A Compendium of On-Line Soil Survey Information
Soil Geographic Databases
|
|
A Compendium of On-Line Soil Survey InformationSoil Geographic Databases |
|
|
|
||
|
Home
|
||
The technological advances in remote sensing, computers, terrain analysis, geostatistics, GIS data integration, and instrumentation should make it possible to achieve unprecedented reliability and utility in digital soil maps. There is an increasing amount of digital data available on the Internet or as large datasets on CD-ROM, from straight digital conversions of paper maps and databases to direct-to-digital products. Unfortunately, there is also a lot of digital data that is not easily or freely available. I've described these trends and issues in a paper to be published in Soil Use & Management 20: Digital soil resource inventories: status and prospects
World
Datasets at this scale are primarily intended for global modelling; as such the resolution is coarse and the properties are typically averaged.
Harmonized World Soil Database v 1.0
This is the result of a collaboration between the FAO's Land & Water Development Division, IIASA, ISRIC-World Soil Information, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences (ISSCAS), and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (JRC)
The Harmonized World Soil Database is a 30 arc-second raster database with over 15000 different soil mapping units that combines existing regional and national updates of soil information worldwide (SOTER, ESD, Soil Map of China, WISE) with the information contained within the 1:5 000 000 scale FAO-UNESCO Soil Map of the World (FAO, 19711981).
The resulting raster database consists of 21600 rows and 43200 columns, which are linked to harmonized soil property data. The use of a standardized structure allows for the linkage of the attribute data with the raster map to display or query the composition in terms of soil units and the characterization of selected soil parameters (organic Carbon, pH, water storage capacity, soil depth, cation exchange capacity of the soil and the clay fraction, total exchangeable nutrients, lime and gypsum contents, sodium exchange percentage, salinity, textural class and granulometry).
The website has links to the procedures manual and the digital database.
This is the most general digital map of the World's soils, now using the international standard soil classification WRB. Available as a graphic or digital coverage.
FAO Land and Water Digital Media Series
The FAO is putting a large amount of high-quality soils (and other) information on CD.
The base material is the FAO/UNESCO Soil Map of the World at an original scale of 1:5 million. The CD-ROM includes both vector and raster maps, in various popular formats. Also included are summaries of soil characteristics and derived soil properties, such as pH, organic carbon content and soil moisture storage capability.
The methodology is explained in the PDF document "From the Soil Map of The World to the Digital Global Soil and Terrain Database: 1960-2000" (PDF, 80Kb)
This collaboration between the FAO and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) is the result of an updated Agro-ecological Zones (AEZ) method of evaluation of biophysical limitations and potentials for potential and agronomically-attainable crop yields, based on the recent availability of digital global databases of climatic parameters, topography, soil and terrain, vegetation, and population distribution, and improvements in calculation procedures. Its spatial units are based on the Digital Soil Map of the World.
This web site gives access to maps, including soil potentials. It is an on-line version of CD-ROM #11 in the Land & Water Development Division's digital media series.
All of these have a downloadable dataset, a report, and an explanatory webpage:
A set of 4382 geo-referenced soil profiles from 123 countries Includes the 1,125 "international" profiles (see next item)
A set of 1,125 standardized geo-referenced profiles produced by ISRIC-World Soil Information, in collaboration with the USDA-NRCS and FAO; previously referred to as the Global Pedon Database (GPDB) of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme
including soil pH, organic carbon pools, inorganic carbon pools, cation exchange capacity, and available water capacity
Pedotransfer functions from the SMW for use by modellers
A pioneering (1987-90) effort to assess soil degradation; many limitations but set the agenda.
Catalog of
soil parameter data sets
from the Global Change Master Directory
hosted by Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA)
A very large catalog (over 1000 links) of soil parameters (e.g. C, CEC, heat budget, macrofauna...) with links to the actual data and metadata.
Zobler 1 and 0.5 degree, plant-extractable water, texture and water-holding capacity, organic carbon
Metadata, links, and some downloads for global data sets from UNEP itself, FAO, ISRIC-World Soil Information etc.
This well-known dataset is a generalisation of the original FAO Soil Map of the World, on a 1° grid. It has been used extensively by climate modellers, since this grid corresponds to the resolution of many general circulation models. For most other uses, see the more detailed FAO Digital Soil Map of the World.
GLASOD contains information on soil degradation within map units at the very general scale of 1:10M as reported by numerous soil experts araund the world through a questionnaire. Thus, GLASOD is not based on primary surveys of land degradation. It includes the type, degree, extent, cause and rate of soil degradation. From these data, GRID produced digital and hardcopy maps and made area calculations
This site concentrates on the Arctic, Baltic, and Nordic regions.
