USDA Dynamic Soil Properties Hub (DSP Hub)

“The DSP Hub will provide an authoritative source for data and interpretations on soil properties that change rapidly due to land uses and conservation management.”

Leveraging FarmOS for farmer data storage, SurveyStack for organizing climate smart practices, and FarmStack for data exchange (and potentially consent management)

“The DSP Hub is an innovative, high-end, geospatial data workbench that builds new data products from a wide variety of existing data sets. It will support the Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG), Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), and Soil Health programs. It is focused on rapidly responding to customer requests for science-based soil property data at the Deputy Chief, Chief, and Under Secretary levels.

The hub expands USDA capacity to model and report on soil properties that change with conservation management. It will empower the collection, storage, and delivery of data related to dynamic soil properties and conservation management. The Hub will link soil and conservation databases, providing the ability to assess outcomes in conservation programs by accessing otherwise siloed data and models across Agency divisions.

Dynamic soil properties (DSP) are soil properties that change rapidly under the influence of land management. They are evaluated with a focus on conservation practice effects on soil (e.g., changes to soil organic carbon).
“Effects of conservation practices on soil properties” is another way to say “environmental benefits” or “outcomes of conservation practices.”
The DSP Hub is a feed to the CD/CART “Advanced Benefits Services.”
The DSH Hub will establish data standards and a peer review process to embed a science-based foundation into conservation program and practice evaluation.
Science, statistics, and careful data structuring, data stewardship, and model integration will provide
high-quality, defensible (i.e., authoritative) estimates of environmental benefits.”