Background
To support the Danube strategy the European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC) has proposed soil data collection within the Danube basin based on SOTERTM methodologies. The application thereof ensures standard procedures for data harmonisation are applied for the fourteen contributing countries. The production of a harmonised SOTER database at 1:250,000 scale will support soil and land use policy development in the Danube basin region.
Objectives
The application of SOTER methodologies ensures standard procedures for data harmonisation are used for the contributing countries. This meets the requirements under Pillar 4 of the Global and European Soil Partnership and compliance with INSPIRE data protocols.
Activities
Develop a SOTER database for the 14 countries represented in the Danube basin. Activities included providing 'empty' SOTER databases and GIS files of terrain units mapped for the participating countries (based on shapefiles provided by JRC), preparing guidelines for compiling the SOTER attribute databases, national partners filling the 'national' SOTER databases with representative soil profiles, standardisation and harmonisation to the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB 2015), and ultimately exporting data in SOTER format to XML/GML INSPIRE-compliant format.
The actual data compilation, standardisation and harmonisation was coordinated by Cranfield University. Technical backstopping on the SOTER methodology itself was provided by ISRIC.
Implementation
The Kick Off meeting, setting out the way forward, was held on 24 January 2019. Methodological guidelines (see deliverables) to support the data compilation work were delivered in medio 2019. These were used by the 'national' partners, as sub-contracted by Cranfield University, to compile consistent SOTER databases for their parts of the Danube basin. Upon their definitive delivery in October 2021, the 14 'national-scale' products were merged into a common SOTER database for the Danube basin. Subsequently, a tool was developed to export the respective SOTER attribute databases and GIS files to INSPIRE compliant XML/GML. Final ISRIC deliverables were submitted to Cranfield University in November 2021 and approved by EU-JRC in April 2022.
Deliverables
• Project report 1: Updated MS-Access SOTER template for the EU Danube basin project with worked examples (with datasets).
• Project report 2: Country terrain unit shapefiles of the EU Danube basin, with datasets (with datasets).
• Project report 3: Guidelines for compiling a 1:250,000 SOTER database.
• Project report 4: Integrating 14 Danube basin country databases into Danube_SOTER (with datasets).
• Project report 5: Exporting Danube Basin SOTER databases to INSPIRE compliant XML/GML format: Developer and user manual (tool and files).
Consortium
The consortium was led by Cranfield University (Centre for Environmental and Agricultural Informatics) with subcontracts to ISRIC (re. SOTER technical expertise) and 14 regional partners from countries in the Danube basin (compilation of SOTER databases): Austria (AU), Bosnia and Herzegovina (BA), Bulgaria (BG), Czech Republic (CZ), Germany (DE), Hungary (HU), Croatia (HR), Moldova (MD), Montenegro (ME), Romania (RO), Serbia (RS), Slovakia (SK), Slovenia (SI), and Ukraine (UA).
Funding
EU tender RC/IPR/2017/D.3/0002/OC, sub-contracted through Cranfield University (EU-JRC Service Contract #936108).