Tool for planning work: New land barometer

"The barometer also shows how agricultural land is used," explains project manager Ingrid M. Tenge. Information about how much land is in use for various crops and animal husbandry is taken from grant applications submitted to the Norwegian Agriculture Agency.

Information from the barometer is used in planning work, statements and political processes, and thereby provides a useful aid for public administration. Journalists and the general public are also among the target groups.

One of the barometer's important sources is the detailed AR5 land resource map, a national map of the production base. Mountainous areas that have not been surveyed at AR5 level are supplemented with information from the "cruder" AR50 map.

The barometer also documents the quality of agricultural land in municipalities in which soil surveys have been performed. As well as fully cultivated land, the barometer also includes land that could be cultivated; that is, land that could potentially be used to grow food, and that meets the climate and soil quality requirements for plant cultivation.  The barometer shows how much land is cultivable and what type of land it currently is — for example, forest, marsh or cultivated pasture.

The figures behind the land barometer were taken from various thematic maps created by NIBIO, which are available on the Kilden map portal. Users can click onto a map via the barometer.

The new land barometer is dynamic and is updated automatically when there are changes to the databases from which the barometer obtains its information.

Project manager Tenge is relieved that the previous time-consuming manual method used to compile the land barometer is no longer necessary.