Global Soil Organic Carbon Estimates

Global estimates of soil organic carbon stocks have been produced in the past to support the calculation of potential emissions of CO2 from the soil under scenarios of change land use/cover and climatic conditions.
Global Soil Organic Carbon Estimates
Resource Type: 
Datasets
Soil Threats Data
Registration is requested: 
Yes
Author - Contributors: 
R. Hiederer, M. Köchy
Publisher: 
Joint Research Centre of the European Commission
Year: 
2012
Themes: 
Soil Organic Carbon Content

Metadata:

Description: Global estimates of soil organic carbon stocks (t/ha) in topsoil 0-30cm.

Data: Global Organic carbon density (t ha-1) for the topsoil (0 – 30cm) and the subsoil layer (30 – 100cm) from the amended Harmonised World Soil Database.

Resolution: The Global Soil Organic Carbon estimates are available in 2 different grid resolutions (ZIP compression):

  • Raster layer with resolution of 30 arc second (which corresponds to a grid size of approx. 1km x 1km at the Equator
  • Raster layer with resolution of 5 arc minute (which corresponds to a grid size of approx. 9km x 9km at the Equator)

Format: The data are in Idrisi format.

Last update: March 2012

Information about the data: Global Soil Organic Carbon Estimates 

The dataset was prepared for publication by: Roland Hiederer

Global Soil Organic Carbon Estimates

Global estimates of soil organic carbon stocks have been produced in the past to support the calculation of potential emissions of CO2 from the soil under scenarios of change land use/cover and climatic conditions (IPCC, 2006), but very few global estimates are presented as spatial data. For global spatial layers on soil parameters, the most recent and complete dataset is available as the Harmonized World Soil Database (HWSD). The HWSD represents a step forward towards a spatially more detailed and thematically more refined set of global soil data. 

Data are freely available upon request: Fill the Request Form, after which you will be provided with instructions on how to download the data.

References (Documentation)

SOC Global

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For any problem / question / comment on this dataset, please contact ec-esdac@ec.europa.eu

Notification:

  1. The data provided has been prepared for use by internal research activities in the Land Resource Management Unit of the Institute for Environment & Sustainability, JRC Ispra.
  2. The data were developed for research purposes of the JRC only and not for any other activity. The JRC does not accept any liability whatsoever for any error, missing data or omission in the data, or for any loss or damage arising from its use. The JRC agrees to provide the data free of charge but is not bound to justify the content and values contained in the databases.
  3. All rights reserved. No part of this Harmonized World Soil Database may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means for resale or other commercial purposes without written permission of the copyright holders. Reproduction and dissemination of material in this information product for educational or other noncommercial purposes are authorized without any prior written permission from the copyright holders provided the source is fully acknowledged.
  4. The permission to use the data specified above is granted on condition that, under NO CIRCUMSTANCES are these data passed to third parties. They can be used for any purpose, including commercial gain.
  5. The user agrees to: 
       a) Make proper reference to the source of the data when disseminating the results to which this agreement relates; 
       b) Participate in the verification of the data (e.g. by noting and reporting any errors or omissions discovered to the JRC).

Reference of source (Citations) :

R. Hiederer, M. Kochy 2012. Global Soil Organic Carbon Estimates and the Harmonized World Soil Database. EUR Scientific and Technical Research series – ISSN 1831-9424 (online), ISSN 1018-5593 (print), ISBN 978-92-79-23108-7, doi:10.2788/1326

 

When making reference to the ESDAC

  • Panagos, P., Van Liedekerke, M., Borrelli, P., Köninger, J., Ballabio, C., Orgiazzi, A., Lugato, E., Liakos, L., Hervas, J., Jones, A.  Montanarella, L. 2022. European Soil Data Centre 2.0: Soil data and knowledge in support of the EU policies. European Journal of Soil Science, 73(6), e13315. DOI: 10.1111/ejss.13315
  • Panagos P., Van Liedekerke M., Jones A., Montanarella L., “European Soil Data Centre: Response to European policy support and public data requirements”; (2012) Land Use Policy, 29 (2), pp. 329-338. doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2011.07.003
  • European Soil Data Centre (ESDAC), esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu, European Commission, Joint Research Centre