Soil data and maps

Soil quality is a term that describes the relative condition of soil under a particular land use. To understand a soils condition, a number of key indicators are measured to identify current condition and trend of chemical, physical and biological attributes of a soil as it is utilized under a particular land use. Different land uses impart different pressures on soil quality, and different soils react in different ways to those land use pressures.

SINDI is a web-based tool designed to help land managers interpret the quality or health of a soil under a particular land use relative to (1) an expert interpretation, (2) sites that have been analysed within a monitoring program, and (3) sites from the National Soils Database.

The indicators selected to assess soil quality in SINDI reflect the idea that soil quality is not a single concept but encompasses aspects of the soil physical structure, chemical fertility, nutrient storage, organic matter resources, and the biological life in the soil. Statistical techniques were used to determine a key set of seven indicators that together describe soil quality.

Target ranges have been defined by a small group of experts for each of the indicators on a variety of soil types and land uses. These target ranges form the basis of the graphical interpretation used in SINDI. As a user of SINDI you can enter in values for the seven indicators, the soil type and land use, and each value is then graphically compared with the appropriate target range.