Datasets

The European Soil Data Centre (ESDAC) contains currently many soil data and information; most of the offered data are at European scale, while, when possible, links to national or global datasets are provided. 

Datasets are organized in some broad categories.

  • A first category contains the European Soil Database (ESDB), datasets that have been derived with the help of the ESDB and general European datasets that contain soil properties.
  • A second category offers data that are related to soil threats (erosion, soil organic carbon, landslides, compaction, salinization, soil biodiversity, contaminated sites, soil sealing, etc.)
  • A third category offers data related to soil functions
  • A fourth category offers soil point data (LUCAS, SPADE, etc)
  • A fifth category contains data that stem from projects.

Some datasets can be freely downloaded; others will be made accessible after prior registration, through a fill-in form, indicated by the  button.

On top of the list below, there is also a handy one-page overview of all datasets publicly available in ESDAC: the name (and link) for the dataset and a short abstract.

More information about some of the datasets in the European Soil Data Centre can be found in the following publications: 

Displaying 26 - 50 of 150

Clay mineral inventory in soils of Europe based on LUCAS 2015 survey soil samples
Title: Clay mineral inventory in soils of Europe based on LUCAS 2015 survey soil samples
Resource Type:
Registration requested: Request Form
Author: Yunta Mezquita, F., Van Liedekerke, M., Fernández Ugalde, O., Németh, T., Balázs, R.B., Keresztes, M.A., Weiszburg, T., Rábl, E., Királyné Tóth, J., Gazsi, Z., Kovács, I., Ruíz García, A.I., Cuevas, J., Van Eynde, E., Wojda, P., Panagos, P., Jones, A.
Year: 2024
Publisher: European Commission, Joint Research Centre
Language: English
Keywords: LUCAS; Land Use Cover Area Frame Survey; Clay minerals

Arsenic in European topsoils
Title: Arsenic in European topsoils
Resource Type:
Theme/Sub-Theme: Soil Contamination
Registration requested: Request Form
Year: 2024

Land suitability in temperate Europe
Title: Land suitability in temperate Europe
Resource Type:
Registration requested: Request Form
Year: 2024
Keywords: Land suitability; crop


Pesticides residues in European agricultural soils
Title: Pesticides residues in European agricultural soils
Resource Type:
Theme/Sub-Theme: Soil Contamination
Registration requested: Request Form
Year: 2024
Keywords: pesticides



Phosphorus cycle in European agricultural soils
Title: Phosphorus cycle in European agricultural soils
Resource Type:
Theme/Sub-Theme: Soil Nutrients, Phosphorus budget in topsoils
Registration requested: Request Form
Year: 2024
Keywords: Phosphorus










Bacterial & fungal biomass (fatty acid methyl esters)
Title: Bacterial & fungal biomass (fatty acid methyl esters)
Resource Type:
Registration requested: Request Form
Year: 2023

Cover Crops across Europe
Title: Cover Crops across Europe
Resource Type:
Theme/Sub-Theme: Erosion by water, Soil Organic Carbon Content
Registration requested: Request Form
Year: 2023
Keywords: cover crops


Soil biodiversity - DNA Bacteria and Fungi
Title: Soil biodiversity - DNA Bacteria and Fungi
Resource Type:
Theme/Sub-Theme: Soil Biodiversity
Registration requested: Request Form
Year: 2023
Keywords: Biodiversity


Historical reconstruction of soil erosion in Europe
Title: Historical reconstruction of soil erosion in Europe
Resource Type:
Theme/Sub-Theme: Erosion by water
Registration requested: Request Form
Year: 2022
Keywords: soil erosion; reconstruction