GRASS file header information is given immediately below for the 8.6 minute faosoil grids, plus a brief explanation of the processing techniques to make the fsoil*.img files contained in the \data\ncillary directory on this CD-ROM. The GRASS file header information helps to describe the georeferencing of these data, which have been resampled for use with the Global AVHRR-Derived Climatologies contained on Volume 1 of this set.
The most important items are e-w resol(ution), n-s resol(ution), north and south latitudes. The GVI Plate Carree grid claims 904x2500 columns and rows, 75N to 55S coverage. The convention of square "pixels" is implied. These three can't co-exist. To allow for 904x2500 gridding (which we know to exist), we must abandon square pixels or a precise 75N to 55S region. A few years ago I tried to find out more about the projection. Several people, including Dan Tarpley, couldn't recreate the decision-making process, and didn't remember that any documentation on these issues was created. Dan and I agreed that the square pixels were likely, and that the latitude range(s) were probably treated casually - not precisely.
Thus the noted N and S limits for the extremes of the northernmost and southernmost pixels in the data set.
The source map for the enclosed files is the faosoils map in the Global Ecosystems Database. This is a global grid at 2-arc-minutes latitude-longitude. To resample it to the 8.6 minutes nominal grid of the GVI Plate Carree data, I made 3 image files:
fsoilnn.img: The value given at each location is the value of the 2' file located at the center of the output Plate Carree grid. (e.g. nearest neighbor resampling). There are 133 classes.
fsoilmod.img: The value given at each location is the mode (most commonly occuring value) in a 3x3 grid of the original 2' file. 133 classes, as above.
fsoildiv.img: The value given at each location is the number of soil classes
in a 3x3 grid of the original 2' file. I didn't look at
the result, but GRASS said that values range from 1 to 5
input classes per 3x3 sample area. Thus, for areas with
values 3-5, the output soil86md.img and soil86.img values
might not adequately represent the diversity of soil types
in the area....
faosoil.doc: This is the Idrisi documentation header file for the original 2' data set. Class numbers and names correspond to class numbers in soil86.img and soil86md.img.
Global Ecosystems Database Disc A: Chapter 16 FAO Soils Data (resampled) DATA-SET DESCRIPTION Data-Set Name: Gridded FAO/UNESCO Soil Units (resampled) Principal Investigator: FAO/UNESCO SOURCE Source Data Citation: UNEP/GRID, 1986. FAO Soil Map of the World in digital form. Digital raster data on a 2-minute geographic (lat/long) 5400x10800 grid. Carouge, Switzerland: UNEP/GRID. 1 file on 9-track tape, 58.3 MB. Contributor: FAO/UNESCO Distributor: UNEP/GRID/Geneva Vintage: circa 1970s Lineage: (1) Original investigation: FAO/UNESCO (2) Digitizing: ESRI (FAO contract) into Arc/INFO 380 New York Street, Redlands CA 92373 (3) Reprocessed into raster form: UNEP/GRID 6 rue de la Gabelle; 1227 Carouge Switzerland ORIGINAL DESIGN Variables: Soil Classes Origin: Hardcopy atlas compiled from best available source materials Geographic Reference: Geographic (latitude/longitude) Geographic Coverage: Global: Maximum Latitude: +90 degrees (N) Minimum Latitude: -90 degrees (S) Maximum Longitude: +180 degrees (E) Minimum Longitude: -180 degrees(W) Geographic Sampling: 1:5,000,000 printed map digitized as vector polygons, then sampled to a 2-minute raster grid Time Period: Static (compiled in mid 1970s) Temporal Sampling: Static modern composite INTEGRATED DATA-SET Data-Set Citation: UNEP/GRID, 1992. Global Gridded FAO/UNESCO Soil Units. Digital raster data on a 2-minute geographic (lat/long) 10800x5400 grid. In: Global Ecosystems Database Version 1.0, Disc a. Boulder, CO: NOAA National Geophysical Data Center. 