WISE - Global Soil Profile Data, version 3.1

A homogenized, global set of 1,125 soil profiles is presented. These profiles have been extracted from the database developed at ISRIC for a project on "World Inventory of Soil Emission Potentials" (WISE), as a contribution to the activities of the Global Soils Data Task Group of IGBP-DIS. The subset consists of a selection of 665 profiles originating from digital data files released by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS, Lincoln), 250 profiles obtained from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO, Rome), and 210 profiles from the reference collection of the International Soil Reference and Information Centre (ISRIC, Wageningen). All profiles are georeferenced and classified in the FAO-Unesco Legend whereby they can be linked to the edited and digital version of the FAO-Unesco Soil Map of the World. This data set is being released in the public domain for use by global modellers and other interested scientists. It is envisaged that the data set will be expanded by ISRIC when new, uniform soil profile data become available. Note: a) A more recent version (some 10,000 profiles) of WISE profiles is available at: http://data.isric.org/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/a351682c-330a-4995-a5a1-57ad160e621c (2009) b) For a larger compilation see the WoSIS database: http://isric.org/explore/wosis (2017)

This harmonized, gridded global data set of soil parameter estimates includes files listing: (1) soil parameter estimates for the component soil units of each terrestrial grid cell, in un-binned format, and (2) soil parameter estimates aggregated or binned into a number of predefined classes. The spatial data, with a resolution of ½ by ½ degree, was derived from the ISRIC-WISE soil database. The land surface between longitudes -180o W and +180o E and latitudes +90o N and -90o S has been characterized using 45948 unique map units; each of these can comprise from one to ten soil units, characterized according to the original legend of the 1:5 million scale Soil Map of the World (FAO-Unesco 1974). Soil parameter estimates for each of these units were derived from analyses of some 9600 profiles held in a working copy of WISE (ver. 2.0). Twenty-two soil variables, identified as being useful for agro-ecological zoning, land evaluation, crop growth simulation, modelling of soil gaseous emissions and analyses of global environmental change, were considered. Parameter estimates for the topsoil (0-30 cm) and the subsoil (30-100 cm) are presented for the following variables: content of organic carbon, total nitrogen, the C/N ratio, pH(H2O), CECsoil, CECclay, base saturation, total exchangeable bases, aluminum saturation, exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP), electrical conductivity of saturated paste (ECe), calcium carbonate content, gypsum content, content of sand, silt and clay, content of fragments less than 2 mm, bulk density, total porosity. For soil drainage class, effective soil depth, and available water capacity (-10 to -1500 kPa), however, parameter estimates are presented on a profile basis. The parameter estimates - median values - presented here should be seen as best estimates; possible types and sources of uncertainty are discussed in the report. The data are considered appropriate for exploratory studies at global scale (greater than 1:5 000 000). Note: A more recent assessment, at a resolution of 30arcsec (WISE30sec), is available at: http://data.isric.org/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/dc7b283a-8f19-45e1-aaed-e9bd515119bc

