The U.S. Department of Agriculture is developing apps for smart phones, now that its Object Modeling System (OMS) is operational. The OMS is a framework for making software applications that use the power of cloud computing to run science computer models. One day, as the USDA envisions it, a farmer shows a Natural Resources Conservation Service conservationist a sample of the soil carried off a field after a heavy rain and asks how much soil is being lost and what can be done about it. The conservationist picks up a smart cell phone for answers. The phone's Global Positioning System locates the field's coordinates and connects to the “Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation version service in the cloud to calculate soil erosion under various agricultural management practices. The answers return quickly, predicts the USDA, harnessing the power of the large data centers...more
Wonder how the Forest Service and BLM will use this. Will we be going back to a data center in Denver determining the carrying capacity on all grazing allotments? Anybody remember SVIM?
1 comment:
The RUSLE was a pie in the sky equation which was instituted by desk bound "scientists" to manage wild-lands. It never worked because there is nothing better than hands on management of wild-lands. It can't be done by equations now or ever.
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