BOREAS TE-20 NSA Soil Lab Data: Physical and Chemical Properties

Hugo Veldhuis and Barry Goetz led the collection and analysis of soil samples from tower flux sites in the Northern Study Area. This dataset provides benchmark references for soil attributes, including detailed measurements of bulk density, carbon fractions, cation exchange capacity, and water content at specific pressures. Laboratory analysis was performed on selected modal soils to characterize common physical and chemical properties in the Boreal Forest.

Use Cases

• Modeling soil carbon storage based on total, organic, and inorganic carbon measurements.
• Assessing soil fertility and nutrient availability from exchangeable cation data (sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, hydrogen).
• Estimating soil water retention characteristics using water content data at 0.01, 0.033, and 1.5 MPa.
• Classifying soil texture and structure from particle size distribution and bulk density.
• Calibrating remote sensing or flux tower data with ground-truthed soil pH and electrical conductivity.

Strengths

• Provides detailed, laboratory-analyzed benchmark data for soil characterization.
• Cross-platform presence on Data.gov and NASA EarthData signals its importance and validation.
• Analysis was supervised by domain experts (Dr. Harold Rostad, Hugo Veldhuis) at recognized institutions.

Limitations

• Column names and exact row/sample counts are unspecified, limiting precise assessment of scope.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates (2026-03-13 on Data.gov vs. 1994-12-31 on NASA EarthData) create uncertainty about data currency.
• License is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' without clear terms.

Provenance

Source

University of Manitoba (sample collection), University of Saskatchewan and Centre for Land and Biological Resources Research (lab analysis), NASA.

Collection Method

Field collection of surface and subsurface soil samples followed by detailed laboratory analysis.

Freshness

Conflicting: 2026-03-13 (Data.gov) or 1994-12-31 (NASA EarthData).

Geography

Tower flux sites in the NSA (Northern Study Area), likely within the BOREAS project region.