This harmonized dataset of derived soil properties for the world (WISE30sec) is comprised of a soil-geographical and a soil attribute component. The GIS dataset was created using the soil map unit delineations of the broad scale Harmonised World Soil Database, version 1.21, with minor corrections, overlaid by a climate zones map (Köppen-Geiger) as co-variate, and soil property estimates derived from analyses of the ISRIC-WISE soil profile database for the respective mapped ‘soil/climate’ combinations. The dataset considers 20 soil properties that are commonly required for global agro-ecological zoning, land evaluation, crop growth simulation, modelling of soil gaseous emissions, and analyses of global environmental change. It presents ‘best’ estimates for: organic carbon content, total nitrogen, C/N ratio, pH(H2O), CECsoil, CECclay, effective CEC, total exchangeable bases (TEB), base saturation, aluminium saturation, calcium carbonate content, gypsum content, exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP), electrical conductivity, particle size distribution (content of sand, silt and clay), proportion of coarse fragments (less than 2 mm), bulk density, and available water capacity (-33 to -1500 kPa); also the dominant soil drainage class. Soil property estimates are presented for fixed depth intervals of 20 cm up to a depth of 100 cm, respectively of 50 cm between 100 cm to 200 cm (or less when appropriate) for so-called ‘synthetic’ profiles’ (as defined by their ‘soil/climate’ class). The respective soil property estimates were derived from statistical analyses of data for some 21,000 soil profiles managed in a working copy of the ISRIC-WISE database; this was done using an elaborate scheme of taxonomy-based transfer rules complemented with expert-rules that consider the ‘in-pedon’ consistency of the predictions. The type of rules used was flagged to provide an indication of the possible confidence (i.e. lineage) in the derived data. Best estimates for each attribute are given as means and standard deviations (STD), as calculated for the sample populations that remained upon application of a robust data outlier detection scheme. Results of the analyses can be linked to the spatial data through the unique map unit (grid cell) identifier, which is a combination of the soil unit and climate class code. Most map units are comprised of up to ten different components; each of these with their own range of derived soil properties and associated statistical uncertainties. Estimates of global soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks to 200 cm are presented in the technical documentation as an example of possible application. For citation use: Batjes NH 2016. Harmonised soil property values for broad-scale modelling (WISE30sec) with estimates of global soil carbon stocks. Geoderma 2016(269), 61-68 ( http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2016.01.034 ) Note: The chemical and physical soil property estimates generated for WISE30sec have been used to populate version 2.0 of the Harmonised World Soil Database (see https://data.isric.org/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/54aebf11-ec73-4ff8-bf6c-ecff4b0725ea).

Version 1.2 of describes a harmonized dataset of derived soil properties for the world. It was created using the soil distribution shown on the 1:5 million scale FAO-Unesco Soil Map of the World (DSMW), rasterised at 5 by 5 arcminutes, and soil property estimates derived from the ISRIC-WISE soil profile database, version 3.1. The dataset considers 19 soil variables that are commonly required for agro-ecological zoning, land evaluation, crop growth simulation, modelling of soil gaseous emissions, and analyses of global environmental change. It presents ‘best’ estimates for: soil drainage class, organic carbon content, total nitrogen, C/N ratio, pH (H2O), CECsoil, CECclay, effective CEC, base saturation, aluminium saturation, calcium carbonate content, gypsum content, exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP), electrical conductivity, particle size distribution (i.e. content of sand, silt and clay), content of coarse fragments (less than 2 mm), bulk density, and available water capacity (-33 to -1500 kPa). These estimates are presented by FAO soil unit for fixed depth intervals of 20 cm up to 100 cm depth (or less when appropriate) for so-called virtual profiles. The associated soil property values were derived from analyses of some 10,250 profiles held in WISE using a scheme of taxonomy-based taxotransfer rules complemented with expert-rules. The type of rules used to derive the various soil property values have been flagged in the database to provide an indication of the possible confidence in the derived data. Most map units on the DSMW are complex, comprising up to eight different soil units. Assessments and model applications that use the derived soil properties therefore should consider the full map unit composition and depth range. The soil property values presented here should be seen as best estimates based on the current selection of soil profiles in WISE, the procedure for clustering the measured data, taxotransfer scheme used for deriving soil, properties, and the spatial data of the digital Soil Map of the World. The derived information may be used for exploratory assessments at a broad scale (greater than 1:5 million; 5 by 5 arcminutes and coarser), pending the global update of the information on world soil resources at more detailed scales, upon due consideration of the underlying generalisations and assumptions. Note: A more recent assessment, at a resolution of 30arcsec (WISE30sec), is available at: http://data.isric.org/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/dc7b283a-8f19-45e1-aaed-e9bd515119bc

