WoSIS - Contributing institutions and experts

Data providers*

All data shared with us are first stored 'as is' in the ISRIC Data Repository. Subsequently, the profile data are quality-assessed and standardised using consistent WoSIS procedures. Ultimately, the license specified by the various data providers will determine how ISRIC may share the standardised data with you. There are two options for this as described below:

A) The standardised data are made freely available to the international community (i.e., geo-locations may be shared; license CC-BY or CC-BY-NC, distributed via 'wosis-latest').

B) The standardised data themselves are NOT made available to the international community (e.g., geo-locations may not be shared). In this case, in accord with the licenses specified by the data providers, the standardised point data may only be used by ISRIC (WDC-Soils) for producing SoilGrids and similar products (i.e., output as a result of advanced data processing); the latter 'derived-products' are made freely available to the international community. 

We value data security and proper acknowledgement, please send us as signed copy of the data sharing agreement (Download template) when sharing your data; the procedure for contributing soil profile data is described on a specific webpage. All submitted data sets will be evaluated for their suitability for inclusion and standardisation in WoSIS.

Please note that the source data themselves are never re-distributed by ISRIC WDC-Soils; for this, please contact the data provider(s).

The number of profiles for the two categories of licenses (in wosis_latest) can be queried using a dashboard (best viewed on desktop).

Density of point data with an A-type license (i.e., CC BY or CC BY-NC; freely available as 'wosis_latest')

Category A: Includes profile data standardised according to regular WoSIS workflow:  these data are made publicly available via 'wosis-latest' resp. as 'snapshots'. 

In this category, the source data sets are broadly grouped by continent. For many source datasets, in particular compilations, the names of the contributing organisations/individuals may be found in the technical reports that accompany the various data sets.

Africa

• Burkina Faso, a selection of topsoil data for a 580 km² watershed in SW Burkina Faso (url).
   
• Burundi, soil profile data compiled for SOTER-CAF (SOTER: Soil and  Terrain Database).
   
• Cameroon, a selection of soil profile data compiled by Takoutsing, Bertin (ICRAF) in the framework of his PhD thesis.
   
• Congo (Dem. Rep.),  a set of soil profile data compiled for SOTER-CAF.
   
• Ghana soil profile database, compiled by Council for Scientific and Industrial Research - Soil Research Institute, Kumasi (url)
   
• Kenya, a selection of soil profiles compiled for SOTER projects in Kenya (SOTER-KE, SOTER-UT).
   
• Malawi, a selection of soil profiles for SOTER-MW.
   
• Namibia:

  • Soil and terrain database (SOTER-NA) compiled by Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Rural Development, Windhoek. 

  • Soil dataset for the Otjozondjupa Region, compiled by International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (url).

  • Soil dataset for the Omustasi region, compiled by Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry Soil Laboratory (url).

• Tunisia, a selection of soil profiles compiled for SOTER-TN.

• Rwanda, a selection of soil profile data collated for SOTER-CAF.

• 'Southern Africa', a compilation of soil profiles for SOTER-SAF (includes Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe)

• Senegal and the Gambia, a compilation of soil profiles for SOTER-SN&GM.

• South Africa, a compilation of profiles for SOTER-ZA.

• Tunesia,  a compilation of soil profile data by Division du Reboisement et de la Protection des Sols (CRDA de Nabeul)  in the framework of the GSP-GSOC project

• Zambia, a compilation of soil profile data prepared by Zambian Soils Research Team the context of GSOC map.

• Africa Soil Profile Database (AfSP), a set of legacy soil profile data compiled at ISRIC in conjunction with the AfSIS (Africa Soil Information Service) project.
   
• Topsoil data for Africa sampled and analysed in the framework of the AfSIS project.
   
• Topsoil data for Africa, collated and shared by Africa OneAcreFund (url). 
     

Antarctica

• Soil profile data for Vega Island, Antarctic Peninsula (Siqueira et al., 2021).
   

Asia

• Armenia Soil profile database shared by Scientific Center of Soil Sciences, Agrochemistry and Melioration after Hrant Petrossyan, ANAU

• Bhutan, soil profiles shared by the National Soil Services Centre (NSSC), Ministry of Agriculture and Forests, Thimphu .

• China, a set of soil profile data compiled in the framework of SOTER-CN.

• Cambodia, national soil data set shared by the Cambodian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI).

• Indonesia, a selection of peat profiles for West Kalimantan (url), respectively mangrove soils from West Papua (CIFOR).

• Kazakhstan, a compilation of soil profile data by Nazarbayev University (url).

• Mongolia, a compilation of soil profile data prepared by the Mongolian University of Life sciences (Darkham-Uulfor) in the context of GSOC map.

