Workshops held in Norway, France, Poland and the Czech Republic in the framework of the PREPSOIL project led to the identification of gaps and proposed measures to remedy them regarding remote sensing to monitor soil health. The most important 3 gaps and measures to cope with them were:

• A lack of information on existing data, theoretical and practical knowledge on processing, and know-how for end-users other than researchers.
  Suggestions: (i) provide training; (ii) strengthen collaborations between remote sensing experts and soil experts on the one hand, and between scientists and other end-users on the other; (iii) provide access to data via a single, well-documented web interface;
• Most sensors do not penetrate the soil, can only characterize bare soil, and have signal affected by clouds and the atmosphere.
  Suggestions: (i) Couple in situ data and available covariates (accessible imaging proxies) with models; (ii) Use airborne gamma-ray spectrometry; (iii) Use process-based model inversion.
• Lack of harmonization (i.e. heterogeneity of methods and products).
  Suggestions: (i) Clearly inform the user of what has been done to obtain the products; (ii) Ensure interoperability between different products, standardized methods and procedures; (iii) Request access to a confidence interval to assess product quality.

Do you agree with these shortcomings? Would you like to add other gaps and/or suggest other ways of dealing with those identified?

Share your suggestions directly on the PREPSOIL forum.