S-map: enhancing the national soil survey database
S-map is enhancing the national soil survey database.
When completed, S-Map will provide seamless digital soil map coverage of New Zealand, at any scale from farm to nation, making it indispensable to farm management.
During the year we reinforced the reputation of this essential tool as a leader in its field by completing the important evolutionary steps of extending its geographical coverage and strengthening its partnership with OVERSEER®, which increased user numbers.
S-Map’s coverage now includes new territory in Waikato, Hawke’s Bay (the Tūtaekuri, Ahuriri, Ngāruroro and Karamū catchments), and Canterbury.
The new interoperability with OVERSEER is the culmination of over 3 years’ work developing and applying new technologies and approaches in data standards and web services. The new link between S-map and OVERSEER removes the risk of error during manual input of data, which could significantly affect the nutrient budget for a property. For the first time OVERSEER has the connections to auto-populate soil data, reinforcing Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research’s national leadership in soils and informatics.
The partnership with OVERSEER resulted in more farmers using S-Map. A new registration system now better tracks S-map Online portal users, and over 5,200 individuals or companies have formally registered as users since the start of the financial year.