• Nepal, a selection of soil profiles collated for SOTER-NP.

   

Australia (or Oceania)

• Australia, Soil and Landscape Grid of Australia; for collaborating agencies see here.  

Europe

• Belgium, historic soil profiles for Flanders, Vlaamse overheid, Departement LNE, Dienst Land en Bodembescherming  (url); soil data for Belgian Uplands (url).
   
• 'Central and Eastern Europe' , a set of soil profiles compiled by the SOVEUR project (includes Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Repubic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia and Ukraine; for contributors see here).
   
• France, soil data for the 2009 round of the French Soil Quality Monitoring Network (RMQS).
   
• Netherlands a selection of soil profiles from SIS provided by Wageningen Environmental Research) and from a PhD thesis (B. Kempen).
   
• Poland, a compilation of forest soil data from 'Atlas siedlisk leśnych', prepared by Prof. Jarosław Lasoto (University of Agriculture, Krakow) in support of the EU Horizon 2020 HoliSoils project.
   
• Portugal, a collection of soil profile data (INFOSOLO) provided through Technical University of Lisbon and partners.
   
• Russia
  • A collection of soil profile data compiled by Soil Institute V.V. Dokuchaeva.
  • Soil samples of Yamal Transect, Northwestern Siberia (Walker et al. 2009).
     
• Scotland, a selection of soil profiles collated during the National Soil Inventory (NSIS1).  
   
• Spain, soil physical and chemical characteristics from the CARBOSOL database.
   
• Switzerland, a large soil profile dataset collated by NABODAT (Swiss Soil Dataset, Version 3.0 (nov. 2018)).
   
• Ukraine, soil profile data compiled in the framework of the EU SOTER Danube project by NSC "ISSAR named after O.N.Sokolovsky", Kharkiv.
   
• Soil data from EuroGeoSurveys, compiled by Geological survey of Finland (url).
   
• Soil data collated for geochemical mapping of agricultural and grazing land at the continental scale, prepared by Geological Survey of Norway (url),
   
• Soil profile data for selected countries in Europe (SPADE), prepared by Joint Research Centre of the European Commission - European Soil Data Centre (ESDAC).

North America (including Mexico)

• Canada:

  • Canadian Soil Information Service (CanSIS), Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Government of Canada (url).

  • Canadian Upland Forest Soil Carbon Database (CA-CUFCD, May 2016 version), Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest, Service, Northern Forestry Centre, Edmonton, Alberta (url).

  • Canadian Forest Ecosystem Database (CA-FECD)

  • A soil profile and organic carbon data base for Canadian forest and tundra mineral soils (CA-SPD).

  • Soil profile data for permafrost-affected forest soils in North Canada (Schiedung et al, 2022).

• Mexico, soil profile data made available by Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Geografiá (INEGI), Mexico.

• USA, a large collection of soil profile data shared by the National Cooperative Soil Survey, National Cooperative Soil Characterization Database (NCSS, NRCS, for data see here); includes some 1100 'international profiles').

   

South America (and the Caribbean)

• Argentina, a collection of soil profile data compiled for SOTER-AR.
   
• Brazil:
  • National soil profile data compiled by Cooper et al. 2005 and ESALQ-USP.
  • Soil property database of the Amazon part from the RADAMBRASIL project: compiled by Bernoux et al. 2003, CENA-USP as shared in the framework of the GEFSOC project.
  • Regional data sets: a) Rio Doce, Minas Gerais, compiled by Eliana De Sousa; b) Data compilation prepared by Alessandro Samuel Rosa (see OLSDB ).
  • HYBRAS, a selection of data from the Hydrophysical Database for Brazilian Soils.

• Chili, a compilation of soil profile data from Chili (CHLSOC) .
   
• Costa Rica, soil profile data compiled by Universidad de  Centro de investigaciones Agronómicas (url)

• Cuba, a collection of soil profiles collated for SOTER-CU.
   
• SOTER-LAC, a compilation of soil profile data for Latin America and the Caribbean.

   

World covering compilations:

• International Soil Carbon Network (ISCN):
  • ISCN-3, a large soil data set compiled by ISCN; for contributors see the ISCN website.
  • ISCN-4, a global compilation of peat soil data compiled by Claire Treat et al.
     
• ISRIC:
  • Soil Information System (ISIS), a collection of soil reference profiles for the world; for main contributors see NASREC and  SOLEX.
  • WISE, a global set of soil profile data contributed by a wide range of data providers.
     
• 'World Mangroves", a global compilation of soil profile data (url).
   
• Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO): various inputs mainly, through SOTER and WISE-related projects (see HWSD).    
   
• UNEP, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), various inputs mainly through regional SOTER activities.
   

