We’re delighted to see Soil Acoustics’ pioneering work in soil ecoacoustics featured in the Italian agricultural magazine Vigne, Vini e Qualità (VVQ).
Beautifully written by journalist Maria-Luisa Doldi, the article “The Sound of the Soil” explores how listening to the underground world could provide new insights into soil health and biodiversity, particularly within agricultural environments such as vineyards.
For decades, soil has often been overlooked in favour of what can be seen above ground. However, beneath our feet lies a complex ecosystem that plays a vital role in crop resilience, water availability, fertility and long-term productivity. As the challenges facing agriculture continue to grow, understanding the health and activity of soils has become an increasingly important priority.
A new way of understanding soil health
The feature introduces readers to the emerging field of soil ecoacoustics — an approach that applies soundscape analysis to underground ecosystems.
Using the Soil Acoustic Meter (SAM), a portable tool designed and developed by the team at Soil Acoustics, our acoustic technology captures the sounds produced by living organisms within the soil. From worms and beetles to arthropods and other invertebrates, these tiny acoustic signals provide valuable insight into the biological activity taking place below ground.
By recording these acoustic signals and analysing them through the SAM platform, the technology generates a Soil Acoustic Quality Index (SAQI). This index provides a measure of the abundance and diversity of biological activity within a soil sample.
As explained in the article, the aim is not simply to measure how “noisy” a soil is, but to understand the richness of the soundscape and what it reveals about the life within the soil.
The article also highlights an important point: SAM is designed to complement, not replace, traditional soil testing methods.
Chemical and physical analyses remain essential for understanding factors such as nutrient availability, pH and soil structure. Soil ecoacoustics simply adds another layer of information by providing insight into the biological activity of the soil, helping farmers, growers and researchers understand not just what is present, but how active and alive their soil is.
With soil health becoming an increasing focus across Europe, technologies like SAM are helping to open up new possibilities for monitoring and managing agricultural land.
Being featured in Vigne, Vini e Qualità demonstrates the growing recognition of soil ecoacoustics as an exciting new tool for agriculture and viticulture.
By turning the hidden sounds of soil into meaningful data, we hope to bring the unseen world beneath our feet into focus, giving growers a new way to understand, protect and improve the health of their land.
Take a look at the first page of our feature here for more insight.
