‘The future of soil survey is defined in TerraIndex Web’
In 1989 he entered the soil industry as fieldworker at Grontmij. Ten years later he became Coordinator of Knowledge & Quality and he got involved with industry meetings: at national level with a NEN-committee for sampling procedures, at international level with the ISO/TC190 Soil quality-committee. This way Gerard Doornbos became a man on a mission. “I want the industry to benefit from standardisation.”
Doornbos explains that because of his company Terra Practicus – which he founded last year – and the committees, he is often busy with the implementation of new standards in the industry. “But, that only works if the software stays up to date.”
Storage in software
What exactly does he mean with that? Doornbos:”Well, every fieldwork and consultancy firm has their own opinion and specific wishes. This could lead to some friction, but in the end they all have the same stakes. The trick is to make everyone look in the same direction. Consider for example terminology for digital data exchange. How do you make sure that everyone completes the same fields while using the same terminology? This is achieved through storage in software like TerraIndex Web! Everyone benefits from this.”
There is a world to be won
He continues: “The same applies for an ISO-standard for describing soil samples. What is the size of the grains? What is the percentage of soil type X? If you would ask a group of fieldworkers for an estimation there will be a big difference between them. Which makes sense because it is a sensory observation. But maybe if we react to this in our software, we can make sure they will enter the same values. According to me there is a world to be won like this. For this reason it is very beneficial that TerraIndex is developing their software in cooperation with the industry. TerraIndex is the most frequently used package in the soil industry. The question therefore is not if, but when you will start using TerraIndex. And don’t forget about TerraIndex Web. Because this is where the future of soil survey is defined.”