GO - SOLO
Projects / Scientific Research
Operational Group GO Solo - Development of an expedited low-cost soil organic matter evaluation method for sown biodiverse pastures.
Soil organic carbon (SOC) is a key variable for pasture management and in carbon sequestration projects. However, it requires an expedited surveying method capable of cost-effectively covering large areas and assessing spatial heterogeneity for differentiated management recommendations.
Project objectives
The goal of GO SOLO is to an expedited and low-cost method for SOC mapping and assessment of carbon sequestration in sown biodiverse pastures. The method will use visible and near-infrared spectroscopy (VNIR) using field sensors and satellite data.
General Information
Technical Information
Type of project
- Operational Groups
Project number
- PDR2020-101-031243
Partners name
- Terraprima – Serviços Ambientais, Sociedade Unipessoal Lda. (leader)
- Universidade de Évora
- Terraprima Sociedade Agrícola Lda
- Sociedade Agricola Herdade dos Padres, SA
- ZEA - Sociedade Agrícola Unipessoal, Lda
- Tapada dos Números, Sociedade Agricola, Lda
- Pedro Sacadura Teixeira Cabral Duarte da Silveira - Herdade do Azinhal
-
Herdade da Machoqueira dos Grous
-
Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária
- Confederação dos Agricultores de Portugal
Who will benefit
- The main beneficiaries will be farmers, but also policy and technical decision-makers
Start date
- 01-08-2018
End date
- 31-12-2022
Total eligible cost
- 335.875,02€
Name and contact
- Nuno Rodrigues (nuno.rodrigues@terraprima.pt)
Dissemination
Expected Results
- High-resolution SOC maps for 7 initial farms during 5 years, including detailed geospatial analysis;
- Assessment of the effects of pasture management in SOC accumulation;
- Forecast of carbon sequestration in the initial farms and an extrapolation of the data for potential new pasture areas;
- Normalized method for VNIR assessment of SOC.
Results so far / First lessons
- The first activities of GO SOLO will be the division of farms into homogenous plots using soil electrical conductivity and environmental variables.
- In each plot, SOC will be measured using conventional sampling and laboratorial analysis.
- These measurements will be used to calibrate the VNIR methods.
- Farmers will be accompanied by technical advisors to identify management practices in each plot.
Indirect monitoring SOM - preliminary results
Explore and discover
