Terragis - A Web-Based Geographic Information System for Natural Resource Management in Cotton Growing Areas of Australia

In irrigated cotton growing areas, there is an increasing emphasis on generating natural resource management (NRM) information. This is the case at the district level, where integrated soil and water management is desirable. However, biophysical data (e.g. pH, salinity, sodicity) acquisition, required for scientific purposes and policy development, is labour intensive and time consuming.

In order to value add to the limited soil information that can be collected, remote-sensing technologies (e.g. gamma ray spectrometry and EM induction) and geostatistical methods are revolutionising the way in which NRM information is being generated.

In this presentation a case study is provided with regard to how biophysical information has been genreated using remote sensing and geostatistical methods in collaboration with various community groups in seven irrigated cotton growing areas: Toobeah, Ashley, Wee Waa and Gunnedah, Trangie and Warren and Bourke in the Darling River basin of southeastern Australia.

Once developed the biophysical data is incorporated into a Geographical Information Systems (GIS) which allows the various sources of information to be cross referenced spatially. In a digital format, the GIS framework also greatly increases the ease with which soil, water and hydrological properties can be interpreted, assessed and applied to land use planning and NRM. This is because GIS is capable of handling and solving complex modelling problems in spite of large data volumes and interrelated environmental issues.

To facilitate access to the biophysical data collected, the various soil, water and hydrological properties have been put together into a simple-to-use web GIS platform called terraGIS. The platform is underpinned by MapServer which is an Open Source development environment for building spatially-enabled internet applications. Access to terraGIS is available to cotton growers, consultants, policy analysts and government agency personell free of charge at the following URL address: http://www.terragis.bees.unsw.edu.au/.