Latin American Soil Organic Carbon Estimates with Uncertainty

NASA provides 5x5 km gridded estimates of soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks across Latin America. The dataset was created using an ensemble of five statistical methods applied to point measurements from the WoSIS system and environmental covariates. It includes both country-specific and regional-scale predictions along with associated uncertainty layers.

Use Cases

• Modeling national carbon budgets using the country-specific SOC stock estimates (kg/m2).
• Assessing regional soil health trends by analyzing the gridded predictions for the 1980-2000s period.
• Quantifying prediction uncertainty for policy planning using the provided error estimates.
• Calibrating Earth system models with spatially explicit soil organic carbon data.

Strengths

• Data is derived from an ensemble of five statistical modeling methods (regression Kriging, random forest, etc.).
• Includes spatially explicit uncertainty estimates for both country and regional model predictions.
• Provides estimates at a consistent 5x5 km grid resolution across all of Latin America.

Limitations

• Conflicting last updated dates: Data.gov lists 2026-03 12, while NASA Earthdata lists 2018-06-14.
• Specific row/record counts and file sizes are not provided on any platform.
• The dataset is representative of the 1980-2000s period, not current conditions.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Modeling ensemble applied to point soil characterization data from the WoSIS system and environmental prediction factors.

Time Range

1980-2000s

Freshness

2026-03-12 21:22:28.222336

Geography

Latin America