ISRIC - World Soil Information is an independent,
science-based foundation. The institute was founded in
1966 following a recommendation of the International
Soil Science Society (ISSS) and United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO). It has a mandate to serve the international
community with information about the world’s soil
resources to help addressing major global issues.
ISRIC is the International Council for Science (ICSU)
accredited World Data Centre for Soils (WDC-Soils)
since 1989.
More information
ISRIC collaborates with a wide range of partners
worldwide and operates in three priority areas:
• soil data and soil mapping
• application of soil data in global development issues
• training and education
For more information about the ISRIC Spring School,
including the GSIF and WSA course programmes,
please visit: http://springschool.isric.org
Important Dates
• Deadline for Early-Bird registration: 31 December 2015
• Deadline for registration: 21 February 2016
• Spring school: 9 – 13 May 2016.
Fees
Early-bird registration (until 31 December 2015)
• Reduced: 400 euro
• Full: 800 euro
Regular registration (after 31 December 2015)
• Reduced: 500 euro
• Full: 1000 euro
The reduced fee applies to BSc and MSc students, PhD
candidates and staff of public (national) institutes and
organizations based in ODA-listed countries.
The registration fee includes all course materials, coffee,
tea, lunches and a spring school dinner.
Spring school coordinator
Dr. Bas Kempen | bas.kempen@wur.nl
GSIF course leader
Dr. Tomislav Hengl | tom.hengl@wur.nl
WSA course leader
Stephan Mantel, MSc. | stephan.mantel@wur.nl
The spring school is endorsed by the Global Soil Partnership
www.youtube.com/c/IsricOrg
plus.google.com/+IsricOrg/
www.facebook.com/ISRICorg
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ISRIC – World soil Information has a strategic association
with Wageningen UR (University & Research centre)
Spring School
2016
Five-day training courses
on mapping and assessment of soils
for soil and environmental scientists
and professionals
Hands-on Global Soil
Information Facilities (GSIF)
The aim of this course is to introduce methods and
software for management, analysis and mapping
of soil data within the R environment for statistical
computing. The course alternates between lectures and
computer exercises and covers a variety of subjects,
such as 2D and 3D geostatistics, regression modelling
for soil mapping, quantification of uncertainty in
soil modelling, soil data visualization, preparation
of covariate layers for soil mapping, and space-time
modelling with soil data. We will also run a series of
demos for 3D digital soil mapping and visualisation at
regional and global scales (www.soilgrids.org), and
the SoilInfo App for mobile devices (soilinfo.isric.org).
This course aims at digital soil mappers, ecologists,
environmental scientists and students interested in
geostatistics, producing digital soil maps and/or using
global soil datasets for spatial modelling purposes.
A number of recorded sessions from the Spring School
2015 can be accessed via the ISRIC’s YouTube channel
at: http://youtube.com/c/ISRICorg.
Lecturers: Tom Hengl, Gerard Heuvelink, Bas Kempen,
From 9 to 13 May 2016, ISRIC - World
Soil Information organises a spring school
on mapping and assessment of soils
that will take place on the Wageningen
Campus in the Netherlands. The spring
school consists of two five-day courses
that are run in parallel: Hands-on Global
Soil Information Facilities & World Soils
and their Assessment.
David Rossiter (guest lecturer)
World Soils and their
Assessment (WSA)
This is a course on international standards for soils
assessment. It will provide an introduction to the
soils of the world and their diversity, their main
forming factors, their classification (according
to the World Reference Base for Soil Resources
2014), and their management. The course will be
a mix of lectures and hands-on exercises. It will
make use of the facilities of the World Soil Museum
(www.isric.org/services/world-soil-museum).
The course includes a field excursion in the area
around Wageningen, which has a rich diversity of
landscapes and soils. In the field, several topics will
be addressed including: soil and landscape relations,
soil formation, soil classification, field description
of soils, and soil management. This course aims at
scientists, professionals, e.g. in natural resources
management planning, and students who have an
interest in soils and their assessment for their work
or study, with aspects of the description, formation,
classification and evaluation of the soils of the
world.
Lecturers: Stephan Mantel, Thomas Caspari,
Niels Batjes, Johan Leenaars, Seppe Deckers
(KU Leuven), David Rossiter (guest lecturer)