1 single-attribute spatial layer on CD-ROM, 58.3 MB. [first published in 1984]. Analyst: Lloyd MacGregor, UNEP/GRID Projection: Geographic (latitude/longitude) Spatial Representation: This version 10-minute grid characteristic values. Resampled as nearest neighbor value (e.g. original 2-minute value closest to center of output 8.64-minute grid cell. Alternate data set contains most common of the 2-minute values overlapping each output 8.64- minute data set. The output data register with the AVHRR climatologies presented here. Temporal Representation: Static modern composite Data Representation: Eight-bit unsigned integers representing characteristic soil classes Layers and Attributes: One single-attribute spatial layer Data Volume: Approximately 2.3 MB ADDITIONAL REFERENCES see Technical Report, below DATA FILE DESCRIPTION DATA ELEMENT: Gridded FAO/UNESCO Soil Units (resampled) STRUCTURE: Raster Data Files: 8.64-minute GVI 904x2500 grid SERIES: NONE SPATIAL META-DATA: \DOCUMENT\NCILLARY\FSOIL\FAOSOIL.DOC image title : UNESCO/FAO Soil Units data type : byte file type : binary rows : 904 columns : 2500 minimum : 0.0000000000E+00 maximum : 1.3300000000E+02 cell x : 1.44E-01 cell y : 1.44E-01 legend : 133 category 1 : 1 A Acrisols category 2 : 2 Af Ferric Acrisols category 3 : 3 Ag Gleyic Acrisols category 4 : 4 Ah Humic Acrisols category 5 : 5 Ao Orthic Acrisols category 6 : 6 Ap Plinthic Acrisols category 7 : 7 B Cambisols category 8 : 8 Bc Chromic Cambisols category 9 : 9 Bd Dystric Cambisols category 10 : 10 Be Eutric Cambisols category 11 : 11 Bf Ferralic Cambisols category 12 : 12 Bg Gleyic Cambisols category 13 : 13 Bh Humic Cambisols category 14 : 14 Bk Calcic Cambisols category 15 : 15 Bv Vertic Cambisols category 16 : 16 Bx Gelic Cambisols category 17 : 17 C Chernozems category 18 : 18 Cg Glossic Chernozems category 19 : 19 Ch Haplic Chernozems category 20 : 20 Ck Calcic Chernozems category 21 : 21 Cl Luvic Chernozems category 22 : 22 D Podzoluvisols category 23 : 23 Dd Dystric Podzoluvisols category 24 : 24 De Eutric Podzoluvisols category 25 : 25 Dg Gleyic Podzoluvisols category 26 : 26 E Rendzinas category 27 : 27 F Ferralsols category 28 : 28 Fa Acric Ferralsols category 29 : 29 Fh Humic Ferralsols category 30 : 30 Fo Orthic Ferralsols category 31 : 31 Fp Plinthic Ferralsols category 32 : 32 Fr Rhodic Ferralsols category 33 : 33 Fx Xanthic Ferralsols category 34 : 34 G Gleysols category 35 : 35 Gc Calcaric Gleysols category 36 : 36 Gd Dystric Gleysols category 37 : 37 Ge Eutric Gleysols category 38 : 38 Gh Humic Gleysols category 39 : 39 Gm Mollic Gleysols category 40 : 40 Gp Plinthic Gleysols category 41 : 41 Gx Gelic Gleysols category 42 : 42 H Phaeozems category 43 : 43 Hc Calcaric Phaeozems category 44 : 44 Hg Gleyic Phaeozems category 45 : 45 Hh Haplic Phaeozems category 46 : 46 Hl Luvic Phaeozems category 47 : 47 I Lithosols category 48 : 48 J Fluvisols category 49 : 49 Jc Calcaric Fluvisols category 50 : 50 Jd Dystric Fluvisols category 51 : 51 Je Eutric Fluvisols category 52 : 52 Jt Thionic Fluvisols category 53 : 53 K Kastanozems category 54 : 54 Kh Haplic Kastanozems category 55 : 55 Kk Calcic Kastanozems category 56 : 56 Kl Luvic Kastanozems category 57 : 57 L Luvisols category 58 : 58 La Albic Luvisols category 59 : 59 Lc Chromic Luvisols category 60 : 60 Lf Ferric Luvisols category 61 : 61 Lg Gleyic Luvisols category 62 : 62 Lk Calcic Luvisols category 63 : 63 Lo Orthic Luvisols category 64 : 64 Lp Plinthic Luvisols category 65 : 65 Lv Vertic Luvisols category 66 : 66 M Greyzems category 67 : 67 Mg Gleyic Greyzems category 68 : 68 Mo Orthic Gleyzems category 69 : 69 N Nitosols