ipaast – czo

Interoperable Precision Agricultural and Archaeological Sensing Technologies

2021-2023

Remote and near-surface sensing technologies, including multi- and hyperspectral imaging and diverse geophysical prospection techniques, are used in diverse precision agricultural applications, from mapping soil variations within a field, to planning variable-rate applications of fertiliser, to tracking the development of a growing crop. Archaeologists use these same technologies to identify, characterise, and interpret evidence of buried human-altered soils and other materials, topographic features, and their impacts on developing crops to investigate the impacts of human activities in the past that we can observe in today's agricultural landscapes. 

Fundamentally, practitioners and researchers in both domains aim to use sensing data to better understand soils, their impacts on plant development, and implications for land management. 

The Interoperable Precision Agricultural and Archaeological Sensing Technologies – Critical Zone Observation (ipaast-czo) Project built a network of diverse practitioners and researchers from across these domains to create toolkits for using sensing data to promote integrated sustainable agricultural land management. The project created workflows and data documentation guidance to support coordinated data collection, collaborative analysis, and information exchange.

access the projects toolkits

Ipaast-Toolkits-Map Download

Project News

THE FUNDED PERIOD FOR THE IPAAST PROJECT HAS ENDED BUT THE TEAM’S WORK CONTINUES. WE WILL CONTINUE TO POST NEWS ON PUBLICATIONS, STUDENTSHIP OPPORTUNITIES AND LINKED PROJECTS.

PhD Studentship: Human impacts on soil health in upland managed and rough grazing land
Another funded PhD Studentship opportunity! Human impacts on soil health in upland managed and rough grazing land: Exploring variability emerging from human-soil interactions at the Finzean Estate (Scotland). This project will investigate the ongoing impacts of past human actions which physically reshaped the land’s surface on soil health. The project will use the upland grazing […]
ipaast – linked PhD studentship opportunity
Past in present soils: Leveraging development-led archaeological data to generate insights into urban soil development and soil health The University of Glasgow and Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) are pleased to announce a fully funded doctoral studentship from October 2023 under the AHRC’s Collaborative Doctoral Partnership Scheme. Supervisors: Rachel Opitz and John MacDonald (Glasgow), Pete […]