The Digital Age in the Study, Teaching, Evaluation and Sustainable Management of Soil Science

Soil science in the modern era has been radically transformed through the integration of proxy and remote sensing, artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality, and ICTs, shifting from a traditional agronomic approach to a digital, predictive, and high-resolution, spatially explicit discipline. These technological innovations enable the generation of thousands to millions of geolocated data points, precise analyses, immersive learning, and sustainable practices in precision agriculture, making it essential to continue working in these areas. Technologies in soil science are also transforming the study and teaching of soil science, allowing us to attract new talent from Generations Z and Y, the first generations of digital natives for whom new teaching and learning methods must be developed.Forty percent of the world's soils show some degree of degradation, and the world's best agricultural soils are being urbanized. At the same time, rapid industrialization in some countries and wars contribute to soil pollution. In other words, safeguarding food production, aquifers, and the quality of the air we breathe requires addressing soil safety, and to achieve this, we need to think differently and incorporate technological advances into soil teaching and learning, research, and management, now using predictive approaches. Faced with these global challenges in the 21st century, we propose a Research Topic in Frontiers in Soil Science to publish manuscripts that utilize 21st-century digital tools for the study, teaching, evaluation, and sustainable management of soils.In this Research Topic, we welcome studies on the following subtopics, but not limited to:• Augmented and mixed reality for the visualization of soil profiles in real-time.• Smartphone applications for the consultation of a large volume of information in the field for expeditious decision-making• Web development for agricultural evaluation of soil profile horizons based on their physical and chemical properties• AI for the estimation of soil properties that are difficult or expensive to measure• The management of soil profile images allows the identification of horizons and the automatic quantification of some soil properties.• Web development enables the creation of new forms of teaching and student evaluation.• Next-generation drones improve soil studies with high-resolution imaging, real-time data collection, and precision mapping.• Machine learning for soil morphology• AI and Innovative technologies for mapping and sustainable management of soils Topic editors: Francisco Bautista, Ana Horta, Divyesh Varade, Fernándo Ayala-Niño Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/84164/the-digital-age-in-the-study-teaching-evaluation-and-sustainable-management-of-soil-science