From the Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAS) of the Global Environmental Studies group at NASA Goddard. This extends the Zobler data set with estimates of water holding capacity on a 1° grid.
GTOPO30 is a global digital elevation model (DEM) with a horizontal grid spacing of 30 arc seconds (approximately 1 kilometer), built by the USGS Eros Data Center. It is a good supplement to coarse-resolution soils grids.
Global Maps of soil properties and potentials
From the former World Soil Resources office of USDA NRCS. These maps are all based on a global soils map converted to Soil Taxonomy from the FAO Soil Map of the World, and a global climate map prepared by the USDA. Available as thumbnails, high-quality images, and IDRISI (?) raster coverages on a 2-minute grid. Good metadata.
From the Vienna (A) University of Technology of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. 50km resolution, gives a regional evaluation of actual soil moisture, using a radar scatterometer. The sensor and algorithm are well-explained.
South America
European Digital Archive of Soil Maps (EuDASM) -- Latin America & Caribbean Islands
More than 1060 maps scanned from ISRIC-World Soil Information's map collection; ; part of the EuDASM project of the Soil & Waste Unit of the EU. A tremendous resource of historical data. Not georeferenced but most maps have overprinted grids to allow user geo-referencing
The CD-ROM contains information on the soil and terrain resources of Latin America and the Caribbean compiled according to the SOTER methodology. Information is stored in a relational database and in Arc/Info export format. An independent viewer programme allows access to all major information contained in the CD-ROM
Soil map of Brazil, 1:5M,
thanks to Norman Bliss of the
EROS
Data Centre, South Dakota, USA; search page for "Brazil Soil Map"
1:100k, mapas en formato PDF
Sitio del Instituto Geográfico "Augustín Codazzi"; bien difìcil navegar este sìtio, pero deben de haber memorias, mapas (digitales?) y un CD-ROM sobre los suelos de Colombia.
IRD Bases de connaissances Paysages - Sols (MIRURAM, VALPEDO)
pour Guyane Française
Agropélogie; guide de reconaissance des prinipaux sols guyanais a l'usage des non pedologues
Bases pour Bresil et Guyane Française (clicker sur "Consultation" et choisir la base)
South, Central and East Asia
European Digital Archive of Soil Maps (EuDASM) -- Asia
More than 1030 maps scanned from ISRIC-World Soil Information's map collection; ; part of the EuDASM project of the Soil & Waste Unit of the EU. A tremendous resource of historical data. Not georeferenced but most maps have overprinted grids to allow user geo-referencing
A CD-ROM from the FAO Land and Water Digital Media Series. "Covers China, Mongolia and all countries of the former Soviet Union. The soil information has been derived from several sources, in particular the 1:2.5M Soil Map of the Former Soviet Union prepared by Friedland in the Dokuchaiev Institute, Moscow; and the soil map of China at 1:4M prepared by the Soil Science Institute of the Academia Sinica in Nan-Jing. All soil information has been correlated with the Revised Legend of the Soil Map of the World"
只有描述，还没有可能下载的数据
The 1:1M national map of China, converted to SOTER standards.
Total soil moisture gravimetric observations and maps, 1981-99 for 40 stations; from Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing and Rutgers University.
"Digital map (ArcInfo format) of soil types of the Lower Mekong Basin, covering parts of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam. Source data were at scales of 1:250,000 or better, except for NE Cambodia at 1:1 million. Compiled using FAO/UNESCO 1988 soil classification (level 3 - soil sub-unit). Compiled from data supplied by Cambodian Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Agriculture Soil Unit; Lao PDR Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Soil Survey and Land Classification Centre; Thailand Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Soil Survey and Classification Center; Viet Nam Sub-national Institute of Agricultural Planning, Integrated Resources Mapping Center. Data available on CD for cost of transfer. Requests for access to the data should be sent to Chief Executive Officer, MRC Secretariat, Mekong River Commission, PO Box 1112, Phnom Penh, Cambodia; mrcs@mrcmekong.org
Describes a soil data viewer for both map units and point observations as well as programs for crop suitability and erosion risk assessment. Neither programs nor data seem to be online.
Click on the link for "Maps and Reports"; so far just a list with no on-line data or even prices.
From the World Soil Resources office (NRCS) map collection. An interesting project to provide some information for national-level planning, in a very data-poor setting.
"This is a compiled map with no ground control. The polygons were drawn on a 1:1 million Operational Navigation Chart, using contour lines to demarcate areas. The soil moisture and temperature regimes were estimated using a water-balance model and climatic data for 33 stations. These moisture and temperature zones were demarcated on the topographic maps. Within each climatic zone, prominent landforms were demarcated. Using the few published soil information and information from neighboring countries, soil associations were allocated to the polygons."
