinar “RECSOIL: Recarbonization of global soils”: Presentations, Recording and Report

Thank you for participating in the webinar on “RECSOIL: Recarbonization of global soils”’. We are pleased to see many are interested in supporting actions to maintain existing soil organic carbon stocks and enhance soil organic carbon sequestration through sustainable soil management.

The Webinar Presentations, Recording, and Report are now available.

The RECSOIL Programme will be roll-out next year and we will be sending news and further details to all participants of the webinar at the beginning of 2021.
If you have any questions or inquiries, we invite you to get in touch with Ms Rosa Cuevas

NSF Awards for network of "critical zone" research projects

Land-use change. Environmental change. Extreme natural events such as hurricanes and wildfires. All are placing increasing pressure on the planet and its natural resources. In the critical zone, the layer from the top of the forest canopy to the base of weathered bedrock, where freshwater flows and soil forms from the breakdown of rocks, life flourishes.

To better understand Earth's critical zone — the realm where water, air, soil, rock and life interact — the U.S. National Science Foundation has funded 10 new Critical Zone Collaborative Network awards at $10.5 million per year total, for five years.

Nine of the awards are for thematic clusters focused on science topics and one is for a network coordinating hub. The coordinating hub will manage data across projects, plan for future facility and equipment needs, and support outreach and education activities. This approach will lead to increased exchanges of data, information and learning opportunities for researchers and students at all levels.

More info: https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/announcements/090120.04.jsp#.X059OLqDDks.twitter

Net erosion data and sediment transport at 25m (WaTEM / SEDEM)

This dataset includes a model estimation of the potential spatial displacement and transport of soil sediments due to water erosion at European scale. Long-term averages of annual soil loss and deposition rates were computed by means of the extensively tested spatially distributed WaTEM/ SEDEM mode. Due to large number of requests to provide the 25m data resolution, we make them available in ESDAC.
Read more: https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/themes/sediment-transport-using-watemsedem
[From: ESDAC Newsletter No 121 (March– April 2020)]

7th European Soil Partnership Plenary Meeting

The 7th European Soil Partnership Plenary Meeting will be held virutally on the 10th September 2020.
All ESP partners are welcome to join this assembly where soil related activities on the European territory are discussed annually.
http://www.fao.org/global-soil-partnership/regional-partnerships/europe/en/

Webinars: Soil Science Society of America

Assessing Soil Health Webinar Series. Watch Live or Later!

A Soil Science Society of America webinar series produced in partnership with The Soil Health Institute and sponsored by The Walton Family Foundation

This soil health focused webinar series integrates economics, measurement tools, measurement assessment, and modeling to educate, motivate, and equip Certified Crop Advisers, consultants, and agricultural retailers to engage in soil health management systems.

Upcoming Webinars:
Measures of Soil Nitrogen Cycling (September 17, 2020)
Practical Measures of the Soil Microbiome (November 17, 2020)
Standard Measurements for Soil Health (December 8, 2020)
Soil Health Economics (January 19, 2021)

Past Webinars:
Measures of Soil Water Cycling (July 21, 2020) - Recording will be posted in August
Measures of Soil Carbon Cycling and Storage (August 13, 2020) - Recording will be posted in September

More information: https://www.soils.org/education/online-courses

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