Soil and Terrain Database for Latin America and the Caribbean (SOTERLAC; 1:5 Million Scale)

The Soil and Terrain Database for Latin America and the Caribbean (SOTERLAC) was created through a joint project involving the Food and Agriculure Organization of the United Nations (FAO) [http://www.fao.org], the International soil Reference Centre (ISRIC) [http://www.isric.org], the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) [http://www.unep.org], and the national governments of Latin America and the Caribbean. This soils database is created using the Soil and Terrain Database (SOTER) methodology to update the 1:5M Soil Map of the World (SMW) of FAO/Unesco.

For the entire project area, a map at scale 1:5 million with SOTER units has been compiled. It has a total of 1490 mapping units, divided over 2823 polygons. The 1490 SOTER units are further defined by 2008 terrain components. Every terrain component consists of one or more soil components, amounting to a total of 3580. Representative soil profiles have been selected for all soil components from a wide range of sources. A total of 1828 soil profiles can be found in the database. The total number of horizons of these profiles is 6525.

For 12 percent of the soil components, no newer information on soils than that could be extracted from the FAO-Unesco SMW was available. These components do not have a profile. This is, for example, the case in a larger part of Chile.

Most attributes in the various tables are complete or nearly so with the exception of bulk density in the horizon table. With only 40% measured, this attribute has the lowest occurrence. Another gap exists in the coordinates of the location of the profiles. In some countries such information could not be found (e.g. Argentina). Other attributes missing are elevation and date of description/sampling.

The map has been drawn on the topography of the original FAO-Unesco SMW as available in digital and hardcopy form. Mapping units (SOTER units have been digitized in ARC/Info) and the attribute data are stored in a relational database system (compatible with most commercial software). A special input software package was compiled for entering attribute data and creating the appropriate tables.

Soil and Terrain Database for Latin America and the Caribbean is provided on CD-ROM by the FAO, Land and Water Digital Media Series. 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]). The information contained on the CD-ROM can be downloaded from UNEP/GRID at [http://www.na.unep.net/unepdownload/form.php?type=soterlac] and from ISRIC at [http://www.isric.org/UK/About+ISRIC/Projects/Track+Record/SOTERLAC.htm].