Category B: Includes profile data standardised according to the regular WoSIS workflow. However, based on our data-sharing agreements with the data providers, the standardised data themselves can only be used by ISRIC WDC-Soils to generate SoilGrids and similar products (i.e., output as a result of advanced data processing). As such, B-type point data are not publicly available, only the 'derived products' (visualizations, maps) themselves.

• Argentina, a selection of soil profile data compiled at the National Agricultural Technology Institute (INTA) in the framework of the 'Space time modelling of SOC changes project' (TNC) project; the majority of these observations are from the Argentinian SISINTA soil database.
   
• Australia, Soil and Landscape Grid, state of Victoria(see here).
   
• Bolivia, a compilation of soil profile data by Viceministerio de Tierra in the framework of the GSP-GSOC project
   
• Burundi, a set of topsoil data collated by IFDC-ISABU and Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MINAGRIE).
   
• Chili, a compilation of soil profile data by Servicio Agrícola y Ganadero, Departamento De Suelos, in the framework of the GSP-GSOC project
   
• China:
  • A collection of soil profiles derived from the Second National Soil Survey of China (url).
  • A China data set of soil properties for land surface modelling (url)
     
• Costa Rica, a compilation of soil profile data by Instituto Nacional de Innovación y Transferencia en Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA), in the framework of the GSP-GSOC project.
   
• Croatia:  A selection of soil profile data from the national soil database (url) 
   
• Cuba,  a compilation of soil profile data by Instituto de Suelos, Ministerio de Agricultura, in the framework of the GSP-GSOC project
   
• Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanazania, a collection of topsoil data collected by Vital Signs. 
   
• Ireland, a selection of soil profile data provided by Teagasc (Agriculture and Food Development Authority).
   
• Iran, a collection of soil profile data excavated and described in the 1990's (url).
   
• Mongolia, a selection of soil profile data complied by Soil science department, Institute of Geography and Geoecology, Mongolian Academy of Sciences (url), Ulaanbataar.
   
• Rwanda, a set of topsoil data collated by International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC ) and Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB) in the framework of the CATALIST-2 Project. 
   
• Tanzania, a collection of soil data collated by the National Forest Service in the framework of the NAFORMA (National Forest Resources Monitoring and Assessment) project.
   
• Uganda, a set of topsoil data collated by the  International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) in the framework of the CATALIST-Uganda project.
   
• Wales (UK), 'Topsoil physico-chemical properties from the Glastir Monitoring and Evaluation Programme, Wales 2013-2016'. NERC Environmental Information Data Centre.
   
• Zambia,  a compilation of soil profile data by the Zambian Soils Research Team made in the framework of the GSP-GSOC project
   
• Europe:
  • LUCAS topsoil survey data inventory, 2009 (url), 2015 (url) and 2018 (url) round coordinated by Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (with updates).
  • ICP Forest (Level I and Level 2) plot data collected by partners of the official UNECE ICP Forests Network: subset shared to support mapping in the framework of the EU Horizon 2020 HoliSoils project.
     
• ' Tropics', a dataset of organic soils compiled by CIFOR (Center for International Forestry Research) staff.

* Notes:

a) As indicated, soil data shared for consideration in WoSIS were 'collated' my many individuals and in many different countries. Regrettably, we can impossibly acknowledge all these contributors individually (e.g., field surveyors, laboratory personnel, soil experts, database experts). Therefore, we do this largely in a generic way by citing the source data sets. For example, databases such as WISE, AfSP and SOTER were compiled in collaboration with numerous partners; as far as possible these partners have been listed/acknowledged in the technical reports that accompany the respective databases. 

b) As of December 2023, wosis_latest includes about 228k point data with A-type licenses. In addition to this, about 117k point data with type B-licenses were processed . As such, there are now 345k  point data to support the next SoilGrids250m update (see dashboard for quick overview).  The newly added profiles include 'forest soil datasets' provided within the framework of the EU Horizon 2020 HoliSoils project (e.g., ICP Forest Level 1 and Level 2 data as well as data ingested in the framework of the regular WoSIS workflow (e.g. LUCAS 2018). Inherently, there are numerous gaps in the provided data depending on the purpose of the original surveys (see ESSD paper). 

c) New data contributions will be processed as soon as possible and this generally in sequence of their receipt at ISRIC. We apologise if your submissions have not yet been processed/listed here or if they have been cited wrongly. 

d) In 2024 we plan to ingest/standardise profile data for: Israel  (SCDD, MinAg), United Arab Emirates (Environment Agency- Abu Dhabi), Ghana (CSIR-Soil Research Institute), Ecuador, and Colombia (Agrosavia soil data) and other recent contributions, depending on capacity.