The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the United Nations body for assessing science related to climate change. The IPCC provides adaptation and mitigation strategies in addition to regular scientific assessments on climate change, its implications, and potential future risks at a global scale. Special methodology reports provide practical guidelines for the preparation of greenhouse gas inventories.

Interoperability is a characteristic of a product or system whose interfaces are completely understood to work with other products or systems, at present or in the future, in implementation or access, and without any restrictions. While the term was initially defined for information technology or systems engineering services to allow for information exchange, a broader definition takes into account social, political, and organizational factors that impact system-to-system performance.

The Internet of Things is the network of physical devices and other items embedded with electronics, software, sensors, actuators, and connectivity which enables these things to connect and exchange data, creating opportunities for more direct integration of the physical world into computer-based systems

A kit is a group of tools which are assembled together to address higher level challenges (personal or organizational). Kits are modular and tools can be swapped in and out to address changes in systems understanding and different approaches.

The Land-Potential Knowledge System (LandPKS) is a simple free and open source software tool and mobile application developed by USDA/ARS that supports land use planning and management. It includes modules that allow non-soil scientists to (a) determine the sustainable potential of their land (LandInfo), (b) monitor the health of their land (LandCover and SoilHealth), and (c) record management activities (LandManagement). The land potential assessments will be updated based on new evidence regarding the success or failure of new management systems on different soils. The knowledge engine, together with mobile phone applications and cloud computing technologies, facilitate more rapid and complete integration of local and scientific knowledge into land management.

Microservices is a software development technique—a variant of the service-oriented architectural style—that structures an application as a collection of loosely coupled services. In a microservices architecture, services are fine-grained and the protocols are lightweight.

Modular design is a design approach that subdivides a system into smaller parts called modules that can be independently created and then used in different systems. A modular system can be characterized by functional partitioning into discrete scalable, reusable modules; rigorous use of well-defined modular interfaces; and making use of industry standards for interfaces.

The Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS) is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that provides farmers and ranchers with the financial and technical assistance to voluntarily implement conservation practices on their operations. NRCS has a suite of soil health management support tools and soil maps and data for more than 95% of the nation’s counties.

An observation tool is used to record behavior over time and describe the conditions of change. Observation technology also enhances the basic human senses to enable greater perception into the environment (how things work). Examples include qualitative such as cameras, microscopes, telescopes, and thermal imaging and quantitative tools such as analog and digital sensors like thermometers, barometers, pH, soil and air moisture sensors.

An ontology is a set of concepts and categories in a subject area or domain that shows their properties and the relations between them. Shared data ontologies, alongside shared vocabularies, are used to support the interoperability of softwares and tools.