Southern Africa Soil Profile Data from ISRIC-WISE

A 1995 dataset containing a homogenized subset of 1,125 global soil profiles, with a focus on southern Africa. It was compiled by ISRIC-WISE from profiles sourced from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (665), the Food and Agriculture Organization (250), and ISRIC's own reference collection (210). All profiles are georeferenced and classified according to FAO-UNESCO soil legends.

Use Cases

• Analyzing soil horizon data like texture, structure, and chemistry for agricultural suitability studies.
• Mapping soil classification across southern Africa using FAO-UNESCO legend codes.
• Modeling soil carbon or emission potentials using standardized profile data from multiple sources.
• Correlating site data and terrain elevation with soil properties such as pH and bulk density.

Strengths

• Contains 1,125 homogenized soil profiles, providing a substantial basis for modeling.
• Profiles are georeferenced and classified using two standardized FAO-UNESCO soil legends (1974 and 1988).
• Data is sourced from three authoritative institutions: NRCS, FAO, and ISRIC.

Limitations

• Conflicting metadata: one source lists a last update in 2026, while another indicates the dataset is from 1995.
• Specific column names and the exact row count for the southern African subset are not provided by any platform.

Provenance

Source

International Soil Reference and Information Centre - World Inventory of Soil Emission Potentials (ISRIC-WISE), with contributions from NRCS and FAO.

Collection Method

Homogenization of selected soil profiles from institutional collections.

Time Range

1995

Freshness

1995-12-31 23:59:59.999000

Geography

Southern Africa (subset of a global dataset).