LandPKS

Name: LandPKS
Author: United States Department of Agriculture

United States Department of Agriculture

DOCUMENTED

Published in academic literature

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App Summary

LandPKS is a decision-support tool for land managers that integrates user-collected data on local soil and vegetation with cloud-based climate and topographical information to assess land potential. The associated research outlines the app's design as a knowledge system that combines crowdsourced, site-specific user inputs with established scientific databases. The authors conclude that this approach supports more sustainable, evidence-based land management, helping to increase productivity and resilience while minimizing the risks of soil degradation.

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Detailed Description

Functionality & Mechanism

Developed by the USDA-ARS and its collaborators, LandPKS is a mobile decision-support system for sustainable land management. The application guides the collection of geo-located field data, including soil texture and vegetation cover, via distinct modules (LandInfo, Vegetation, SoilHealth). It integrates this user input with cloud-based climate, habitat, and soil databases to deliver site-specific land potential estimates and conservation practice recommendations. The interface functions offline, allowing for data collection in remote areas with subsequent synchronization.

Evidence & Research Context

The system's design is detailed in foundational research articles, which establish its role in addressing global needs for sustainable land intensification and climate change adaptation.
LandPKS leverages cloud computing to integrate user-provided point data with extensive geospatial information, enabling site-specific predictions of land potential based on soil, topography, and climate.
Associated research outlines the system's utility for optimizing climate change investments by providing objective assessments of land potential and resilience to inform management strategies.
The platform is designed to support evidence-based decision-making by matching land use practices to the sustainable production potential of a given site, thereby minimizing degradation risks.

Intended Use & Scope

This tool is intended for land managers, agricultural professionals, conservation scientists, and researchers. Its primary utility is for site-specific land assessment, long-term monitoring, and data-informed management planning. The system provides estimates to support decision-making and does not substitute for comprehensive laboratory soil analysis or professional consultation. Its habitat-matching functionality is geographically limited to the United States.

Studies & Publications

2 publications

Peer-reviewed research associated with this app.

Development/Design Paper

The Land-Potential Knowledge System (LandPKS): mobile apps and collaboration for optimizing climate change investments

Herrick et al. (2017) · Ecosystem Health and Sustainability

Describes the research-driven development of this app

Abstract Massive investments in climate change mitigation and adaptation are projected during coming decades. Many of these investments will seek to modify how land is managed. The return on both types of investments can be increased through an understanding of land potential: the potential of the land to support primary production and ecosystem services, and its resilience. A Land‐Potential Knowledge System (LandPKS) is being developed and implemented to provide individual users with point‐based estimates of land potential based on the integration of simple, geo‐tagged user inputs with cloud‐based information and knowledge. This system will rely on mobile phones for knowledge and information exchange, and use cloud computing to integrate, interpret, and access relevant knowledge and information, including local knowledge about land with similar potential. The system will initially provide management options based on long‐term land potential, which depends on climate, topography, and relatively static soil properties, such as soil texture, depth, and mineralogy. Future modules will provide more specific management information based on the status of relatively dynamic soil properties such as organic matter and nutrient content, and of weather. The paper includes a discussion of how this system can be used to help distinguish between meteorological and edaphic drought.

Development/Design Paper

The Global Land-Potential Knowledge System (LandPKS): Supporting Evidence-based, Site-specific Land Use and Management through Cloud Computing, Mobile Applications, and Crowdsourcing

Herrick et al. (2013) · Journal of Soil and Water Conservation

Describes the research-driven development of this app

Agricultural production must increase significantly to meet the needs of a growing global population with increasing per capita consumption of food, fiber, building materials, and fuel. Consumption already exceeds net primary production in many parts of the world (Imhoff et al. 2004). In addition to reducing consumption, there are two options to meet these needs: production intensification and land conversion. Both strategies present unique opportunities, challenges, and risks. The largest gains achievable through agricultural intensification will likely occur on lands with the largest unrealized production potential, or yield gap. These lands have high potential production and low current production. Similarly, the highest returns on investments to be gained by land conversion should occur on lands with the highest potential production, assuming similar infrastructure, per acre conversion costs, and other market conditions. The biggest long-term risk for both strategies is that application of nonsustainable land management practices will result in soil degradation that is often costly, if not impossible, to reverse. Exploiting these opportunities and minimizing risks depend on careful matching of production systems with the sustainable production potential of each type of land. Similar analyses can be applied to biodiversity conservation to prioritize land conservation and restoration efforts.

