Merger: UR Science du sol and US InfoSol become Info&Sols

Since January 1, 2023, the Soil Science research unit and the InfoSol service unit at the INRAE Orléans site have merged to form a single research unit under the name Info&Sols.

The Info&Sols research unit is now headed by Antonio BISPO as Unit Director. Isabelle COUSIN and Bertrand LAROCHE have been appointed Director and Deputy Director.

The Info&Sols unit in Orléans is working on the quantitative assessment of soil functioning, in particular with a view to proposing various parameters that can be measured or quantified by models and defining indices/indicators with a view to positioning them in a reference system. This need is fully in line with a general demand from public agricultural, environmental and land-use planning policies, as all soil stakeholders are calling for simple, accessible indicators, accompanied by a value scale to support their soil management decisions.

As part of the Groupement d'Intérêt Scientifique Sol (GIS Sol) and in conjunction with regional partners, the Info@Sols unit organises the monitoring and inventorying of France's soils to form the national soil information system. The unit coordinates several major national programmes, such as the multi-scale soil mapping programme "Inventory, management and conservation of soils (IGCS)", which aims to describe and map soils at different scales. The unit also runs monitoring programmes including the soil quality measurement network (RMQS), the soil analysis database (BDAT) and the trace metal elements database (BDETM).

SCIENTIFIC FOCUS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE UNIT:

Condition, functioning and monitoring of soils:
- Understanding how soil functions
- Observation of soil condition and associated properties
- Spatial and temporal monitoring of soil functioning

Evaluation of soil services, impacts, health and soil quality:
- Clarification of the concepts of quality, health, functions, services, etc.
- Development of indicators and interpretation guidelines
- Links with agro-ecological practices

FAIR data :
- Capitalising on data (databases, information systems)
- Development of tools for collecting, inserting and making available data
- Data processing to calculate statistical indicators
- Dissemination of data in accordance with FAIR principles.