Dr Inakwu Odeh

Summary

I am captivated by techniques that elucidate the past and future simultaneously. My research focus is therefore on modelling of land use and land use change in relation to soil-landscape dynamics, linking this with climate change and variability.

Research interests

The Earth is changing fast. Because of this the world’s peoples are expressing themselves through the current ambiance of global change under some degree of uncertainty. I am therefore keen to explore and broaden our understanding of the fourth dimension- time, in the scheme of landscape processes. We should apply existing knowledge or develop new or enhanced techniques to “… link land-atmosphere energy and material fluxes..” and “to better understand the feedback loops between the landscape and atmosphere”. This is important for monitoring material fluxes at the local and regional scales.

My research portfolio is therefore diversifying from quantitative soil landscape modelling into land use change and its impacts on the environment. We need to look at time-dependent landscape processes as influenced by the anthropological factor, and then extending this to the understanding of global changes. My past research has addressed the topics and problems of interest to practitioners of soil mapping and indeed practitioners of land resource assessment, by developing a number of quantitative spatial prediction techniques for mapping the soil-landscape or soilscape. The techniques I have developed are based on quantification of interrelationships of the soil with the land surface configuration to take advantage of rich and emerging new data sources (remote sensing, Gamma Radiometric data, proximal sensing with Electromagnetic Induction, etc). An innovative technique that he been involved in developing, termed as regression-kriging, has been widely cited by other researchers. Additionally I was one of the first to apply the fuzzy sets theory to mapping the soil continuum as a continuous land surface body, and I am continuing the work in both areas.

Background

Odeh is a Sesquicentennial Senior Lecturer in Rural Spatial Information Systems at the Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. He graduated from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria (BSc (Agric) 1st Class Hon), from Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Nigeria (MSc), and from the University of Adelaide (PhD). Previously Odeh was a Senior Research Fellow and Research Fellow with the Australian Cotton Cooperative Research Centre. As an active member of the International Society of Environmental Information Sciences, British Photogrammetric and Remote Sensing Society, British Soil Science Society, Australian Soil Science Society, and International Union of Soil Science, he has organised or was involved in organising various national and international conferences.

The impact of Odeh’s work so far is evidenced by reviews in learned journals, by invitations to collaborate with others, by invitations to referee manuscripts submissions to international journals and by invitations to examine postgraduate research theses. Odeh has provided strong leadership in research by leading a major Program of the Australian Cotton CRC, and as the current Sub-program leader of the Australian Cotton Catchment Communities CRC. He is currently the Vice President of Australian Soil Science Society (Inc.) New South Wales Branch.

Recent publications

• Odeh, I.O.A. and Onus A. 2008. Spatial analysis of soil salinity and sodicity in an irrigated semiarid region of New South Wales, Australia. Environmental Management 42: 265-278.
• Cowled, B. D., Aldenhoven J., Odeh I.O.A., Garrett T., Moran C. and Lapidge S. J. 2008. Structuring of feral pig sub-populations and their spatial relationship: application to designing optimal management units in the rangelands of Eastern Australia. Conserv. Genet. 9: 211-224.
• Viscarra Rossel R. A., Jeon Y. S., Odeh I. O. A., and McBratney A. B. 2008. Using a legacy soil sample to develop a mid-IR spectral library. Australian Journal of Soil Research 46:1-16.
• Odeh, I.O.A. and Tan D. 2007. Expanding biofuel production in Australia: opportunities beyond the horizon. Farm Policy Journal 4 (2): 29-39.
• Minasny, B., McBratney, A.B., Mendonça-Santos, M.L., Odeh, I.O.A., Guyon, B. 2006. Prediction and digital mapping of soil carbon storage in the Lower Namoi Valley. Australian Journal of Soil Research 44: 233-244.
• Triantafilis J. Odeh I.O.A. Jarman A.L. Short M. and Kokkoris E. 2004. Estimating and mapping deep drainage risk at the district level in the lower Gwydir and Macquarie valleys, Australia. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 44, 893-912.
• Triantafilis J. Odeh I.O.A. Warr B. and Ahmed M.F. 2004. Modelling and mapping the impact of saline water use in the lower Namoi valley. Agricultural Water Management 69, 203-231.
• Odeh IOA Todd AJ and Triantafilis J 2003. Spatial prediction of particle size fractions as compositional data. Soil Science 168, 501-515.
• Singh B., Odeh, IOA and McBratney, A.B. 2003. Acid buffering capacity and potential acidification of cotton soils in northern New South Wales. Australian Journal of Soil Research 41, 875-888.
• Triantafilis J, Odeh IOA, Minasny B. and McBratney AB. 2003. Elucidation of physiographic and hydrogeological features of the lower Namoi valley using fuzzy k-means classification of EM34 data. Environmental Modelling & Software 18, 667-680.

Contact

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