IUSS Alert - 35 (March 2008)
Information for and from the global soil science community
Deadline New IUSS Bulletin
All material for IUSS Bulletin 112 should be in before the end of March 2008. Send all announcements, polemics, articles, book reviews, reports of meetings, all brilliant and unusual ideas (and lesser ones) to the . We will happily publish them!
The European Soil Database in Google Earth
The European Soil Portal provides access to the Google Earth Files (KMZ extension) of the European Soil Database. All 73 Google Earth files related to the European Soil Database can be downloaded. KML (zipped KMZ files) is a file format used to display geographic data in such as Google Earth and Google Maps. In order to use the Google Earth Files, download Google Earth. For more information contact
Soil science conferences and workshops
Digital soil mapping - USA
The 3rd Global Workshop on Digital Soil Mapping, 'Digital Soil Mapping: Bridging Research, Production, and Environmental Applications' is 30 September to 3 October 2008 at Utah State University, Logan, Utah, USA. Go to http://dsmusa.org/ for information on program, abstract submission, registration, travel and housing. The registration fee for the workshop, including opening social on 30 September and conference dinner on 2 October, is $300 USD, with a reduced fee for students. The optional field trip (30 September) focuses on DSM examples and environmental factors affecting soils and land use from 1400 to 2700 m in elevation.
Soil Classification - Chile
This conference will be held in Santiago, Chile, from 9 to 17 November 2008. The aim of the meeting is to bring together scientists and researchers in the field of soil classification to discuss recent progress in the World Reference Base for Soil SITIO SOLO DEMOSTRATIVO HECHO INTENCIONALMENTE PARA ESTA ORGANIZACIONResources and other classification schemes. The conference is jointly organized by the IUSS, the Chilean Society of Soil Science, the Chilean Ministry of Agriculture, the Universities of Chile, Concepcion and La Serena, and the Centre of Advanced Studies in Arid Zones. Please check the website: http://www.scc2008.uchile.cl/
1st Conference on Hydropedology- USA
The conference will be held from 28-31 July at Penn State University, USA. The International Union of Soil Sciences - Working Group on Hydropedology (WG-HP) is organizing this inaugural conference to advance the emerging interdisciplinary field of hydropedology and to promote its synergistic collaborations across scientific disciplines, including soil science, hydrology, geomorphology, and other related bio- and geosciences. Hydropedology addresses interactive pedologic and hydrologic processes and landscape-soil-hydrology relationships across space and time, aiming to understand pedologic controls on hydrologic processes and properties, and hydrologic impacts on soil formation, variability, and functions. Such synergistic approach is needed to advance the integrated studies of the earth's Critical Zone, i.e., the critical interface between the solid earth and its fluid envelopes (generally viewed as that part of the earth from the top of vegetations to the bottom of aquifers). Abstract submission deadline is March 31, 2008. More information click here
Eijkelkamp wet sieving apparatus
The wet sieving apparatus from Eijkelkamp Agrisearch Equipment is used to determine the aggregate stability of soil. Eight sieves are filled with a certain amount of soil aggregates. They are placed in a can filled with water, which will move up and downward for a fixed time. Unstable aggregates will fall apart and pass through the sieve and are collected in the water-filled can underneath the sieve.
Benefits:
- Determines susceptibility for erosion
- Works based on simple disturbed samples
- Sieve out the grains from 1.00 to 2.00 mm
- Grains falling apart are measured
- Pre-programmed grain-wash time
More information click here
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