Exploring the Excited Skin: Gigapixel Imaging of Soil Profiles and Landscape Contexts

Soil profile pits are a primary in situ tool in understanding soil genesis and structure. When considered in the context of the landforms that underlie them, and when seen as a small revelation of the ‘excited skin’ that gives rise to plant communities and land uses, profiles can deepen our appreciation of soil’s critical importance in landscape-level processes and sustainability. This paper discusses how gigapixel imaging can assist in visualizing soil profiles and their details online, remote from the site, for both pedagogical and research purposes. It also demonstrates how the GigaPan.org system can serve as a convenient and accessible clearinghouse for linked soil, geological, plant community, and spatial landscape data.