Soil Carbon Risk Index

This dataset includes the a) Soil organic carbon risk index b) SOC fractions predicted by visible near-infrared c) the mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC) saturation.This repository accompanies the publication "Revisiting the soil carbon saturation concept to inform a risk index in European agricultural soils" and can be used to access the results and code.
Resource Type: 
Datasets
Soil Threats Data
Registration is requested: 
Yes
Year: 
2025
Themes: 
Soil Organic Carbon Content
Keywords: 
SOC

Title:Revisiting the soil carbon saturation concept to inform a risk index in European agricultural soils
Description:  This dataset includes the a) Soil organic carbon risk index (GeotTIFF) b) SOC fractions predicted by visible near-infrared (Tabular data) c) the mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC) saturation (GeoTIFF). The mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC) saturation and SOC risk index GeoTiffs are based on the non-linear boundary regression method to estimate the effective MAOC capacity by pedo-climatic zone (see Breure et al. 2025). The MAOC saturation is based on LUCAS 2009 data whereas the SOC risk index has integrated the MAOC saturation data and the SOC changes over the period 2009-2018 (De Rosa et al. 2024).

The relevant input files and code to create these outputs are located in the ‘20250210_NComms_Cfractions.zip’ file. This file should be unzipped and the steps in the README can be followed to reproduce the results. Input files were sourced from the ESDAC database as well as various publicly available sources (see Breure et al. 2025 for further details).

Spatial coverage: European Union (EU) + UK cropland and semi-natural habitats with mineral soils (< 120 g/kg soil organic carbon).
Pixel size: 500m
Temporal coverage:  2009 and 2009-2018.
Projection: ETRS89

Type of datasets - Tabular and GeoTiff. Three files:

  • VNIRSOCfractions.csv:  continuous: soil organic carbon fractions predicted by visible near-infrared spectroscopy (particulate organic carbon, OC_pom_g_kg, mineral-associated organic carbon, OC_sc_g_kg, and their sum: OC_fractions_g_kg). The file also contains two LUCAS soil survey ID columns (POINT_ID, sample.ID), the LUCAS 2009 texture data (Clay, Sand, Silt [%]) and the coordinates in WGS84.
  • MAOCsaturation.tif: continuous; mineral-associated organic carbon saturation (%) (51 to 100).
  • SOCriskindex.tif:  integer; 4 discrete classes coded by integers 1 to 4. Classes 1-4 correspond to the 'High hazard', 'High risk', 'No hazard', 'No risk' classes, respectively.

Reference: Breure, T.S., De Rosa, D., Panagos, P., Cotrufo, M.F., Jones, A., Lugato, E. (2025). Revisiting the soil carbon saturation concept to inform a risk index in European agricultural soils. Nature Communications,16, Article number: 2538,  DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-57355-y

 

 

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

Notification:

  • The data provided has been prepared for use by internal research activities in the Joint Research Centre (JRC) Ispra.
  • The data are the result of JRC research activities and are primarily made available for further research. 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.
  • 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.
  • 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) :

Breure, T.S., De Rosa, D., Panagos, P., Cotrufo, M.F., Jones, A., Lugato, E. (2025). Revisiting the soil carbon saturation concept to inform a risk index in European agricultural soils. Nature Communications,16, Article number: 2538,  DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-57355-y

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