Soil Themes
The Soil Portal has exploited in detail the threats to Soil as they have been identified to Soil Thematic Strategy [Communication (COM(2006) 231)] . The information related to the following 8 Threats to Soil: Soil Erosion, Organic Carbon Content Decline, Soil Compaction, Soil Salinisation, Soil Sealing, Soil Contamination, Soil Biodiversity and Landslides . For all the Soil Themes (Threats to Soil), this section presents data, studies, maps, documentation and services. A separate reference is done to Soil Sampling and some useful Information / Tools are provided in this section.
Soil Erosion in Europe:
- PESERA Model: Download the Data as estimates (t/ha/yr). Get more backround information by accessing the PESERA CD-ROM: "Nature and extent of soil erosion in Europe"
- MESALES Model: Find more information about the Project Description (Prior to the PESERA project, Soil Erosion Risk Assessment data have been calculated by INRA - France under contract to the JRC based on the Soil Geographical Data Base of Europe at scale 1:1 Million). Download the Data on Soil Erosion Risk Assessment in Europe.
G2 Model: A new generic model for erosion, resulted from the cooperation of JRC/ SOIL Action and the Lab of Forest Management and Remote Sensing of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in the framework of geoland2 project. Data from this project are available on request.
- Soil Erodibility (K-Factor) The soil erodibility dataset overcomes the problems of limited data availability for K-factor assessment and presents a high quality resource for modellers who aim at soil erosion estimation on local/regional, national or European scale. Data from this project are available on request. Data are available on request.
- Soil Erosion Assessment in European Countries: Erosion in ITALY (USLE) aims to assess erosion risk at national level. The approach is based on the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE). In detail, there are presented the Methods and the Final Results of the Project.
Soil Organic Carbon:
- Organic Carbon in topsoils in Europe : Data and Map of Oganic Carbon Content (Organic carbon content (%) in the surface horizon of soils in Europe).
- Global Soil Organic Carbon estimates: Organic carbon density (t ha-1) for the topsoil (0 – 30cm) and the subsoil layer (30 – 100cm) from the amended HWSD
Soil Compaction is the term for the deterioration of soil structure (loss of soil features) by mechanistic pressure, predominantly from agricultural practices.
- Soil susceptibility to compaction is the probability that soil becomes compacted when exposed to compaction risk. Download the Natural susceptibility to compaction Map.
- Precompression Stress to actual soil pressure
Soil Salinisation is the accumulation of soluble salts of sodium, magnesium and calcium in soil to the extent that soil fertility is severely reduced.
Landslides are the gravitational movement of a mass of rock, earth or debris down a slope. Landslides may be induced by natural processes such as rainfall, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, rapid snowmelt, slope undercutting by rivers or sea waves, and permafrost thawing, or caused by human interference on slope stability.
- European Landslide Susceptibility Map (ELSUS1000) v1: The map shows five classes of spatial probability of landslide occurrence at 1 km resolution covering the EU and neighbouring countries
Soil Sealing is the loss of soil resources due to the covering of land for housing, roads or other construction work.
Soil contamination is the occurrence of pollutants in soil above a certain level causing a deterioration or loss of one or more soil functions. Also, Soil Contamination can be considered as the presence of man-made chemicals or other alteration in the natural soil environment.
Soil Biodiversity is the reduction of forms of life living in soils, both in terms of quantity and in variety.
Soil Sampling: The overall purpose of the present study is to provide simple, acceptable and adaptable guidelines to make soil sampling relevant to the purposes of the Kyoto, namely remain practically feasible accounting soil diversity, statistically sound and economically viable.
- SOM sampling protocol. An application for a restricted randomized point distribution based on Soil Sampling Protocol to Certify the Changes of Organic Carbon Stock in Mineral Soils of the European Union. The Output results may be in HTML format or in Excel format.
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Soil Erosion