The Soil and Terrain database for Tunisia primary data (version 1.0), at scale 1:1 million (SOTER_Tunisia), was compiled of enhanced soil information within the framework of the FAO's program of Land Degradation Assessment in Drylands (LADA). A SOTER database was compiled based on the digital soil map of Tunisia. The primary soil and terrain data for Tunisia has been selected from available survey reports and publications. A SRTM-DEM was used to adjust some unit boundaries in the GIS file. SOTER forms a part of the ongoing activities of ISRIC, FAO and UNEP to update the world's baseline information on natural resources.The project involved collaboration with national soil institutes from the countries in the region as well as individual experts.
This harmonized set of soil parameter estimates for the Upper Tana river catchment, Kenya. The data set was derived from the 1:250 000 scale Soil and Terrain Database for the Upper Tana (SOTER_UT, ver. 1.1; Dijkshoorn et al. 2011) and the ISRIC-WISE soil profile database, using standardized taxonomy-based pedotransfer (taxotransfer) procedures. The land surface of the Upper Tana, Kenya, covering some 18,900 km2, has been mapped in SOTER using 191 unique SOTER units. Each map unit may comprise of up to three different soil components. In so far as possible, each soil component has been characterized by a regionally representative profile, selected and classified by national soil experts. Conversely, in the absence of any measured legacy data, soil components were characterized using synthetic profiles for which only the FAO-Unesco (1988) classification is known. Soil components in SOTER_UT have been characterized using 146 profiles consisting of 109 real and 37 so-called synthetic profiles. The latter were used to represent some 18% per cent of the study area. Comprehensive sets of measured attribute data are seldom available for most profiles (109) collated in SOTER_UT, as these were not considered in the source materials. Consequently, to permit modelling, gaps in the soil analytical data have been filled using consistent taxotransfer procedures. Modal soil property estimates necessary to populate the taxotransfer procedure were derived from statistical analyses of soil profiles held in the ISRIC-WISE database. The current taxotransfer procedure only considers profiles in WISE that: (a) have FAO soil unit names (43) identical to those mapped for the Upper Tana in SOTER, and (b) originate from regions having similar Köppen climate zones (n= 5745). Property estimates are presented for 18 soil variables by soil unit for fixed depth intervals of 0.2 m to 1 m depth: organic carbon, total nitrogen, pH(H2O), CECsoil, CECclay, base saturation, effective CEC, aluminium saturation, CaCO3 content, gypsum content, exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP), electrical conductivity (ECe), bulk density, content of sand, silt and clay, content of coarse fragments (less than 2 mm), and volumetric water content (-33 kPa to -1.5 MPa). These attributes have been identified as being useful for agro-ecological zoning, land evaluation, crop growth simulation, modelling of soil carbon stocks and change, and studies of global environmental change. The soil property estimates can be linked to the spatial data (map), using GIS, through the unique SOTER-unit code; database applications should consider the full map unit composition and depth range.
This harmonized set of soil parameter estimates for Central and Eastern Europe has been derived from a revised version of the 1:2.5M Soil and Terrain (SOTER) Database for Central and Eastern Europe (SOVEUR ver. 1.1) and the ISRIC-WISE soil profile database. The land surface of Central and Eastern Europe, West of the Ural Mountains, has been characterized using 8361 unique maps or SOTER units. The corresponding GIS files include some 9500 mapped polygons, including miscellaneous units. The major soils have been described using 662 profiles, selected by national soil experts as being representative for these units. The associated soil analytical data have been derived from soil survey reports. These sources seldom hold all the physical and chemical attributes ideally required by SOTER. Gaps in the measured soil profile data have been filled using a procedure that uses taxotransfer rules, based on about 9600 soil profiles held in the WISE database, complemented with expert-rules. Parameter estimates are presented by soil unit for fixed depth intervals of 0.2 m to 1 m depth for: organic carbon, total nitrogen, pH(H2O), CECsoil, CECclay, base saturation, effective CEC, aluminium saturation, CaCO3 content, gypsum content, exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP), electrical conductivity of saturated paste (ECe), bulk density, content of sand, silt and clay, content of coarse fragments (less than 2 mm), and available water capacity (-33 to -1500 kPa). These attributes have been identified as being useful for agro-ecological zoning, land evaluation, crop growth simulation, modelling of soil carbon stocks and change, and analyses of global environmental change. The current parameter estimates should be seen as best estimates based on the current selection of soil profiles and data clustering procedure; taxotransfer rules have been flagged to provide an indication of the confidence in the derived data. Results are presented as summary files and can be linked to the 1:2.5M scale SOVEUR map in a GIS, through the unique SOTER-unit code. The secondary data are considered appropriate for studies at the continental scale (greater than1:2.5 million); correlation of soil analytical data should be done more rigorously when more detailed scientific work is considered.
