Soil and Physiographic Database for North and Central Eurasia (1:5 Million Scale)

The Soil and Physiographic Database for Northern and Central Eurasia (1:5 Million Scale) CD-ROM contains reports, databases, and digital maps for North and Central Eurasia region [covering China (including the Taiwan Province of China), Mongolia, and all countries of the former Soviet Union (CIS and Baltic States)]. The database was prepared by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in co-operation with the Dokuchaiev Institute of Soil Science, Moscow, Russia and the Institute of Soil Science, Academia Sinica, Nanjing, China. The preparation of this database is part of a larger FAO programme that aims to produce a systematic update of the soil and terrain database for the whole world. This effort is supported by a number of international institutes and organizations such as the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the International Soil Resources Information Centre (ISRIC), and the European Soil Bureau (ESB), and is only possible through contribution of national soil institutes worldwide.

The soil information in this database has been derived from several sources, in particular the 1:2.5 Million Soil Map of the Former Soviet Union prepared by Friedland in the Dokuchaiev Institute, Moscow, and the Soil Map of China at 1:4 million scale prepared by the Institute of Soil Science of the Academia Sinica in Nanjing. All soil information has been correlated with the Revised Legend of the Soil Map of the World.

For Mongolia and the countries of the CIS and Baltic States, the physiographic coverage was prepared by the Dokuchaiev Institute according to the principles developed for soil and terrain databases (SOTER) by ISRIC, FAO and UNEP. For China, the physiographic layer was prepared as part of a larger project assessing land degradation in Asia according to the same principles.

For the Russian Federation and China, an integration of the soil and physiographic layer has been carried out; for the other areas, both layers have been prepared separately and no correlation has been attempted.

Apart from selected examples in the report on soils of China, the database does not contain any soil profile description nor soil analytical results. Documentation on the soils of the Russian Federation, the physiography of the CIS and Baltic States, and on soils of China is included on the CD-ROM.

The results presented on the CD-ROM are in part provisional, as efforts are under way to produce a full SOTER database for Eastern Europe at 1:2.5 million scale. This will improve the information available for the European part of the Russian Federation, Ukraine, and Belarus (Byelarus). In addition, more recent and more detailed regional soil information exists on the Russian Federation and on China.

Soil and Physiographic Database for North and Central Eurasia at 1:5 Million Scale is provided on CD-ROM by the FAO, Land and Water Digital Media Series (Number 7). The CD-ROM can be purchased (Price: US$40) from FAO, Sales and Marketing Group, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla 0100 Rome, Italy (Fax: [phone] E-mail: [e-mail]).