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A new soil carbon app for Scottish farmers

Matt Aitkenhead demonstrates the new app
This new app provides an alternative to expensive and time-consuming sampling and chemical analysis and can be used in the field without the need for soil science expertise or training.

A free, new soil carbon app has been launched to provide farmers with a quick, cost-effective source of information about the organic matter content of their soil.

The app, known as SOCiT (Soil Organic Carbon information), provides information that can help farmers, and others, make better management decisions as a result of improved understanding about the condition and fertility of their soil.

The James Hutton Institute, in partnership with Quality Meat Scotland, has produced the app for iPhone and iPad – and it is available for download from the Apple App Store.
The free app is aimed at farmers, land managers and other land users who want to know how much carbon is in their soil, helping them determine fertility and appropriate use.

Matt Aitkenhead, soil scientist at the James Hutton Institute, said: “Carbon storage in soils is recognised as one of the best strategies for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and mitigating the effects of climate change.

“For farmers to be able to manage their land in a way that increases soil carbon capture and long-term storage they need to be able to monitor soil organic matter content rapidly and cost-effectively.

“This new app provides an alternative to expensive and time-consuming sampling and chemical analysis and can be used in the field without the need for soil science expertise or training.

The app uses information about the user’s position to access existing digital maps of environmental characteristics, such as elevation, climate and geology. Combining this information with data extracted automatically from a photograph of the soil of interest, it uses a sophisticated model to predict topsoil organic matter and carbon content.

The James Hutton Institute holds a huge amount of data on Scotland’s soils and landscape, acquired over many years. This data has been used to develop the model underlying the app, meaning users do not need to have detailed environmental knowledge of their location.

“The app is user-friendly and contains detailed instructions, enabling the user to get an estimate of soil carbon content within minutes. All that is needed is an iPhone, a colour correction card (available upon request from the James Hutton Institute) and a spade to obtain an estimate of topsoil organic matter content within approximately five minutes,” added Dr Aitkenhead.

Notes for editors

SOCiT is compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation), iPod touch (5th generation) and iPad. It requires iOS 5.1 or later, and it is optimised for iPhone 5. The app was produced with support from the ESMART (Environmental Sensing for Monitoring and Advising in real-time) project. The app uses spatial data and databases developed at the James Hutton Institute and its predecessor institutes. The app was developed by David Donnelly, and the model it uses to predict soil carbon was developed by Matt Aitkenhead with assistance from Malcolm Coull.

The app uses the device’s GPS to record the user’s position within a photograph of the soil. This information is then sent to the James Hutton Institute servers where it is processed and produces a result, with all of the model activity taking place at the server end. SOCiT can be downloaded from the App Store.

Press and media enquiries: 

Bernardo Rodriguez-Salcedo, Media Manager, Tel: +44 (0)1224 395089 (direct line), +44 (0)344 928 5428 (switchboard) or +44 (0)7791 193918 (mobile).

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Printed from /news/new-soil-carbon-app-scottish-farmers on 19/03/24 09:32:50 AM

The James Hutton Research Institute is the result of the merger in April 2011 of MLURI and SCRI. This merger formed a new powerhouse for research into food, land use, and climate change.