The Soil and Terrain Database (SOTER) was part of the Soil Degradation and Vulnerability Assessment for Central and Eastern Europe (SOVEUR project) and was implemented within the framework of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the Netherlands Government Cooperative Programme. The project was technically coordinated by ISRIC - World Soil Information and assisted by the Land and Water Development Division (AGL) of FAO. The SOVEUR project has been carried out in close collaboration with specialists from soil survey institutes in Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Romania, the Russian Federation, Slovak Republic and the Ukraine, who collated the various national soil data using uniform guidelines.
Version 1.2 of describes a harmonized dataset of derived soil properties for the world. It was created using the soil distribution shown on the 1:5 million scale FAO-Unesco Soil Map of the World (DSMW), rasterised at 5 by 5 arcminutes, and soil property estimates derived from the ISRIC-WISE soil profile database, version 3.1. The dataset considers 19 soil variables that are commonly required for agro-ecological zoning, land evaluation, crop growth simulation, modelling of soil gaseous emissions, and analyses of global environmental change. It presents ‘best’ estimates for: soil drainage class, organic carbon content, total nitrogen, C/N ratio, pH (H2O), CECsoil, CECclay, effective CEC, base saturation, aluminium saturation, calcium carbonate content, gypsum content, exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP), electrical conductivity, particle size distribution (i.e. content of sand, silt and clay), content of coarse fragments (less than 2 mm), bulk density, and available water capacity (-33 to -1500 kPa). These estimates are presented by FAO soil unit for fixed depth intervals of 20 cm up to 100 cm depth (or less when appropriate) for so-called virtual profiles. The associated soil property values were derived from analyses of some 10,250 profiles held in WISE using a scheme of taxonomy-based taxotransfer rules complemented with expert-rules. The type of rules used to derive the various soil property values have been flagged in the database to provide an indication of the possible confidence in the derived data. Most map units on the DSMW are complex, comprising up to eight different soil units. Assessments and model applications that use the derived soil properties therefore should consider the full map unit composition and depth range. The soil property values presented here should be seen as best estimates based on the current selection of soil profiles in WISE, the procedure for clustering the measured data, taxotransfer scheme used for deriving soil, properties, and the spatial data of the digital Soil Map of the World. The derived information may be used for exploratory assessments at a broad scale (greater than 1:5 million; 5 by 5 arcminutes and coarser), pending the global update of the information on world soil resources at more detailed scales, upon due consideration of the underlying generalisations and assumptions. Note: A more recent assessment, at a resolution of 30arcsec (WISE30sec), is available at: http://data.isric.org/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/dc7b283a-8f19-45e1-aaed-e9bd515119bc
The Soil and Terrain database for Southern Africa (SOTERSAF version 1.0), at scale 1:2 million, include the spatial and soil attribute data for 8 Southern African countries. The SOTERSAF database was compiled using the existing soil information and following the SOTER methodology of the 1:1 million scale with respect to pedon attribute data storage. The data (SOTERSAF) were compiled in the framework of the ongoing activities of ISRIC, FAO and UNEP to update the world's baseline information on natural resources in SOTER.The project involved collaboration with national soil institutes from the countries in the region as well as individual experts.
This harmonized set of soil parameter estimates for Central and Eastern Europe has been derived from a revised version of the 1:2.5M Soil and Terrain (SOTER) Database for Central and Eastern Europe (SOVEUR ver. 1.1) and the ISRIC-WISE soil profile database. The land surface of Central and Eastern Europe, West of the Ural Mountains, has been characterized using 8361 unique maps or SOTER units. The corresponding GIS files include some 9500 mapped polygons, including miscellaneous units. The major soils have been described using 662 profiles, selected by national soil experts as being representative for these units. The associated soil analytical data have been derived from soil survey reports. These sources seldom hold all the physical and chemical attributes ideally required by SOTER. Gaps in the measured soil profile data have been filled using a procedure that uses taxotransfer rules, based on about 9600 soil profiles held in the WISE database, complemented with expert-rules. Parameter estimates are presented by soil unit for fixed depth intervals of 0.2 m to 1 m depth for: organic carbon, total nitrogen, pH(H2O), CECsoil, CECclay, base saturation, effective CEC, aluminium saturation, CaCO3 content, gypsum content, exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP), electrical conductivity of saturated paste (ECe), bulk density, content of sand, silt and clay, content of coarse fragments (less than 2 mm), and available water capacity (-33 to -1500 kPa). These attributes have been identified as being useful for agro-ecological zoning, land evaluation, crop growth simulation, modelling of soil carbon stocks and change, and analyses of global environmental change. The current parameter estimates should be seen as best estimates based on the current selection of soil profiles and data clustering procedure; taxotransfer rules have been flagged to provide an indication of the confidence in the derived data. Results are presented as summary files and can be linked to the 1:2.5M scale SOVEUR map in a GIS, through the unique SOTER-unit code. The secondary data are considered appropriate for studies at the continental scale (greater than 1:2.5 million); correlation of soil analytical data should be done more rigorously when more detailed scientific work is considered.
