1st Oct. 2019
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With great sadness we share the passing of Henry Lin. Knowing and working with Henry was a priviledge, his contributions to soil science and the critical zone research are one of a kind. Our thoughts are with his family and all those who were close to him. Obituary.
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Deadline extended for session proposals: 3rd ISMC Conference
Take a lead in a session proposal and submit your session description for the upcoming ISMC 2020 conference. Session Conveners and the ISMC Executive Board will form the Scientific Programme Committee.
Call for Nominations: Science Panel Chairs and Early Career Researchers
Join the ISMC Executive Board by becoming active Chair of one of the science panels: DO-Link, SOIL-MIP or CROSS-Connect. ISMC welcomes nominations on behalf of third parties or self-nominations. Science panel leadership will be enlarged to two chairs + one early career scientist. As science panel lead, you will be steering ISMC activities through regular attendance at international and virtual meetings. The six science panel chairs will be members of the ISMC Executive Board, and the three early career scientists will send one representative to the ISMC Executive Board. Selection will be made by a general vote through the ISMC members. For questions and submission, contact the ISMC Coordination Office and/or the ISMC chairs by 31 October 2019. Deadline will be extended to 15th Nov. 2019
IPCC Report: Climate Change and Land (just published)
An IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems has been published. Valuable for your next proposal: https://www.ipcc.ch/report/srccl/?fbclid=IwAR1uLGUkjQ9A4eUYm0AVBPQmgxu99dPplHOttAOkEng2tWGTBbHS3SvUVPQ
EEA Report: Land and Soil in Europe (just published)
European Environmental Agency reports on why we need to use these vital and finite resources sustainably: Protecting Europe's land and soil resources is fundamental for a sustainable future. EEA_SIGNALS_2019_Land_and_soil_in_Europe.pdf
Interview: Dr. Rattan Lal on How Soil & Farming Can Help Save the Climate
Workshop: Exploring a Dynamic Soil Information System
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources invites you to nominate experts to serve as an ad hoc planning committee. The committee will organize a workshop to examine how soil resources nationally might be dynamically and accurately monitored toward the mutually supporting goals of a) achieving a better understanding of causal influences on observed changes in soil and interactions of soil cycling of nutrients and gases with earth processes, and b) providing accessible, useful, and actionable information to land managers and others.
To explore the requirements of a dynamic soil monitoring and reporting system, workshop discussions will be organized around several topics, including: defining appropriate, measurable indicators of chemical, physical, and biological soil properties; available technologies and methods for timely and cost-effective soil data collection; conceptual and practical considerations for soil data storage and data curation; and tools to deliver information at different scales of resolution to meet the needs of a diversity of land managers, from producers to state and federal scientists and policymakers.
We are seeking approximately 6 volunteer experts in the fields of:
• soil science
• land management using public and private soil information
• soil-related data collection
• data management and curation
• information science
The workshop is planned for the Spring of 2020. We invite you to submit nominations for committee members and/or reviewers for this activity by October 7, 2019. If you have any questions or comments about the study, please email BANR@nas.edu.
https://www8.nationalacademies.org/pa/projectview.aspx?key=51195
Glinka World Soil Prize 2019: Call for Nominations
Take the opportunity to win a USD 15 000 check and the Glinka gold-plated medal! The nomination process for the Glinka World Soil Prize is officially open and all GSP Partners are invited to nominate candidates, either directly or on behalf of a third party. If you think you are an eligible candidate, propose your nomination to your GSP country focal point or to the closest GSP partner (full list available here). Submit the nomination form by 15 October 2019 to GSP-Secretariat@fao.org.
Read more: http://www.fao.org/world-soil-day/glinka-world-soil-prize/en/
Chemical properties at European scale based on LUCAS topsoil data
A new set of maps of baseline topsoil chemical properties at high resolution (500m) is available for the European Union. This group of datasets contains 8 chemical properties: pH (H20), pH (CaCl2), Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC), Calcium carbonates (CaCO3), C:N ratio, Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K) using soil point data from the LUCAS 2009/2012 soil surveys (around 22,000 points) for EU-26 (not included Cyprus and Croatia). The derived maps can be baselines to monitor soil quality and provide guidance to agro-environmental research and policy developments in the European Union. The chemical properties maps for the European Union were produced using Gaussian process regression (GPR) models. The methodology and more details can be found in the relevant publication in Geoderma.
Data are available in ESDAC:
https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/content/chemical-properties-european-scale-based-lucas-topsoil-data
New Data Set: Soil Meta-Data Repository
Soil profile data (WoSIS snapshot - September 2019) and WISE derived soil properties added to Meta Data Portal: A harmonized global dataset of soil properties appropriate for a wide range of broad scale assements (WISE30sec)
Submission of new data set information and models are strongly encouraged: Contact the ISMC Chairs, DO-LINK Panel or Coordiantion office for further information.
Calendar
Oct. 23 LANDMARK final conference: LAND Management in the era of the new CAP
Oct. 30 Global soil laboratory network FAO headquarters, Rome, Italy.
Nov 6 AGU Early Bird Rate
Nov 10-13 SSSA Annual Meeting 2019 ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Annual Meeting
Nov 25 Soil and the SDGs: challenges and need for action in Brussels
Dec 8 ISMC General Assembly & Early Career Workshop
Dec 9-13 AGU Fall Meeting