|
Project properties |
|
| Title | Mapping plant-available water holding capacity of the soil of sub-Saharan Africa to support crop production |
| Group | Soil Geography and Landscape |
| Project type | thesis |
| Credits | 36 |
| Supervisor(s) | G.B.M. Heuvelink
J.G.B. Leenaars (ISRIC - World Soil Information) |
| Examiner(s) | G.B.M. Heuvelink |
| Contact info | G.B.M. Heuvelink |
| Begin date | 2018/03/01 |
| End date | 2022/07/01 |
| Description | In rainfed crop production, the root zone plant-available water holding capacity of the soil has a large influence on crop growth and yield response to management inputs, such as improved seeds and fertilisers. However, maps of this important parameter are often lacking or of poor quality. Recently, ISRIC-World Soil Information delivered a water holding capacity map for the whole of sub-Saharan Africa at 1 km resolution (http://www.isric.org/sites/default/files/isric_report_2015_02.pdf), but this map can only be considered a first step to a more detailed and more accurate representation. Further improvement is needed to ensure that the map is of direct use to farmers and agronomic organisations. In this thesis research you will select a region within Africa for which you will make an update of the current map. You will begin with learning and reproducing all steps involved in the production of the current water holding capacity map from basic inputs and pedo-transfer functions. Next you will define and test improvements for each step. You will increase the spatial resolution and analyse the sensitivity of the resulting map for changes in the inputs and pedo-transfer functions. You will also evaluate the improvement using cross-validation and expert judgement. This thesis research will probably not include fieldwork but collaboration with partner research organisations in Africa is foreseen. |
| Used skills | soil hydrology, soil geography, GIS, computer science |
| Requirements | Basics of soil hydrology, soil geography and geo-information science |