These are overviews of the land and human resources of several countries, in a semi- uniform format. General soils information (not downloadable, not useful as digital data) are available for:
A project of the French IRD; work in progress. For soil maps, select L'hyper atlas (twice), and then Provinces : Tien Giang and finally Les cartes: Pédologie.
Australia & New Zealand; Pacific Islands
Australian Soil Resources Information System
(ASRIS)
"[P]rovides online access to the best available soil and land resource information in a consistent format across the country. ASRIS has been developed for a broad range of users including natural resource managers, educational institutions, planners, researchers, and community groups"
A digital version of the set of ten maps of the 'Atlas of Australian Soils, Sheets 1 to 10, with explanatory data', compiled by K H Northcote et al. in 1960 - 68 and published by CSIRO and Melbourne University Press. The Digital Atlas was created by the National Resource Information Centre (NRIC), now Science Secretariat within the Bureau of Rural Sciences in 1991 from scanned tracings of the published hardcopy maps, which were at a scale of 1:2 000 000, although it is known that original compilation work was done at 1:250 000 and 1:500 000.
"A centralised repository of information, eliminating
duplication of effort by storing all of NSW's soil and land
information in a single system where it can be used to enhance
sustainable land use and management decision making".
Contains about 50,000 points with their descriptions, locations,
physical and chemical attributes. Price ranges from free
(small-scale) to reasonable (for commercial use).
The profiles are available via the
SPADE web-based information system.
Completed soil survey reports are available for downloading; maps
must be ordered in analog form for now.
Everything that you might want to know about natural resources in Victoria, including a directory of published soil surveys; however, no on-line soil maps or downloadable data.
This excellent information is only available as PDF files (pictures), not as GIS coverages. Contact information is given for some maps. There is a nice demo of the ASSESS Decision Support System, but no live data.
"A web-based GIS that allows cotton growers, farm managers, consultants, extension staff, researchers, state and federal government agency personnel and policy analysts access to digital biophysical data (e.g. soil, water and hydrological properties) collected and generated as part of a series of Cotton Research and Development Corporation projectsUnderstanding the salinity threat in the irrigated cotton growing areas of Australia.
About 100,000 polygons covering all of NZ, each of which describes a parcel of land in terms of rock, soil, slope, erosion, and vegetation. Includes Land Use Capability (LUC) assessments. Intended for planning at national, regional, district and catchment levels. Does not seem to be available on-line.
A pedon database containing descriptions of about 1 500 soil profiles along with their chemical, physical, and mineralogical properties. The procedures manual is available for download. Data does not seem to be available on-line.
This will be an integrated portal to soils, land, and biological information.
This is a new digital mapping effort, which will integrate mapping and interpretations: "S-map is a new digital soil spatial information system for New Zealand [which] will ... provide consistent and comprehensive national soil data layers to support applications at local, regional to national scales. It builds on previous soil mapping by filling gaps with new mapping and upgrading the information content and associated database to meet a new national standard. The S-map database will ... contain predominantly new digital data at a scale that will resolve hill slopes (1:50 000 scale)."
Circum(North)polar
The polar regions are of tremendous significance for global processes, and the soil is the interface where most of the action is.
Soil
Atlas of the Northern Circumpolar Region
"The result of a three-year collaborative project with partners from northern EU countries, as well as Norway, Iceland, Greenland, Canada, the USA and Russia and gives a detailed overview of circumpolar soil resources relevant also to agriculture, forest management, water management, land use planning, infrastructure and housing and energy transport networks."
The atlas can be downloaded as PDF but unfortunately not the GIS coverages.
Antarctica
Amazing but true -- soil science extends to the ends of the earth.
On-line Ross Sea Region GIS
From Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research (NZ) New Zealand Soils Portal. "Interactive maps of Ross Sea region data for scientists, Antarctic managers and Antarctic enthusiasts"; includes site and soil profile data from 35 years of soil studies. This is organised as an interactive map; the digital coverages and databases are supplied on request.
"Data include site information, air and soil temperature measurements, soil profile features, and surface boulder weathering features for 482 sites in the McMurdo Sound area of Antarctica" Hosted by the Frozen Ground Data Center, University of Colorado.
Sub-Saharan Africa
European Digital Archive of Soil Maps (EuDASM) -- Africa
More than 200 maps scanned from ISRIC-World Soil Information's map collection; part of the EuDASM project of the Soil & Waste Unit of the EU. A tremendous resource of historical data. Not georeferenced but most maps have overprinted grids to allow user geo-referencing
Land and natural resource information for Burundi, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda.
Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and Rwanda. 90 m Space Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM) digital elevation data were used to derive the different landform units and to generate terrain information.
