Soil Spectral Inference Workshop
12 April 2013
The desire to measure soil carbon and other soil properties rapidly and more cheaply has resulted in soil spectroscopy becoming a hot topic of research in soil science over the past few years. Researchers in the Soil Security Lab in the University of Sydney's Faculty of Agriculture and Environment have been leading the way in developing the use of this technology to produce reliable data, but there is also now a growing demand for these soil spectral approaches to be made available for use outside of the bounds of research institutions.
Realizing this, a two-day intensive workshop has been presented on 4-5 April 2013 at the Soil Security Lab. The workshop covered three relevant areas of; how to process spectral data and how this can be used to measure the soil properties; techniques for soil spectral inference, and making it work in the field. Held for this first time, this enabled researchers from the Soil Security Lab to be joined with international experts, Alexia Gobrecht (IRSTEA, France) and Cristine Morgan (Texas A&M, USA) to present the fundamental principles of NIR, and how it works in the field, and serviced by 'hands-on' computer practicals.
The workshop was attended by 26 participants, including researchers and PhD students from New Zealand, the Netherlands, Denmark and Australian Universities in Western Australia, Queensland and Sydney. New South Wales Office of Environment, Queensland DSITA, and the Victoria Department of Primary Industries were also represented. Feedback from the participants praised the organization of the workshop and believed the learning was valuable to them personally and their respective professions. It is expected that future workshops will be held repeating this level of training and building on what has already been presented.
Contact: Associate Professor Budiman Minasny
Phone: +61 2 8627 1131