In the Media

LandPKS Soil ID Goes Global - Terraso

Terraso expanded LandPKS Soil ID to enable global soil observation and identification, moving beyond its original United States-only functionality by integrating the Harmonized World Soil Database (HWSD 2.0) for international sites. The app now includes a new "Management" section for non-U.S. locations that describes soil maintenance practices and offers multilingual support in English, Spanish, and Ukrainian. Key partnerships include SENA's feasibility study in Colombia and Podilla State University's development of a Ukrainian-language manual for the platform.

TerrasoRead article

Take to the field with LandPKS Soil ID

Terraso developed LandPKS Soil ID as a free and open source tool for sustainable land stewardship, enabling users to obtain soil and ecological site identification based on soil map predictions and field-collected data. The app builds upon the decade-long experience of the legacy LandPKS app and features project management capabilities for team collaboration and standardized data gathering. Currently available for U.S. sites, the developers expect to support sites anywhere in the world very soon.

TerrasoRead article

Calling for Usability Testers for LandPKS Soil ID!

The LandPKS team developed a new LandPKS experience focused on Soil ID in the United States, with plans for a worldwide app version to follow. The team has reached the stage where they need usability testers to review key app experiences and provide feedback on features. Testers will have direct impact on the app's design and functionality while trying out LandPKS Soil ID features before public release.

LandpotentialRead article

LandPKS partners with Terraso to build new and improved suite of apps

USDA soil scientist Jeff Herrick partnered with Tech Matters in fall 2022 to rebuild LandPKS as an open-source app suite for iOS and Android, scaling to serve the next ten million potential users. The new suite will include a US Soil ID app, global Soil ID app, and Land Monitoring app, with the first release scheduled for late spring/early summer 2024. This next generation of LandPKS will operate within the Terraso platform, which equips land and community stewards with tools to manage data and communicate impact.

LandpotentialRead article

LandPKS: Learning How to Monitor Our Land Over Time and Discover Its Potential

USDA Agricultural Research Service soil scientist Jeff Herrick and LandPKS Program Coordinator Laura Hamrick developed LandPKS to help farmers gauge the production and conservation potential of their land through easy monitoring, tracking, and data-analysis tools. The mobile app enables users to identify soil types, monitor soil health and vegetation, track management practices, and monitor wildlife on agricultural operations. The National Center for Appropriate Technology produced educational materials for the app through the ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture program under a cooperative agreement with USDA Rural Development.

NcatRead article

SoilID redesign provides a powerful key to unlock soil information, including SoilGrids access

The University of Colorado at Boulder developed LandPKS's redesigned SoilID feature to improve soil information accuracy for sustainable land management, using field measurements linked to existing soil maps. Jonathan Maynard, the soil scientist who led the redesign, explains "the value of soilID is that, through measuring a few key soil properties at a site and then linking that soil information to existing soil maps, we can minimize the uncertainty associated with those maps." The updated version includes improved visual interfaces and new access to SoilGrids v2.0, which provides soil property predictions at 250-meter spatial resolution.

LandpotentialRead article

LandPKS Mobile App: New Features

USDA developed LandPKS as a free mobile app to help farmers, ranchers, and land managers easily identify soil, access NRCS soil information, and monitor soil health and vegetation. In partnership with the Asombro Institute for Science Education, LandPKS recently released a three-lesson educational module that meets Next Generation Science Standards for grades 5-8. The app now includes new LandManagement and SoilHealth modules that provide a complete package for adaptive management without requiring complex software.

UsdaRead article

Got Soil? There's an App for That

ARS scientists in Las Cruces, NM, with support from the United States Agency for International Development, developed the Land-Potential Knowledge System (LandPKS) app to help farmers better monitor their soil and vegetative crop conditions for improved irrigation, weeding, and fertilization decisions. The app crowdsources local and scientific knowledge to inform risk management, helping to yield greater land productivity, economic return, and environmental enhancement. LandPKS is available for download on iOS and Android devices at LandPotential.org.

UsdaRead article

USDA ARS Online Magazine New Apps Provide Soil, Land, and Climate Data

Agricultural Research Service soil scientist Jeffrey Herrick developed LandPKS to give farmers and land managers critical soil and climate information, using cloud computing, digital soil-mapping, and GPS data. "The current apps can already help U.S. urban and small-tract land managers describe their soils without soil science training," says Herrick, who is based at the ARS Range Management Research Unit in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Domestic and international development organizations are already using the app to crowd-source local information needed to inform management decisions.

UsdaRead article