Farmers, advisors and researchers are invited to explore the new Agriculture Victoria Soil Moisture Monitoring website in a ‘walk-through webinar’ later this month.
The new Soil Moisture Monitoring website – launched by Agriculture Minister Jaclyn Symes on Thursday – showcases Agriculture Victoria’s highly regarded soil moisture probe network.
The new website replaces the previous soil moisture data dashboard with a detailed page dedicated to each of the 36 soil moisture monitoring sites across the state.
New tools featured on the website can translate soil moisture data into meaningful, real time, local information.
“My favourite tool is the ‘speedo’ graph showing change in overall soil moisture at a particular site,” Agriculture Victoria seasonal risk agronomist, and project co-ordinator, Dale Boyd said.
“It’s a simple way to represent how the soil moisture profile has changed over the last year, in other words how full the ‘tank’ is.”
The overall soil moisture ‘speedo’ tool is just one of the innovative features of the new website that will be explored during the walk-through webinar.
“Previously, we could only show soil moisture data, without any real interpretation.
“The new website takes this data and adds value to it, with tools that are easy to use such as a temperature gauge, current soil moisture profile and a one to three-month rainfall outlook for the state,” Mr Boyd said.
The webinar – scheduled for Wednesday 17 June at 12 pm (AEST) – will be recorded and made available on the Agriculture Victoria website.