In 1995 the Republic of Kenya compiled a geo-referenced Soils and Terrain database at a 1:1,000,000 scale in accordance with the SOTER methodology, for national and local agricultural planning purposes. This KenSOTER database is now available in PC Arc/Info Export format, together with (part of) the SOTER attribute data
Land and natural resource information for Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland and the United Republic of Tanzania.
This is a compilation legacy soil profile data of Sub Saharan Africa, as a project activity of the AfSIS project. Africa Soil Profiles database, v. 1.0 (January 2012) contains 15 700 soil profiles from a wide variety of data sources, and carefully harmonized.
These are overviews of the land and human resources of several countries, in a semi- uniform format. General soils information (not downloadable, not useful as digital data) are available for:
South African Natural Resource Atlas (including soils) on-line web map, part of the
Agricultural Geo-referenced Information System (AGIS)
Click on the "Natural Resources Atlas" link to get started, and then make the "general soils" theme active.
"The Agricultural Geo-referenced Information System (AGIS) strives to offer a one-stop information service for the agricultural sector in South Africa. Using interactive WEB-based applications, AGIS provides access to spatial information (maps), industry specific information and decision support tools."
Uses ArcIMS to present the maps; the information given is right out of the associated database tables.
The GIS coverages themselves do not seem to be available for download (yet?) This is based on the earlier Land Type Survey of South Africa, from the the South African Institute for Soil, Climate and Water (ISCW), which was a monumental effort to map the country at 1:250k based on terrain and climate units, with soil assocations. Some results are shown in the ESRI Map Book Gallery; this survey does not seem to be available on-line, although map sheets are available from ISCW.
"An information management unit serving Somali administrations, non-governmental organisations, development agencies and UN organisations engaged in assisting Somali communities whose lives depend directly on water and land resources."
Soils, lithology, land use, elevation, etc. all as high-resolution PDF files. Some of the digital data on which these were based is catalogued by the SWALIM Geonetwork; no open downloads that I could find, you have to contact the project.
HAPEX Sahel Information System
A comprehensive, detailed database of research on a 1x1 degree area in the Sahel undertaken by the the Hydrology-Atmosphere Pilot Experiment in the Sahel, 1990-1992. Thanks to their open data policy, you can access the results of experiments on soil physics (water flux, heat flux, structure) as well as many other environmental parameters.
"HAPEX is an international land-surface-atmosphere observation program that was undertaken in western Niger, in the west African Sahel region. The overall aims were to improve our understanding of the role of the Sahel on the general circulation, in particular the effects of the large interannual fluctuations of land surface conditions in this region and, in turn, to develop ideas about how the general circulation is related to the persistent droughts that have affected the Sahel during the last 25 years. The field program obtained measurements of atmospheric, surface and certain sub-surface processes in a 1deg x1deg area that incorporates examples of many of the major land surface types found throughout the Sahel."
A new approach to making soil maps, proposed by S. Guillobez, F. Borne and P. Fol of Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement (CIRAD), Centre du Télédétection. This uses an innovative technique and software for image analysis, based on the PAysages a PRiori (PAPRI) methodology developed in the 1970's by INRA Montpellier.
"In Ermangelung einer flächendeckenden Bodenkartierung mit hinreichend räumlicher und attributiver Auflösung, einer wesentlichen Datengrundlage für eine weiterführende landschaftsökologische Beurteilung des Untersuchungsgebietes, wurde ein Datenmodell erstellt, um die räumliche Verteilung von Bodenassoziationen aus vorhandenen Informationen abzuleiten."
Mediterranean Africa, Near East, and Caucasus
with illustrative photos; part of the Soils of the Arid Regions of the United States and Israel project of the International Arid Lands Consortium. Also includes a legend in Hebrew.
These are overviews of the land and human resources of several countries, in a semi- uniform format. General soils information (not downloadable, not useful as digital data) are available for:
European Digital Archive of Soil Maps (EuDASM) -- Africa (includes N. Africa)
European Digital Archive of Soil Maps (EuDASM) -- Asia (includes Turkey and the Near East)
Other collections
These are overviews of the land and human resources of regions or countries, in a semi- uniform format.
ISRIC-World Soil Information soil data
Extraterrestrial
So far the only soils studies are from our nearest neighbours, the Moon and Mars. Several other planets have studied, but don't have any soil in any sense of the word. Unfortunately, these links don't contain any digital data.
| Author: D G Rossiter |
URL:
http://www.itc.nl/personal/rossiter/research/rsrch_ss_digital.html
|
| E-Mail: rossiter@itc.nl | Last modified: Thu Jan 3 17:16:35 EST 2013 |
| Disclaimer |
