Application of geographic information systems in monitoring the fertility of agricultural lands

Abstract

This article presents the structure and functionality of GIS Agroecologist Online, a geographic information system designed for environmental monitoring of soils. The system was developed to store and automatically process environmental monitoring data. New algorithms were implemented, including calculating soil cultivation indices, constructing agro-ecological group cartograms, and calculating statistical characteristics for soil survey data. Additional modules were added for preparing technical specifications for design and estimate documentation, calculating fertilizer doses, and providing soil protection recommendations. The system was used in the Belgorod region, resulting in the development of 111 sets of design and estimate documentation, the liming of 123,000 hectares of acidic soils, and the calculation and optimization of 50.79 million tons of organic fertilizers. The system also supported the development of adaptive landscape systems on 685,000 hectares, leading to significant improvements in the main agroecological characteristics of arable soils in the region.