category 70 : 70 Nd Dystric Nitosols category 71 : 71 Ne Eutric Nitosols category 72 : 72 Nh Humic Nitosols category 73 : 73 O Histosols category 74 : 74 Od Dystric Histosols category 75 : 75 Oe Eutric Histosols category 76 : 76 Ox Gelic Histosols category 77 : 77 P Podzols category 78 : 78 Pf Ferric Podzols category 79 : 79 Pg Gleyic Podzols category 80 : 80 Ph Humic Podzols category 81 : 81 Pl Leptic Podzols category 82 : 82 Po Orthic Podzols category 83 : 83 Pp Placic Podzols category 84 : 84 Q Arenosols category 85 : 85 Aq Albic Arenosols category 86 : 86 Qc Cambic Arenosols category 87 : 87 Qf Ferralic Arenosols category 88 : 88 Ql Luvic Arenosols category 89 : 89 R Regosols category 90 : 90 Rc Calcaric Regosols category 91 : 91 Rd Dystric Regosols category 92 : 92 Re Eutric Regosols category 93 : 93 Rx Gelic Regosols category 94 : 94 S Solonetz category 95 : 95 Sg Gleyic Solonetz category 96 : 96 Sm Mollic Solonetz category 97 : 97 So Orthic Solonetz category 98 : 98 T Andosols category 99 : 99 Th Humic Andosols category100 : 100 Tm Mollic Andosols category101 : 101 To Ochric Andosols category102 : 102 Tv Vitric Andosols category103 : 103 U Rankers category104 : 104 V Vertisols category105 : 105 Vc Chromic Vertisols category106 : 106 Vp Pellic Vertisols category107 : 107 W Planosols category108 : 108 Wd Dystric Planosols category109 : 109 We Eutric Planosols category110 : 110 Wh Humic Planosols category111 : 111 Wm Mollic Planosols category112 : 112 Ws Solodic Planosols category113 : 113 Wx Gelic Planosols category114 : 114 X Xerosols category115 : 115 Xh Haplic Xerosols category116 : 116 Xk Calcic Xerosols category117 : 117 Xl Luvic Xerosols category118 : 118 Xy Gypsic Xerosols category119 : 119 Y Yermosols category120 : 120 Yh Haplic Yermosols category121 : 121 Yk Calcic Yermosols category122 : 122 Yl Luvic Yermosols category123 : 123 Yt Takyric Yermosols category124 : 124 Yy Gypsic Yermosols category125 : 125 Z Solonchaks category126 : 126 Zg Gleyic Solonchaks category127 : 127 Zm Mollic Solonchaks category128 : 128 Zo Orthic Solonchaks category129 : 129 Zt Takyric Solonchaks category130 : 130 RO Rock category131 : 131 SA Salt category132 : 132 WA Water category133 : 133 -- no name backgrnd 0 : Ocean data units : classed flag value : min X : -1.8000000000E+02 max X : 1.8000000000E+02 min Y : -5.5000000000E+01 max Y : 7.5000000000E+01 ref. system : lat/lon ref. units : deg comment : first column is category number, second column is soil unit abbreviation TECHNICAL REPORT Data Integration and Quality (Part I) David A. Hastings (ed.) NOAA National Geophysical Data Center, Boulder, Colorado This CD-ROM contains two versions of the FAO Soils Data set described below. 1.) One version is a 8.64-minute resampling of the original data, where the output value equals the input 2-minute value closest to the center to each output 8.64- minute grid cell. 2.) The other version is a 8.64-minute sampling of the original data, where the output value equals the most common of the input 2-minute grid cells contained in each output 8.64-minute grid cell. These data were resampled to register with the AVHRR Climatologies, which are the main data on this CD-ROM. Data Integration and Quality (Part I) John J. Kineman (ed.) NOAA National Geophysical Data Center, Boulder, Colorado Background This data set was produced at UNEP/GRID (Geneva) by rasterizing on a 2-minute grid from a vector GIS (Arc/INFO) version of the 1973 FAO/UNESCO Soil Map of the World at 1:5,000,000 scale. The digitizing was done by ESRI of Redlands CA. This work was completed in 1984 as part of a FAO/UNEP Desertification and Map-ping Project (ESRI, 1984). The Arc/INFO version of the map was used as a base map for that project. The original FAO Soil Map was produced on 18 map