Associate Professor Peter Dahlhaus
Project Leader
Federation University
The Visualising Australasia’s Soils (VAS) project aims to provide Soil CRC participants with access to considerable volumes of reliable quality soil data. It will be sourced from a federation of soil data custodians who share their data according to the rules they set, therefore maintaining control.
The first phase of the project produced a working internet portal that supports the 16 farmer group participants in their data needs. The second phase (this project) aimed to:
- co-develop the functionality of the VAS online portal to demonstrate value for the participants (both farming groups and researchers)
- maximise the reuse potential of the federated soil data for research innovation and project participants’ purposes
- transition to an agreed governance and business model that ensures that the future of the VAS data federation endures beyond the life of the Soil CRC.
The Phase 2 research significantly progressed the first two aims, but the third aim has been deferred to the final phase of the research, Phase 3.
The ultimate aim is to transform the VAS portal into an enduring component of an Australian soils knowledge system that is both self-sustaining and inherently useful for research and education.
