Soil scientists are being challenged to provide assessments of soil condition from local
through to global scales. A particular issue is the need for estimates of the stores and fluxes
in soils of water, carbon, nutrients, and solutes. This review outlines progress in the development
and testing of GlobalSoilMap—a digital soil map that aims to provide a fineresolution
global grid of soil functional properties with estimates of their associated uncertainties.
A range of methods can be used to generate the fine-resolution spatial estimates
depending on the availability of existing soil surveys, environmental data, and point observations.
The system has an explicit geometry for estimating point and block estimates of
soil properties continuously down the soil profile. This geometry is necessary to ensure
mass balance when stores and fluxes are computed. It also overcomes some limitations
with existing systems for characterizing soil variation with depth. GlobalSoilMap has been
designed to enable delivery of soil data via Web services. This review provides an overview
of the system's technical specifications including the minimum data set. Examples from
contrasting countries and environments are then presented to demonstrate the robustness
of the technical specifications. GlobalSoilMap provides the means for supplying soil
information in a format and resolution compatible with other fundamental data sets from
remote sensing, terrain analysis, and other systems for mapping, monitoring, and forecasting
biophysical processes. The initial research phase of the core project is nearing completion
and attention is now shifting toward establishing the institutional and governance
arrangements necessary to complete a full global coverage and maintaining the operational
version of the GlobalSoilMap. This will be a grand and rewarding challenge for the
soil science profession in the coming years.JRC.H.5-Land Resources Managemen