HC27: 27 Generic Soil Profiles for Crop Modeling

A set of 27 generic soil profiles developed by John Dimes and Jawoo Koo of the International Food Policy Research Institute. The profiles were generated based on three criteria crop models are most responsive to: texture, rooting depth, and organic carbon content. They were classified using boundary conditions derived from a meta-analysis of WISE 1.1 soil profiles measured in Sub-Saharan African cropland areas.

Use Cases

• Select a representative soil profile for a study area based on texture, rooting depth, and organic carbon content.
• Run crop models with all 27 profiles to generate a range of possible simulation results for a given site.
• Use generic profiles as a starting point for modeling when detailed, site-specific soil data is not available.

Strengths

• Profiles are based on a meta-analysis of measured soil data from Sub-Saharan African croplands.
• Designed around three key criteria (texture, rooting depth, organic carbon) known to be highly responsive in crop models.
• Provides 27 distinct generic profiles to represent a range of soil conditions.

Limitations

• Row count and specific column-level documentation are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The generic nature means it is not suitable for applications requiring detailed soil property dynamics beyond the three core criteria.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Provenance

Source

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Collection Method

Generated based on boundary conditions from a meta-analysis of the WISE 1.1 soil profile database.

Geography

Profiles are based on data from Sub-Saharan African cropland areas, but are intended as generic representations.