Digital Soil Map data in an on-line, on-demand world

Users expect more from digital data and this has implications for the delivery of digital soil map data products. Digital soil map data will serve local through to national and international interests. Users will vary from those wanting a simple visualization of 'soil' as a mapping base layer or a simple query result, through to those wanting on-line, on-demand access to structured soil data for use in models or complex integrative applications. Soils are complex; soil data are similarly complex. Various soil components and processes operate in multiple dimensions of space and time within the same soil features of interest. The challenge for the digital soil mapping community is to provide data and information products that can be easily discovered, understood, accessed and used. A standards-based information systems approach achieves this effectively and efficiently. Digital soil map data products will need to comply with standards for metadata (description), registry (catalogue), content (information models and vocabularies) and access formats (services). In this way users will be able to find and re-use soil data assets, which are essential components of an effective information infrastructure. This paper uses examples from Australian state, territory and national projects to demonstrate the development of a standards-based approach for the management, access, integration and interoperability of digital soil mapping data products. Further development of international standards for soils data through the International Union of Soil Science Working Group on Soil Information Standards will ensure that soil data and information from around the globe are increasingly available to a wide range of user defined applications.