A new service is launched by the LandIS team called Treefit. Treefit is a database service that can match some 60 tree species to areas having their optimum growing conditions across England and Wales. The system draws on the unique databases of soil, climate and landuse in Cranfield's Land Information System to determine the tree suitability for nominated regions, as well as potential timber yield classes. Assessments are made which can provide recommended management regimes, and suitability for such factors as biomass, fencing, floristry, game covert and timber. Treefit is aimed at applications including: preparation for planting grant applications; land restoration planning; community forest action planning; carbon offsetting studies; and regional land use and ecosystem services policy planning.

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The CatchIS team are to hold the first CatchIS User Group conference to allow the community of CatchIS users to share experiences and help to guide the future development of the tool. CatchIS provides a powerful suite of tools and models to assist in the strategic and operational management of water resources at the catchment scale, and to provide an informed and rational response to the Water Framework Directive and to the development of Water Safetey Plans. Further information on this conference is available : catchis@cranfield.ac.uk.

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Cranfield University offer a well-respected MSc in Geographical Information Management (GIM) which can be taken full or part-time and which is designed very much with the practical environmental application of GIS technologies in mind. The course is taught by staff including the CatchIS development team.

The MSc is considered suitable for graduates wishing to specialise in or develop knowledge in the practical application of the geographical information technologies of remote sensing, geographical information systems (GIS), spatial data management and the global positioning system (GPS). The part-time option will allow practitioners to enhance their professional development within their current employment.

Duration

The Cranfield MSc programme commences in September. Typically the part-time programme is offered on a two-year basis on a "module on, module off" basis throughout. Each of the eight course modules lasts a fortnight, with opportunities for supporting home working.

Further MSc Information

For information on the MSc Geographical Information Management:

http://www.cranfield.ac.uk/students/courses/page1503.jsp

For information for prospective students:

http://www.cranfield.ac.uk/students/index.jsp

For information on tuition fees:

http://www.cranfield.ac.uk/students/funding/tuition_fees.pdf

Please contact us for further details.

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The National Soil Archive and Publication store have now been moved from their old location at the Silsoe campus to a new home on Cranfield Campus.

The publications store of books and maps is now located within easy access of the publications officer allowing a more efficient turn around on book sales. In the moving process the materials have also been organised and catalogued more efficiently.

The National Soil Archive holds not only a large collection of physical soil samples but also soil data, maps and information collected over many years. Materials include:

• Over 150,000 Auger bore records;
• Over 10,000 full soil profile descriptions (only a fraction of which have been captured electronically);
• 1:10,000 scale field sheets covering almost the whole of England and Wales;
• a large collection of published papers relating to soil;
• a large collection of aerial photographs;
• a substantial collection of satellite imagery (currently being transferred from the original Magnetic tape storage media);
• an old, valuable collection of soil micro-morphology slides;
• the historical documents of the original Soil Survey of England and Wales;
• The WOSSAC map and document collection;

If any of these sound interesting to you and you would like to inquire about access to the material please contact nsridata@cranfield.ac.uk

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The LandIS team present a new look for the project website. A more contemporary, standards-compliant format improves the experience users will have and hopefully make it now easier to learn more about LandIS and its capabilities.

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