Safrons

Regional soil nutrient data existed, but only specialists could read it. The map had to mean something to an expert, so the classification logic behind it could not be plausible dummy values.

Group project; I worked mostly on the backend, on how the data is served and how the services behind the map actually function. The classification logic had to be real, so I went and read the soil literature rather than filling the map with plausible dummy values.

• Spatial soil nutrient layers rendered as interactive GeoJSON
• PostGIS-backed data services behind the map
• Classification logic grounded in soil literature
• Training for students on the spatial data workflow ahead of field deployment

Getting the classification right was the difference between a demo and something an expert would take seriously. Off the back of it I was asked to assist at a workshop teaching GIS and QGIS to around 50 to 60 people, and I ended up managing the GIS side of my community service programme too.

GIS from scratch: what the data represents and where it is genuinely useful. I like that the order was that way round. I learned the thing because a project needed it, and then I was the person teaching it.