Soil and Terrain Database (SOTER) Programme

SOTER aims to establish a World Soils and Terrain Database, at scale 1:5 000 000, containing digitized map units and their attribute data in standardized format. The programme is implemented by FAO, UNEP and ISRIC, under the aegis of the IUSS, in collaboration with a wide range of national soil institutes (1986 - present). ISRIC plays a lead role in methodology development and programme implementation. Space Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM) digital elevation data are now being used to derive the different landform units and to generate terrain information (more1, more2); soil attribute data are largely derived from legacy  field data. Ultimately, a global SOTER is to replace the FAO-Unesco Soil Map of the World (SMW), the first internationally accepted inventory of world soil resources.

SOTER databases are developed using a uniform methodology, endorsed by  FAO, UNEP and IUSS, using standard input software. They are developed at scales ranging from 1:5 million to 1:500 000, depending largely on the needs of the users (see datasets).

An example of SOTER soil profiles for Uruguay can be viewed in Google Earth.

SOTER data have been used for a wide range of applications, including assessments of impacts of soil degradation on food supply, soil vulnerability to pollution and modelling of soil organic carbon stock and changes at national and regional levels (see publications). 

Download: methodology,  input software and software manual

Links to SOTER pages at JRC-IES and FAO


New development: e-SOTER project [Sept. 2008 - Feb. 2012]

SOTER Data Entry Utility (for details please click on picture)

 Further information