News
SEPTEMBER 2011
Dr. James Thompson co-authors a journal article about space-time modeling framework
By S. Grunwald, J.A. Thompson, and J. L. Boettinger
Soil Science Society of America Journal
Article abstract: Profound shifts have occurred during the last three centuries in which human actions have become the main driver to global environmental change. In this new epoch, the Anthropocene, human-driven changes such as population growth, climate, and land use change are pushing the Earth system well outside of its normal operating range, causing severe and abrupt environmental change. In the Anthropocene, soil change and soil formation or degradation have also accelerated, jeopardizing soil quality and health. Thus, the need for up-to-date, high-quality, high-resolution, spatiotemporal, and continuous soil and environmental data that characterize the physicochemical, biological, and hydrologic conditions of ecosystems across continents has intensified. These needs are in sharp contrast to available digital soil data representing continental and global soil systems, which only provide coarse-scale (1:1,000,000 or coarser) vector polygon maps with highly aggregated soil classes represented in the form of crisp map units derived from historic observations, lacking site-specific pedogenic process knowledge, and only indirectly relating to pressing issues of the Anthropocene. Furthermore, most available global soil data are snapshots in time, lacking the information necessary to document the evolution of soil properties and processes. Recently, major advancements in digital soil mapping and modeling through geographic information technologies, incorporation of soil and remote sensing products, and advanced quantitative methods have produced domain-specific soil property prediction models constrained to specific geographic regions, which have culminated in the vision for a global pixel-based soil map. To respond to the challenges soil scientists face in the Anthropocene, we propose a space-time modeling framework called STEP-AWBH (“step-up”), explicitly incorporating anthropogenic forcings to optimize the soil pixel of the futurevv.
To access the full article, visit the SSSAJ website.
JULY 2011
Dr. Nathan Odgers attends soil carbon workshop
By Sarah Odgers
NSSC-GRU-WVU
Dr. Nathan Odgers, a Post Doctoral Fellow at the Geospatial Research Unit, was among 15 scientists from 6 countries gathered in Leuven, Belgium on July 15 and 16 to attend a workshop entitled “Mapping of soil carbon stocks at the global scale.” The scientists represented a number of institutions and consortia including the Johann Heinrich von Thünen Institut (Germany), the GlobalSoilMap.net project, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (Australia), the European Commission Joint Research Centre, the British Geological Surveyand the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. The purpose of the workshop was to review current efforts around the mapping of soil carbon and to make suggestions for future work and the harmonization of different approaches.
JUNE 2011
GRU employees return from
GlobalSoilMap.net meeting
By Sarah Odgers
NSSC-GRU-WVU
Dr. Jim Thompson and Dr. Nathan Odgers of the GRU recently returned from the annual meeting of the GlobalSoilMap.net consortium which is collaborating to make a new digital soil map of the world using the latest technologies. This year’s meeting was held at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre in Ispra, Italy from June 20-23. The four day-long meeting was attended by scientists from around the world who are working on various nodes of the project. The meeting was an opportunity to bring people up-to-date on the work that is being accomplished, as well as to make plans for the future. The consortium’s next annual meeting will coincide with the 5th Global Workshop on Digital Soil Mapping at The University of Sydney in Australia in April 2012.
MARCH 2011
WVU scientists measures radiation absorption in California soil
By Stacy Moniot
WBOY-TV
What’s the best way to remove radiation from the ground?
According to scientists at West Virginia University, it depends on the soil.
They made a map of California grading the soil’s ability to hold or transfer radioactivity, just in case radioactive dust drifts from Japan, and say a similar map could be made for Japan if there is enough information available about the soil quality.
It would tell leaders how to best get rid of the radiation in the environment, either by removing the soil itself, or planting vegetation to absorb it. “Within this office and I think at the National Soil Survey Center as a whole, that’s what our goal is, is to provide any information on soil resources that others can use to make decisions,” said Jim Thompson with the Geospatial Research Unit.
WVU scientists used data from the National Soil Survey Center to make the maps.
WVU mapping soils’ ability to absorb radiation
WVU press release
As Japan struggles to cope with damages to nuclear plants in the wake of a violent earthquake and subsequent tsunami, a research center at West Virginia University is providing valuable data on the ability of soil to mitigate nuclear contamination.
The Geospatial Research Unit, a collaborative effort of WVU’s Division of Plant and Soil Sciences and the National Soil Survey Center of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service, is examining the soils of Pacific Coast states to determine their ability to sequester, or trap, airborne radiation, in the extremely unlikely event that it drifts from Japan to the western United States. Beyond that, they’re determining locations of soils that can transfer trapped radioactivity into vegetation, which can then be harvested for easier disposal.
These particular maps are being developed by the GRU’s Sharon Waltman, a soil scientist and geographer with theNRCS, and Aaron Burkholder, who recently earned his master’s degree in geology and geography from WVU and now works as a cartographic technician with the GRU.
Waltman has been developing maps of this sort in response to emergencies or potential emergencies since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. She’s also worked on issues related to the massive oil spill following the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling platform in 2010. GRU staff and student assistants can compile these response maps in a matter of days.
She estimates that there are roughly 22,000 different types of soils reflected in these kinds of mapping projects. While there’s a century’s worth of soil data available from throughout the United States, it’s only in the last decade that scholars like those at the GRU have begun to bring it into the digital realm and become able to synthesize the data meaningfully and quickly.
The NRCS has entered roughly 35 million individual soil profile maps into its database over time. Waltman credits the combination of WVU’s outstanding computing resources with the vast information of the NRCS for the GRU’s ability to provide nimble response in times of potential emergency.
The GRU uses and develops geographic information systems and other remote sensing technologies to create an inventory of the soils of the United States and an accurate picture of their individual qualities and potential uses. They unit has a diverse clientele, though requests often focus on issues related to climate change.
“That’s one mission of the GRU, to use existing data about the nation’s soil resources for many different purposes, from land use planning to environmental modeling,” said Jim Thompson, WVU director of the unit and an associate professor of soil science in WVU’s Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design. According to Thompson, the GRU is unique in its ability to “handle large data sets quickly and synthesize them.”
And soils are a complex natural resource, with tens of thousands of identified series, or types, of soils, each with unique components and properties.
“Any one property of a soil isn’t that difficult to understand, but it’s not just that one property that defines a soil’s reaction to different circumstances,” Thompson said.
With its combination of cutting-edge technology, skilled staff, and the assembled knowledge of the many soils that make up our landscape, the GRU is in a unique position to provide answers both in times of disaster and in periods of opportunity.
WVU mapping soils’ ability to absorb radiation
The Associated Press
Washington Examiner
As Japan struggles with damages to nuclear plants, a research center at West Virginia University is providing important information on the ability of soil to mitigate nuclear contamination.
The Morgantown school’s Geospatial Research Unit is examining the soils of Pacific Coast states to determine their ability to trap airborne radiation in the event that it drifts from Japan to the U.S. They also are determining locations of soils that can transfer trapped radioactivity into vegetation.
The work is being done in collaboration with the National Soil Survey Center and WVU’s Division of Plant and Soil Sciences.
Roughly 35 million soil profile maps are part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service database. That information can be used for things ranging from land use planning to environmental modeling.