Consortium > INRA Info Sol

Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, InfoSol Unit

Organization short name: INRA InfoSol
acronym: InfoSol
web page: www.gissol.fr

Description of the organization

This INFOSOL team also belongs to INRA, and is part of the Environment and Agronomy department. INRA is the leading European agricultural research institute and one of the foremost institutes in the world for agriculture, food and the environment.

Expertise and experience of the organization

The InfoSol INRA team has a wide experience in soil data handling and processing. It is responsible for the constitution of the soil information system for French soils and involved in several European projects linked to soil monitoring and modeling. The INRA Infosol unit is also known as a major contributor to soil carbon assessment and modeling, including spatial analysis. Technical capacity includes GIS, geostatistics, spatial analysis, and modeling.

Selected reference projects

  • ENVASSO FP6 STREP, Environmental assessment of soils for monitoring in Europe (leader of a workpackage) Jan 2006-March 2008
  • BIOSOIL Demonstration study, implementation of the BIOSOIL project databasis, and quality insurance (Contract with JRC Ispra, leader) Nov 2006-Nov 2009
  • Indian-French Project 2909 1 ‘Soil carbon pool and biodiversity conservation’* April 2004-April 2008

Key scientific / technical personnel

Dr Dominique Arrouays, Senior research engineer, Director, spatial analysis, soil monitoring, carbon stocks estimates
Dr Manuel Martin, research engineer, modeling, data mining, statistics
Nicolas Saby, research engineer, GIS, geostatistics, statistics
Dr Claudy Jolivet, research engineer, head of the French soil monitoring network, C dynamics

Responsibilities in CARBO-Extreme

  • Long Term Carbon Measurements and Climate (WP3)

Selected recent relevant publications

Arrouays D, Saby N, Walter C, Lemercier B, Schvartz C, Relationships between particle size distribution and organic carbon in French arable topsoils. Soil Use and Management, 22(1), 48-51, 2006. link to publisher

Jolivet C, Angers DA, Chantigny MH, Andreux F, Arrouays D, Carbohydrate dynamics in particle-size fractions of sandy spodosols following forest conversion to maize cropping. Soil Biology and Biochemistry. 38(9), 2834-2842, 2006. link to publisher

Saby N, Arrouays D, Jolivet C, Boulonne L, Pochot A, Geostatistical assessment of Pb in soil around Paris, France. Science of the Total Environment 367(1), 212-221, 2006. link to publisher

Seguin B, Arrouays D, Balesdent J, Soussana JF, Bondeau A, Smith P, Zaehle S, de Noblet N, Viovy N, Moderating the impact of agriculture on climate. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 142(2-4), 278-287, 2007. link to publisher

Martin MP, Cordier S, Balesdent J, Arrouays D, Periodic solutions for soil carbon dynamics equilibriums with time-varying forcing variables. Ecological Modelling, 204, 523-530, 2007. link to publisher

Morvan XPP, Saby NPA, Arrouays D, Le Bas C, Jones RJA, Verheijen FGA, Bellamy PH, Stephens M, Kibblewhite MG, Soil monitoring in Europe: a review of existing systems and requirements for harmonisation. Science of the Total Environment, 391, 1-12, 2008. link to publisher

Grinand C, Arrouays D, Laroche B, Martin MP, Extrapolating regional soil landscapes from an existing soil map: Sampling intensity, validation procedures, and integration of spatial context. Geoderma, 143(1-2), 180-190, 2008. link to publisher

Dexter AR, Richard G, Arrouays D, Czyz EA, Jolivet C, Duval O, Complexed organic matter controls soil physical properties. Geoderma 144(3-4), 620-627, 2008. link to publisher