soil health
Development of soil maps and a soil health surveillance system for sub-Saharan Africa
This part of the project includes ~17.5 million sq.km of continental sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and 591,740 sq.km of Madagascar, giving a total of ~18.1 million sq.km covering 42 countries. The area excludes hot and cold desert regions based on the recently revised Köppen-Geiger climate classification developed at the University of Vienna, as well as non-desert areas of Northern Africa, small island nations, protectorates and national territories.
Spectral Diagnostics
One of the key challenges for AfSIS is how to measure soil functional properties on tens of thousands of georeferenced soil samples. Spectral diagnostics – the use of low cost, high throughput analytical techniques based on light reflectance – solves this problem. Infrared and x-ray spectroscopic analytical techniques that required minimal sample preparation are used as a front line screening tool. More expensive and time-consuming measurements of soil functional properties are then calibrated to the spectral measurements on a subset of samples.
