Unlocking Soil Secrets: How Comprehensive Surveys Aim to Bridge Critical Data Gaps – The Environment Journal

A new project in Canada is working to improve how we understand and use soil data. It’s backed by several important organizations, including the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC). This project is focused on creating the Canadian Soil Data Portal (CSDP).

Dr. Brandon Heung from Dalhousie University is leading this initiative. The goal is to fill in gaps in current soil data and make it easier for everyone to access vital information about soil across the country. The CSDP aims to provide up-to-date and comprehensive soil data to help Canada tackle climate challenges and strive for net-zero emissions.

This portal will gather new data from both public and private sources to solve issues related to fragmented information and high analysis costs. By using advanced soil spectroscopy and detailed mapping techniques, the CSDP will enable efficient monitoring of soil carbon. This will help stakeholders adopt sustainable practices, making efforts to combat climate change more effective and manageable.

As part of this project, Drs. Maja Krzic from the University of British Columbia and Margaret Schmidt from Simon Fraser University are focusing on creating tools for teaching soil science in higher education. They are conducting a survey to learn how people in Canada use location-based soil data. This data is linked to geographic information, like maps and addresses. The feedback will help in developing useful educational resources for the CSDP.

The survey has three main goals:

1. Find out how location-based soil data is used in different sectors in Canada.
2. Assess how accessible and satisfactory current soil data systems are.
3. Identify gaps and opportunities for improving the CSDP, especially regarding education and soil science.

If you want to share your insights, you can complete the survey at this link. The deadline for responses is February 28, 2025.