This data set provides gridded data for selected soil parameters derived from data and methods developed by the Global Soil Data Task, an international collaborative project with the objective of making accurate and appropriate data relating to soil properties accessible to the global change research community. The task was coordinated by the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP-DIS). The data in this data set were produced by the International Satellite Land-Surface Climatology Project, Initiative II (ISLSCP II) staff from data obtained from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Distributed Active Archive Center (ORNL DAAC, http://daac.ornl.gov/). See the related data sets section below. Two-dimensional gridded maps of selected soil parameters, including soil texture, at a 1.0 by 1.0 degree spatial resolution and for two soil depths are provided. All data layers have been adjusted to match the ISLSCP II land/water mask. There are 36 data files with this data set.

The World Inventory of Soil Emission Potentials (WISE) database currently contains data for over 4300 soil profiles collected mostly between 1950 and 1995. This database has been used to generate a series of uniform data sets of derived soil properties for each of the 106 soil units considered in the Soil Map of the World (FAO-UNESCO, 1974). These data sets were then linked to a 1/2 degree longitude by 1/2 degree latitude version of the edited and digital Soil Map of the World (FAO, 1995) to generate GIS raster image files for the following variables: Total available water capacity (mm water per 1 m soil depth) soil organic carbon density (kg C/m**2 for 0-30cm depth range) soil organic carbon density (kg C/m**2 for 0-100cm depth range) soil carbonate carbon density (kg C/m**2 for 0-100cm depth range) soil pH (0-30 cm depth range) soil pH (30-100 cm depth range) Data Citation: The data set should be cited as follows: Batjes, N. H. (ed). 2000. Global Data Set of Derived Soil Properties, 0.5-Degree Grid (ISRIC-WISE). Available on-line from Oak Ridge National Laboratory Distributed Active Archive Center, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, U.S.A.

The Global Gridded Surfaces of Selected Soil Characteristics (IGBP-DIS) data set contains 7 data surfaces: soil-carbon density, total nitrogen density, field capacity, wilting point, profile available water capacity, thermal capacity, and bulk density. All the surfaces are global, at a resolution of 5x5 arc-minutes, in ASCIIGRID format for ARC INFO. Each file contains a single ASCII array in a geographic (lat/long) projection. The ascii files consist of header information containing a set of keywords, followed by cell values in row-major order. These data surfaces were generated by the SoilData System, which was developed by the Global Soil Data Task of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) Data and Information Services (DIS). The SoilData System generates soil information and maps for geographic regions at soil depths and resolutions selected by the user. Derived surfaces of selected soil characteristics are suitable for modeling and inventory purposes. The data surfaces are also distributed as part of the Global Soil Data Products CD-ROM. The SoilData System uses a statistical bootstrapping approach to link the pedon records in the Global Pedon Database to the FAO/UNESCO Digital Soil Map of the World. It can generate maps and output data sets for a range of original and derived soil parameters, such as carbon and nitrogen density, thermal conductivity, and water-holding capacity, for any part of the world at user-selected depth ranges. The digital output can be at any resolution (in increments of 5').

This data set provides high-resolution estimates of the thickness of the permeable layers above bedrock (soil, regolith, and sedimentary deposits) within a global 30-arcsecond (~1-km) grid using the best available data for topography, climate, and geology as input. These data are modeled to represent estimated thicknesses by landform type for the geological present.

The International Soil Reference and Information Centre-World Inventory of Soil Emission Potentials (ISRIC-WISE) international soil profile data set consists of a homogenized, global set of 1,125 soil profiles for use by global modelers. These profiles provided the basis for the Global Pedon Database (GPDB) of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) - Data and Information System (DIS). The data set consists of a selection of 665 profiles originating from 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 according to the 1974 Legend of the FAO-UNESCO Soil Map (FAC-UNESCO, 1974) of the World, as well as the 1988 Revised Legend of FAO-UNESCO (FAO, 1990). The data set includes information on soil classification, site data, soil horizon data, source of data, and methods used for determining analytical data. The data files are in a comma-delimited format. Data Citation: The data set should be cited as follows: Batjes, N. H. (ed). 2000. Global Soil Profile Data (ISRIC-WISE). Available on-line from the ORNL Distributed Active Archive Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, U.S.A.