Report on the activities of the

Digital Soil Mapping Working Group

Endre Dobos

„Emerging soil protection policy need timely and reliable soil information”

„Soil information is ageing and still not completely available”

Driving forces

Joint work plan of JRC/ESBN/EEA

… Digital soil functional mapping

„Define a route map to implement steps to digital soil functional mapping”

The WG was founded at the ESBN Plenary meeting held in Ispra, November, 2004

…to serve as an advisory board for inventorying and monitoring soil properties and functions needed to support the planned legislative proposal for the protection of soil

(Soil Framework Directive).

• To advise ESBN/JRC on Digital soil mapping activities• To identify potential data sources, database formats for

the state of the art soil information systems of Europe• To advise on database harmonization and database

building for traditional and digital soil survey needs• To communicate the results and techniques of DSM

towards soil science community and data users• To define the needs for digital soil functional mapping, its

terminology and framework to be setup.

Specific goals of the WG

The most recent mandates

• Update, refine the 1:1 M scale soil map.

• Digital soil information

• Soil Function information

The work has been organized into two work meetings.

• The first meeting was held in April 7-8, 2005 in Miskolc, Hungary – to launch the working group activities, – to specify the concrete tasks, actions– to define the terminology of soil functional

mapping– to define a work plan needed to fulfill the

mandate of the WG.

The road map defined on this meeting:

• To create a state of the art report on digital soil mapping: its tools, data needs, quality measures and data validation techniques. – The first draft of this report was to be ready for the second

meeting in Prague for review by the group. The final version was to be presented to EEA and JRC by mid November.

• To develop a technical work plan with concrete specifications of the data/model availability and needs, estimated output data accuracy, and financial and organizational needs to run the test and run the models. – following the conclusions and specifications of the state of the

art DSM report and the Soil Information Working Group (SIWG) report. This task depends on the inputs from the SIWG and to be completed in 2006.

The second meeting was held in October 13-14, 2005, Prague.

The major goals of the meeting were: – to finalize the State of the art DSM book chapters,

(the chapters are accessible from the website of the Soils and waste Unit)

– to conclude the major tasks identified by the subgroups/chapter authors and review,

– to comment and complement the SIWG report with a proposal of DSM procedure able to support the needs/requirements/specifications identified by the report for the five soil threats.

– to harmonize the terminology of the major terms with the EEA

Definitions of DSMsDigital Soil MapRepresentation of georeferenced soil database - stored in digital form - displaying the spatial distribution of soil types and/or soil properties (can be also a map coming from the digitization of existing soil map/soil properties map).

Digital Soil MappingA procedure using mathematical and/or statistical techniques to produce georeferenced soil database (digital soil maps) with the assistance of computer tools, using soil data and auxiliary information.

Primary soil properties/soil classesMeasured and observed data available from original soil survey

Secondary soil propertiesData derived from primary properties using a property inference system

Definitions of soil properties/classes

Spatial inference Using a soil-landscape model (set of procedure) to derive soil properties and soil classes using soil information and auxiliary data, known as soil-landscape (“scorpan”) models.

Properties inferenceThe procedure to derive secondary soil properties (using pedotransfer functions)

Definitions of Inferences

Soil functions Ecologic and socio-economic roles of soil (as defined in the COM179(2002)).

Soil threatsDisturbing processes from human activity leading to soil degradation (as defined in the COM179(2002)).

Definitions of functions & threats

Definition of DSFMDigital (Soil-related) Functional Mapping (according to EEA?)Digital map displaying results coming out from scenario testing or risk assessment (information easy to use for practical purposes). (what-if questions..?)

Some examples of Digital Soil Functional Mapsa) A map of soil threat

- soil erosion riskb) A map for amelioration - lime requirement mapc) All Digital Maps representing functions of soil…

Digital (soil-related) Functional Mapping

• Functional maps– A soil database (a complex document) usable in its

current form to any further application, due to its complex description of how it was derived, what accuracy does it have (metadata), how to interpret, what it can be used for.

– Easy to use for practical purposes, multifunctional• The structure of information needed to fully describe a map

for users outside of the data developers is to be developped

Link with SIWG

Digital soil mapping: The basis for digital soil functional mapping

(Report outline)• Introduction • Background information, rational, goals, of the DSMWG• Key concepts (glossary and the framework)• Targeted clients, potential data users, policy relevance• State of the art of DSM• Soil data and auxiliary information • DSM models • Accuracy • Visualization• Mapping soil functions and threats: some case studies • Definition of soil functions and threats• Land suitability • Modelling environmental issues • Assessing soil pollution by heavy metals • Modelling soil erosion • Pedotransfer rules in environmental monitoring • SOM • Conclusion • We need data, we need specification• Research needs• The road towards soil functional mapping• Soil function WG

Road map to the future

• Chapters to be finalized by the end of October, 2005

• Final report to be provided to JRC and EEA by mid November, 2005

• Inputs on soil function mapping and soil threat mapping needs, their specifications regarding to the optimal scale and content are needed from the Soil Information Working Group and from the suggested Soil Threat WG. (Early 2006)

Road map to the future• To develop a technical work plan with concrete

specifications of the data/model availability and needs, estimated output data accuracy, and financial and organizational needs to run the test and run the models. – (following the conclusions and specifications of the state of the art DSM

report and the Soil Information Working Group (SIWG) report). This task depends on the inputs from the SIWG and to be completed in 2006.

• To test the data description protocol for functional data usage and handling (digital functional mapping) (2006- )

Road map to the future

• Identification of the research issues needed to achieve the data development tasks identified by the SIWG and the Soil Threat WG. Suggested outline for a research call! (2006)

• Two working group meetings to be held in 2006 to achieve the goals specified above

• A Blue Print of the European Digital Spatial Soil Inference System to be outlined (2006)

Recommendations

• A wish list of optimal soil data for soil function and threat mapping is needed to be specified by the specialist of these fields. These inputs are crucial for our work. – We recommend maintaining the support of the Soil Information

Working Group with a mandate to define the optimal data needs for surveying, delineating risk areas connected to the five spatially linked soil threats.

– We recommend setting up a new working group on soil functions with the mandate to define and specify the input data needs to describe and analyze soil functions for environmental modeling, scenario testing on the European scale.

• These two working group in cooperation with the DSM WG can define the future road map to follow in soil data development to support the needs of the European Commission.

1. Research is needed to test and compare the existing data and models for further use. ESBN, JRC and EEA is asked to lobby for a research call on soil database development on a EU scale

2. The WG would assist with the definition of the research needs, framework and specifications of a future research project for DSM and data development supporting soil protection and related environmental issues.

3. Gather new primary data

Recommendations