The Soil Atlas of Europe

128 str.

42 cm

Tvrdi uvez

The atlas is the result of a collective effort by more the 40 National soil surveys and soil science institutions cooperating across Europe within the European Soil Bureau Network (ESBN). This network, established by the JRC in 1989, has formalised already existing collaborations among soil surveys already initiated in 1959 by the UN FAO as the first steps towards a common soil map for the European Union.

The main European added value of the ESBN has been the joint effort towards bringing together soil information collected in separate European countries, using very different methodologies, standards and scientific backgrounds, into one single geographic information system (GIS) while demonstrating that, at least for soil science, a “Europe without borders” is possible. Lengthy cross-border harmonisation sessions between bordering countries have resulted in a common fully harmonised soil geographical database of Europe at a nominal scale of 1:1,000,000. This database has allowed the production of the maps that are at the heart of the new “Soil Atlas of Europe”.