EEA geospatial data catalogue
European Soil Database (ESDB) - version 2.0, Sep. 2001
The Soil Geographical Database of Eurasia at Scale 1:1,000,000 is part of the European Soil Informaton System (EUSIS). It is the resulting product of a collaborative project involving all the European Union and neighbouring countries. It is a simplified representation of the diversity and spatial variability of the soil coverage. The methodology used to differentiate and name the main soil types is based on the terminology of the F.A.O. legend for the Soil Map of the World at Scale 1:5,000,000. This terminology has been refined and adapted to take account of the specificities of the landscapes in Europa. It is itself founded on the distinction of the main pedogenetic processes leading to soil differentiation: brunification, lessivage, podzolisation, hydromorphy, etc.
The database contains a list of Soil Typological Units (STU). Besides the soil names they represent, these units are described by variables (attributes) specifying the nature and properties of the soils: for example the texture, the water regime, the stoniness, etc. The geographical representation was chosen at a scale corresponding to the 1:1,000,000. At this scale, it is not feasible to delineate the STUs. Therefore they are grouped into Soil Mapping Units (SMU) to form soil associations and to illustrate the functioning of pedological systems within the landscapes.
Harmonisation of the soil data from the member countries is based on a dictionary giving the definition for each occurrence of the variables. Considering the scale, the precision of the variables is weak. Furthermore these variables were estimated over large areas by expert judgement rather than measured on local soil samples. This expertise results from synthesis and generalisation tasks of national or regional maps published at more detailed scales, for example 1:50,000 or 1:25,000 scales. Delineation of the Soil Mapping Units is also the result of expertise and experience. Heterogeneity can be considerable in European regions. The spatial variability of soils is very important and is difficult to express at global levels of precision. Quality indices of the information (purity and confidence level) are included with the data in order to guide usage.
This metadata record is adapted from the orginal one received from JRC.
Simple
Identification info
- Date (Creation)
- 2001-09-25
- Edition
-
2
- Citation identifier
- jrc_v_3035_1_mio_esdb_p_1980-1996_V01_r02
- Status
- Obsolete
- Spatial representation type
- Vector
Spatial resolution
Equivalent scale
- Denominator
- 1000000
- Topic category
-
- Geoscientific information
Extent
))
Extent
Temporal extent
- Time period
- 1980-01-01 1996-12-31
- GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0
-
-
Soil
-
- GEMET
-
-
soil
-
- EEA topics
-
-
Soil
-
Resource constraints
- Use limitation
-
Notification regarding these data:
The ESDB data were developed in collaboration with the European Soil Bureau Network, which holds a joint copyright to the data with the European Commission. The DG-JRC, on behalf of the Commission, and the European Soil Bureau Network, do not accept any liability whatsoever for any error, missing data or omissions in the data, or for any loss or damage arising from its use. The DG JRC, on behalf of the Commission, agrees to provide the data free of charge but is not bound to justify the content and values contained in the databases.
The user agrees to:
a) Make proper reference to the source of the data when disseminating the results to which this agreement relates;
b) Participate in the verification of the data (e.g. by noting and reporting any errors or omissions discovered to the JRC).
Reference of source (Citations) :
Panagos P., Van Liedekerke M., Jones A., Montanarella L. European Soil Data Centre: Response to European policy support and public data requirements. (2012) Land Use Policy, 29 (2), pp. 329-338. doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2011.07.003
ESDBv2 Raster Library - a set of rasters derived from the European Soil Database distribution v2.0 (published by the European Commission and the European Soil Bureau Network, CD-ROM, EUR 19945 EN); Marc Van Liedekerke, Arwyn Jones, Panos Panagos ; 2006.
Panagos Panos. The European soil database (2006) GEO: connexion, 5 (7), pp. 32-33.
Resource constraints
- Access constraints
- Other restrictions
- Other constraints
- no limitations to public access
- Language
- English
- Character encoding
- UTF8
Data quality info
- Hierarchy level
- Dataset
Report
Result
- Title
- Commission Regulation (EU) No 1089/2010 of 23 November 2010 implementing Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards interoperability of spatial data sets and services
- Date (Publication)
- 2010-12-08
- Explanation
-
See the referenced specification
Resource lineage
- Statement
-
Refer to http://eusoils.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ESDB_Archive/ESDBv2/fr_intro.htm
- Hierarchy level
- Dataset
Reference System Information
- Reference system identifier
- European Environment Agency/urn:ogc:def:crs:EEA:1.0:777101
Metadata
- Metadata identifier
- 9b099df4-16be-4937-a76d-e52616341961
- Language
- English
- Character encoding
- UTF8
- Contact
-
Organisation Individual Electronic mail address Website Role European Environment Agency
Point of contact
Type of resource
- Resource type
- Dataset
- Metadata linkage
-
https://sdi.eea.europa.eu/geonetwork/srv/api/records/9b099df4-16be-4937-a76d-e52616341961
- Date info (Creation)
- 2013-01-22T15:34:20Z
- Date info (Revision)
- 2025-10-09T11:05:43.16183Z
Metadata standard
- Title
-
ISO 19115/19139
- Edition
-
1.0
)))