Global Soil Map With Derived Chemical And Physical Properties

Digital Soil Map of the World originates from the FAO/UNESCO Soil Map of the World at a scale of 1:5 million. It provides vector and raster data on soil characteristics, including pH, organic carbon content, and soil moisture storage capability. The dataset was compiled by FAO/UNESCO and is distributed via CEOS_EXTRA on the NASA Earthdata platform.

Use Cases

• Modeling soil moisture storage capability for regional water resource and drought assessment.
• Analyzing pH and organic carbon content data to study soil fertility and carbon sequestration potential.
• Mapping dominant soil types by continent using the included ArcView files for land use planning.
• Integrating derived soil properties with climate data for crop yield prediction models.

Strengths

• Based on the authoritative FAO/UNESCO Soil Map of the World.
• Includes derived properties like pH and organic carbon content.
• Available in multiple GIS-compatible formats including vector and raster.

Limitations

• Original map scale of 1:5 million limits fine-grained local analysis.
• Derived properties are modeled from the map, not direct measurements.
• Data recency is unknown; soil conditions may have changed.

Provenance

Source

FAO/UNESCO Soil Map of the World.

Collection Method

Digitized from the paper map, with derived properties calculated from map units.

Geography

Global.