sheets with varying projections. The digitized (vector) version was thus broken into regions with different projections. One of these projections (the Miller Oblate Stereographic Projection for Africa) did not have an inverse transformation, so it has been difficult to assemble a digital version of this data set into a uniform global grid. Some modifications were made to the original data in the production of this version at UNEP/GRID, including conversion from a 106 category legend to 133 categories. Although the documentation provided with the data refers only to Africa it is assumed to be relevant to the global data set. For more informa- tion on content of the data set, see the scanned documentation on the CD-ROM (\document\ncillary\fsoil\*.gif). Processing Projection transformations were performed at UNEP/GRID (Geneva) to produce a global data set in lat/long projection, which was then rasterized. The exact methods used have not been published, except for the informal documentation sent from GRID, which appears in the scanned documentation on this CD-ROM (\document\ncillary\fsoil\*.gif). Nevertheless, it is likely that a revised version of this data set will be produced in the future, through various cooperative efforts. FAO (Rome) has developed a revised classification for the map, and recommends that the older version (supplied here) be abandoned in favor of the newer classification (which, reportedly, does not change the underlying spatial units). Meanwhile, however, versions of the ESRI digital version have been disseminated to many research groups and individuals, and the information has worked its way into the literature in significant ways. Many of the soils and vegetation data sets included in the Global Ecosystems Database were based on the current version of the FAO Soils Map of the World). Because documentation is limited for this version of the data set, and because the 2-minute grid cell size of the original source data on the Global Ecosystems Database is not compatible with the adopted GED "nested grid" convention, it was listed in the Global Ecosystems Database as an experimental data set in transi- tion. On the other hand, the extensive use of the FAO Soils Map (vector ver- sion) and the future need for comparison with revised versions, indicates the need for distribution at this stage, in a form that can be easily compared to its derivative data sets, other data sets, and subsequent versions. This UNEP raster version meets this need, since it is in a convenient form for intercom- parison, although there are questions of how representative it may be of the original data. No attempt was made to further process the data except to bring it into the GED format for experimental use, and to create a color palette confirming to the information contained in the UNEP/GRID documentation. It confirms to the GED window and registration convention (i.e. edge-registered cells windowed between poles and with the International Data Line at the eastern and western edges of the grid). The 2-minute grid cell is an even multiple of 10-minutes and 30- minutes and 1-degree, thus affording easy comparison with the other data sets in the GED that are based on the FAO soils data. It is not directly comparable with 5-minute grids, however, which will likely be the preferred alternative in the "nested grid" structure (see User's Guide). *FAO SOILS ATLAS ANCILLARY ENVIRONMENTAL DATA 10-minutes (modal value of source 2-minute data) #\data\ncillary\fsoilmod.img 10-minutes (nearest neighbor of source 2-minute data) #\data\ncillary\fsoilnn.img Diversity (number of input 2' classes per output 10' class) #\data\ncillary\fsoildiv.img
The data are available with their original sampling on the Global Ecosystems Database Disk A, available from: