ISRIC Report 2002/03: ISRIC-WISE global data set of derived soil properties on a 0.5 by 0.5 degree grid (ver. 2.0)

Selected spatial soil data layers on a 0.5 by 0.5 degree global grid are presented. They have been derived from soil geographic and attribute data held in ISRIC’s WISE-database, version 2.0. The data sets include: (1) depth to physically limiting layer; (2) profile available water capacity (-10 to –1500 kPa); (3) soil drainage class; (4) cation exchange capacity (CECsoil); (5) cation exchange capacity of clay fraction, corrected for the contribution of organic matter (CECclay) (6) soil reaction (pHwater); (7) base saturation; (8) organic carbon content (wt %); and, (9) content of organic and carbonate carbon to 1 m depth (kg C m-2). In the case of themes 4 to 7, data sets are presented both for the topsoil (0-30 cm) and subsoil (30-100 cm). The relative area within a grid cell that is represented by the considered classes is also shown for each theme.

The data set is presented in ArcView® format so as to facilitate its use in a wide range of global environmental studies.

Keywords: digital data sets; GIS; soil properties; global change