Embrapa trains professionals for soil data management.

With the goal of providing guidance on the organization, standardization, and cataloging of Brazilian soil profile data for their availability in digital repositories, Embrapa offers the course "Soil Data on Digital Platforms" free of charge on its e-Campo platform. 

The training addresses soil attributes and FAIR principles, essential guidelines for research data management that ensure this data is easily found, accessible, interoperable, and reusable. The course also provides guidance on best practices and procedures for organizing and publishing data in the Embrapa Research Data Repository (REDAPE) and SoilData, which store, manage, and share data from the agricultural and soil sectors in Brazil, respectively.

The content, developed by specialists from Embrapa Digital Agriculture, Embrapa Soils, and Embrapa Rondônia, is distributed across three modules. The first addresses the morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical attributes of soils. The second presents the FAIR principles and best practices in data cataloging. The third module deals with the practical organization of data in public repositories.

“In addition to distinguishing the main soil attributes, taking into account sampling methods and analytical procedures for soil analysis and taxonomic classification, participants will be able to relate the FAIR principles to good data cataloging and scientific research practices, identify the concept of metadata and platforms, and recognize the importance of data standardization and cataloging to contribute to open science,” highlights Debora Drucker, an analyst at Embrapa Agricultura Digital and one of those responsible for the content.

With a workload of 22 hours, the training is aimed at researchers, analysts, technicians, students, and other professionals interested in the organization, management, and dissemination of soil data. The course is offered continuously on the Embrapa platform, with a certificate of participation issued upon completion of the activities. It is recommended that it be completed within 30 days. To register, simply access e-Campo (e-campo.sede.embrapa.br/). More information can be obtained by email at e-campo@embrapa.br.