Knowledge for sustainable land management – in your hands!
The LandPKS app helps you make more sustainable land management decisions by allowing you to
access existing and collect new geo-located data about soils and vegetation on your land. The app
predicts your soil and provides access to climate, habitat and sustainable land management information.
It also allows you to quickly and easily track soil health and vegetation over time. Your data is stored in
free cloud storage, which means that you can access your data from anywhere! The LandPKS app does
not require a data connection to be used, so you can upload your data whenever you have connectivity.
Specific features include:
o A new Tools feature that provides easy access to tools to assess soil texture, soil color, soil
identification, and water holding capacity, as well as quick access to climate data, soil health
assessment methods, and a sustainable land management practice database.
o The LandInfo module makes site and soil characterization fast and easy! This module walks you
through determining your soil texture by hand and helps you collect other important data
points. It then provides an estimate of your soil ID and provides a Land Capability Classification
to help with land use planning and land management.
o The Vegetation module allows for fast and repeatable monitoring of vegetation cover over time;
all you need is a yard or meter stick! Graphs of your land cover data are available immediately
offline after completing these measurements.
o The SoilHealth module includes clear instructions (with additional videos on the website) for
monitoring soil health.
o The Soil Conservation module contains a database of sustainable land management practices
from the World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies (WOCAT) that you can
filter based on your soil and land properties.
o The Habitat module provides information about animals, plants, fish, and other species found in
your area, and allows you to compare your soil and vegetation data to habitat requirements (US
only)
Learn more about the LandPKS app with online guides and videos at https://landpotential.org. Data can
be accessed at https://portal.landpotential.org.
The LandPKS app was developed by USDA-ARS in collaboration with CU Boulder and NMSU with support
from USAID, BLM, NRCS, FFAR, TNC, and contributions from a large number of US and global
cooperators.