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Soil Systems

Soil Systems

Project Name: Soil Systems

Project Members/Collaborators: Soil Science Division, National Soil Survey Center, National Cooperative Soil Survey

Poster of Soil systems

Soil systems graphic.

Relevance
As part of the Legislative Mandate PL 89-560 and as directed by the Secretary of Agriculture one of the major goals of Soil Survey Program is to “keep the soil survey relevant to ever-changing needs”. The soil survey is the scientific and technical foundation for Farm Bill implementation and the NRCS’s conservation technical assistance programs. Over several decades USDA-NRCS has conducted soil surveys for more than 90% of the country. However, the existing soil surveys are only a snapshot of the soil resources status and lack the temporal dimension which is necessary to understand how soils function and benefit human kind and other ecosystems. This in depth understanding of soil functions is necessary for managing this precious resource which is under continuous increased pressure from consumers, producers, conservationists, planners, economist, engineers, tax assessors etc.
 

Project Objectives
Soil Systems main objective is to improve spatial and temporal resolution of soil maps, soil interpretations, soil behavior and soil functioning by better representing soil processes, connectivity among soils and soil properties, and response to disturbance.
Soil Systems combine existing soil geography knowledge (SSURGO) with state of the art technologies such digital soil mapping, remote sensing and big data to add a dynamic dimension to the current static soil information.
Approach
In coordination with University cooperators and States establish a network of representative soil catenas in Regional Offices (ROs) and Major Land Resource Areas (MLRAs). Install state of the art instruments to capture soil-water dynamics at catena and watershed scales. Combine the existing soil geography knowledge with digital soil modeling techniques to upscale/extrapolate soil processes and functions to watershed, MLRA and regional scales.
 

Expected Outputs/Products
Continuous and spatially explicit maps of soil processes and functions with regard to available soil water and nutrients, soil water table, soil erosion, and other soil ecosystem functions and services at various management decisions levels from farm to watershed and regional scales.
 

Published Articles
Libohova, Z., Schoeneberger, P., Lee, B., Indorante, S., and Wysocki, D., 2013. Soil Landscape Systems as a framework for understanding and communicating soil processes, geographic soil information, and for designing soil investigations. In ASA Abstracts, Madison, WI.

DeGloria, S.D., D.E. Beaudette, J.R. Irons, Z. Libohova, P.E. O’Neill, P.R. Owens, P.J. Schoeneberger, L.T. West, and D.A. Wysocki, 2014. Emergent Imaging and Geospatial Technologies for Soil Investigations. Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing 80(4):289-294.

Libohova, Z., L. Bowling, P.R. Owens, H.E. Winzeler, P. Schoeneberger, and S. Wills, 2014. Relationship between Spatial Resolution and Accuracy of Predictive Maps Comparing Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) Database Aggregation and Terrain Attribute Soil Mapping (TASM). In Complex Soil Systems Conference “A Path to Improved Understanding of Complex Soil Systems”, Barkley, CA, September 3-5.

Libohova, Z., Wysocki, D., Schoeneberger, P., Reinsch, T., Kome, C., Reich, P., Rolfes, T., Jones, N., Monteith, S., Matos, M., Scheffe, L., Southard, S., Ferguson, R., Woods, L., and Green, K., 2015. Soils Geomorphology of Cul de Sac Valley, Haiti. Soil Water Conservation Society Annual Meeting, Greensboro, NC, USA, July 26-29, 2015.

Libohova, Z., Reinsch, T., Kome, C., Reich, P., Rolfes, T., Jones, N., Monteith, S., Matos, M., Scheffe, L., Southard, S., Ferguson, R., Woods, L., and Green, K., 2015. Water Management in sub-tropical climate in Haiti Cul De Sac from the Soil Perspective. Soil Water Conservation Society Annual Meeting, Greensboro, NC, USA, July 26-29, 2015.

Libohova, Z., Winzeler, H. E., Lee, B., Schoeneberger, P.J., Datta, J., Owens, P.R. 2016. Geomorphons: Landform and property predictions in a glacial moraine in Indiana landscapes. Catena 142:66-76. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2016.01.002.

Libohova, Z., Schoeneberger, P., Wysocki, D., Monger, C., Wills, S., Beaudette, D., 2016. Determining the Relevant Scale for Soil Measurement and Management Decisions: A Puzzle of Multiple Spatial-Temporal Processes. In ASA Abstracts, Madison, WI.

Libohova, Z., Owens, P.R., Schoneberger, P., Wysocki D., Seybold, C., 2016. Predicting forest soil hydraulic properties for hydrological modeling using Digital Soil Mapping and existing soil data. In ASA Abstracts, Madison, WI.

Libohova, Z., Schoeneberger, P., Wysocki, D., Wills, S., Seybold, C., Lindbo, D., 2016. Healthy Soil Systems - a Soil Survey Approach to Soil Security. 2nd Global Soil Security Conference. Paris, December 5-6, 2016.

Libohova, Z, Bowling, L., Owens, P., Schoeneberger P., Wysocki, D., Wills, S., and Lindbo, D., 2016. Spatial Resolution and catchment size interaction of soil hydrological properties for hydrological modeling. In EGU Abstracts, Vienna, Austria, 2017.

Libohova, Z., Wysocki, D., Schoeneberger, P., Reinsch, T., Kome, C., Rolfes, T., Jones, N., Monteith, S., Matos, M. Soils and Climate of Cul de Sac Valley, Haiti - A Soil Water and Geomorphology Perspective. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, March/April 2017, Vol. 72, No 2, 91-101.

Libohova, Z, Owens, P., Schoeneberger P., Wysocki, D., Monger, C., and Lindbo, D., 2017.  Predicting and quantifying soil processes using “geomorphon” landform classification. European Geophysical Union General Assembly, April 23-28, 2017, Vienna, Austria.

Kienest-Brown, S., Z. Libohova, and J. Boettinger. 2017. Digital soil mapping. In C. Ditzler, K. Scheffe, and C. Monger (eds.) Soil Survey Manual, USDA Handbook 18, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., pp. 295-354.

Schoeneberger, P., D. Wysocki, C. Busskohl, and Z. Libohova. 2017. Landscape, geomophology, and site description. In C. Ditzler, K. Scheffe, and C. Monger (eds.) Soil survey manual, USDA Handbook 18, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., pp. 21 -82.

Libohova, Z., Schoeneberger, P., Bowling, L., Owens, P., Wysocki, D., Wills, S., Williams, C., Seybold, C., 2017. Soil Survey for Upscaling Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity (Ksat) for Hydrological Modeling. Vadose Zone Journal (in review).