The aim of the World Soil Information Service (WoSIS) is to serve quality-assessed, geo-referenced soil data (point, polygon, and grid) to the international community upon their standardisation and harmonisation. So far, the focus has been on developing procedures for legacy point data with special attention to the selection of soil analytical and physical properties considered in the GlobalSoilMap specifications (e.g. organic carbon, soil pH, soil texture (sand, silt, and clay), coarse fragments ( greater than  2 mm), cation exchange capacity, electrical conductivity, bulk density, and water holding capacity). Profile data managed in WoSIS were contributed by a wide range of soil data providers; the data have been described, sampled, and analysed according to methods and standards in use in the originating countries. Hence, special attention was paid to measures for soil data quality and the standardisation of soil property definitions, soil property values, and soil analytical method descriptions. At the time of writing, the full WoSIS database contained some 118 400 unique shared soil profiles, of which some 96 000 are geo-referenced within defined limits. In total, this corresponds with over 31 million soil records, of which some 20 % have so far been quality-assessed and standardised using the sequential procedure discussed in this paper. The number of measured data for each property varies between profiles and with depth, generally depending on the purpose of the initial studies. Overall, the data lineage strongly determined which data could be standardised with acceptable confidence in accord with WoSIS procedures, corresponding to over 4 million records for 94 441 profiles. The downloadable ZIP file has the data in TSV (tab separated values). It contains the following files: - ReadmeFirst_WoSIS_2016.pdf (148.1 KB) - wosis_201607_attributes.txt (4.1 KB) - wosis_201607_layers.txt (679.1 MB) - wosis_201607_profiles.txt (8.8 MB) Citation: Batjes NH, Ribeiro E, van Oostrum A, Leenaars J, and Mendes de Jesus J 2016. Standardised soil profile data for the world (WoSIS, July 2016 snapshot), doi:10.17027/isric-wdcsoils.20160003. The dataset accompanies the following data paper: Batjes NH, Ribeiro E, van Oostrum A, Leenaars J, Hengl T, and Mendes de Jesus J 2017. WoSIS: Providing standardised soil profile data for the world, Earth System Science Data 9, 1-14, doi:10.5194/essd-9-1-2017.

This harmonized set of soil parameter estimates for Central and Eastern Europe has been derived from a revised version of the 1:2.5M Soil and Terrain (SOTER) Database for Central and Eastern Europe (SOVEUR ver. 1.1) and the ISRIC-WISE soil profile database. The land surface of Central and Eastern Europe, West of the Ural Mountains, has been characterized using 8361 unique maps or SOTER units. The corresponding GIS files include some 9500 mapped polygons, including miscellaneous units. The major soils have been described using 662 profiles, selected by national soil experts as being representative for these units. The associated soil analytical data have been derived from soil survey reports. These sources seldom hold all the physical and chemical attributes ideally required by SOTER. Gaps in the measured soil profile data have been filled using a procedure that uses taxotransfer rules, based on about 9600 soil profiles held in the WISE database, complemented with expert-rules. Parameter estimates are presented by soil unit for fixed depth intervals of 0.2 m to 1 m depth for: organic carbon, total nitrogen, pH(H2O), CECsoil, CECclay, base saturation, effective CEC, aluminium saturation, CaCO3 content, gypsum content, exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP), electrical conductivity of saturated paste (ECe), bulk density, content of sand, silt and clay, content of coarse fragments (less than 2 mm), and available water capacity (-33 to -1500 kPa). These attributes have been identified as being useful for agro-ecological zoning, land evaluation, crop growth simulation, modelling of soil carbon stocks and change, and analyses of global environmental change. The current parameter estimates should be seen as best estimates based on the current selection of soil profiles and data clustering procedure; taxotransfer rules have been flagged to provide an indication of the confidence in the derived data. Results are presented as summary files and can be linked to the 1:2.5M scale SOVEUR map in a GIS, through the unique SOTER-unit code. The secondary data are considered appropriate for studies at the continental scale (greater than1:2.5 million); correlation of soil analytical data should be done more rigorously when more detailed scientific work is considered.