About the Map: The Soil Organic Carbon map is based on a reclassification of the FAO-UNESCO Soil Map of the World combined with a soil climate map. The soil organic carbon map shows the distribution of the soil organic carbon to 1 meter depth.
Possible Uses of the Map: Useful for teachers and students who are interested in the global distribution of soil carbon. Climate change modelers may be able to use the data for small scale analysis.
Data
Sources: FAO-UNESCO, Soil Map of the World, digitized by ESRI. Soil climate map, USDA-NRCS, Soil Science Division, World Soil Resources, Washington D.C. Soil Pedon database, USDA-NRCS National Soil Survey Center, Lincoln, NE.
Data Aggregation and Reliability: The soil carbon map data is rasterized on a 2 minute grid cell.
Data Definitions: Six classes of soil organic carbon volume ranges. Kg/m/m2
Data Disclaimer: Country boundaries are not authoritative.
Database Manager: Paul Reich, Geographer, World Soil Resources. Email: paul.reich@wdc.usda.gov