Soil permeability DSM data of the Victoria catchment NT generated by the Victoria River Water Resource Assessment

Soil permeability is one of 18 attributes of soils chosen to underpin the land suitability assessment of the Victoria River Water Resource Assessment (VIWRA) through the digital soil mapping process (DSM). Soil permeability describes the ability of a soil to transmit water internally by its least permeable layer (rate of water movement into and through the soil profile). This soil permeability raster data represents a modelled dataset of permeability as described by the National Committee on Soil and Terrain 2009 (NCST) and is derived from field measured site data and environmental covariates. Data values are: 1 Very slowly permeable, 2 Slowly permeable, 3 Moderately permeable, 4 Highly permeable. Soil permeability is a parameter used in land suitability assessments of irrigation efficiency and soil wetness (in combination with soil drainage indicating site and soil conditions that result in poor soil aeration for plant growth). This raster data provides improved soil information used to underpin and identify opportunities and promote detailed investigation for a range of sustainable regional development options and was created within the ‘Land Suitability’ activity of the CSIRO VIWRA. A companion dataset and statistics reflecting reliability of this data are also provided and can be found described in the lineage section of this metadata record. Processing information is supplied in ranger R scripts and attributes were modelled using a Random Forest approach. The DSM process is described in the CSIRO VIWRA published report ‘Soils and land suitability for the Victoria catchment, Northern Territory’. A technical report from the CSIRO Victoria River Water Resource Assessment to the Government of Australia. The Victoria River Water Resource Assessment provides a comprehensive overview and integrated evaluation of the feasibility of aquaculture and agriculture development in the Victoria catchment NT as well as the ecological, social and cultural (indigenous water values, rights and aspirations) impacts of development.