Teagasc and the Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI) deepened their long-standing scientific collaboration by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

The MoU was signed by Koen Verbruggen, director of GSI and Professor Frank O’Mara, Teagasc director, at Teagasc Johnstown Castle, Co. Wexford.

Founded in 1845, GSI is Ireland's public earth science knowledge centre.

It provides free, open and accurate data and maps on Ireland's subsurface to landowners, the public, industry, along with domestic and international stakeholders.

Teagasc

Professor Frank O’Mara said the collaboration between both organisations has been beneficial for research.

"The combined scientific expertise between Teagasc and GSI has produced high quality scientific publications and impactful research that has generated new knowledge and technologies for Irish agricultural soils, and the collaboration has delivered additional value from the state’s investment.

"We look forward to building on this success in the next phase of our collaboration," he said.

Koen Verbruggen, director of GSI, noted that the successful scientific partnership has broadened the use of the GSI’s Tellus data to have applications in agricultural research and technology transfer.

"This new phase will see both organisations further our understanding of soil health and work jointly to support government to inform the implementation of the EU Soil Monitoring and Resilience Directive," he said.

Research

Terra Soil is a five-year collaborative research project between GSI and Teagasc.

It combines GSI’s data from the Tellus Programme with soil spectral libraries from Teagasc.

The first phase of Terra Soil (2018-2024) developed spectral libraries and soil geochemical indicators for the northern half of Ireland.

The second phase aims to derive similar data and products for the southern half of the country.

The teams will then merge these to build a national picture of soil descriptors and indicators of soil health for sustainable soil management.