Harmonized World Soil Database (version 1.1)

The Harmonized World Soil Database (HWSD) is a 30 arc-second raster database with over 16000 different soil mapping units that combines existing regional and national updates of soil information worldwide (SOTER, ESD, Soil Map of China, WISE) with the information contained within the 1:5,000,000 scale FAO-UNESCO Soil Map of the World (FAO, 1971;1981). The resulting raster database consists of 21,600 rows and 43,200 columns, which are linked to harmonized soil property data. The use of a standardized structure allows for the linkage of the attribute data with the raster map to display or query the composition in terms of soil units and the characterization of selected soil parameters (organic carbon, pH, water storage capacity, soil depth, cation exchange capacity of the soil and the clay fraction, total exchangeable nutrients, lime and gypsum contents, sodium exchange percentage, salinity, textural class and granulometry). Reliability of the information contained in the database is variable: the parts of the database that still make use of the Soil Map of the World such as North America, Australia, West Africa and South Asia are considered less reliable, while most of the areas covered by SOTER databases are considered to have the highest reliability (Central and Southern Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Central and Eastern Europe). Further expansion and update of the HWSD is foreseen for the near future.

协调世界土壤数据库（Harmonized World Soil Database, HWSD）是一款分辨率为30角秒的栅格数据库，包含超过16000种不同的土壤制图单元。该数据库整合了全球范围内现有的区域与国家级土壤信息更新成果（包括SOTER、ESD、中国土壤图、WISE），以及1:500万比例尺的FAO-联合国教科文组织世界土壤图（FAO，1971；1981）中的相关信息。
最终生成的栅格数据库包含21600行与43200列，其与协调化的土壤属性数据相关联。该数据库采用标准化结构，可实现属性数据与栅格地图的关联，以便基于土壤单元展示或查询土壤组成，并对选定的土壤参数进行表征，包括有机碳、pH、持水能力、土壤厚度、土壤阳离子交换量与粘粒组分、总交换性养分、石灰与石膏含量、钠交换百分率、盐度、质地类别以及颗粒组成。
数据库内信息的可靠性存在差异：仍沿用世界土壤图数据的区域（如北美、澳大利亚、西非与南亚）可靠性相对较低，而多数采用SOTER数据库的区域（包括中非与南部非洲、拉丁美洲及加勒比地区、中东欧）被认为具有最高的可靠性。协调世界土壤数据库的进一步扩充与更新已被纳入近期规划。