The Digital Soil Map of the World (DSMW) CD-ROM (Version 3.5, November
1995) is based on the FAO/UNESCO Soil Map of the World, original scale 1:5 000 000.
The CD-ROM contains two types of files, DSMW map sheets and derived soil
properties files with images derived from the Soil Map of the World.
The Digital Soil Map of the World consists of ten map sheets: Africa,
North America, Central America, Europe, Central and Northeast Asia, Far
East, Southeast Asia, and Oceania.
The maps are available in three different formats: one vector format (ARC/INFO
Export) and two raster formats called ERDAS and IDRISI (or flat raster)
formats.
The ARC/INFO Export vector files can be read by ARC/INFO software on PC
or other platforms that support ARC/INFO such as VAX/VMS and UNIX.
The ERDAS raster files are in ERDAS version 7.5 GIS format and can be read
by ERDAS software version 7.5 or later (e.g. version 8.1, called ERDAS/IMAGINE)
on PC or UNIX and by other software that can import ERDAS 7.5 GIS files.
The IDRISI raster files are in IDRISI IMG format and can be read by IDRISI
software on PC and by most GIS and image-processing software that can read
flat raster files.
All the maps are in geographic projection, with spherical datum. The coordinates
are expressed in degree decimals. The scale of the original map (and the
vector-formatted data) is 1:5 000 000. The cell size of the raster
data is 5 x 5 arc-minute.
The Derived Soil Properties files consist of interpretation programs
and related data files. The programs are written in QuickBASIC version 4.5
and can be read using a DOS or OS/2 operating system.
Included are programs that interpret the maps in terms of agronomic and
environmental parameters such as pH, organic carbon content, C/N ratio,
clay mineralogy, soil depth, soil and terrain suitability for specific crop
production, soil moisture storage capacity and soil drainage class. The
output is given in the form of maps and data files which can be stored for
later retrieval.
Special country analyses can be made for specific soil inventories, problem
soils and fertility capability classification for every country in the world.
The output is in tabular form.
Also included are maps of classification units of the World Soil Reference
Base units and topsoil distribution, which can facilitate the teaching of
soil science.
In addition there is a soil database developed specifically for environmental
studies on a global scale, which includes soil moisture storage capacity,
soil drainage class and effective soil depth.
IMPORTANT: The full installation of FAOSOIL requires 92 MB of free hard
disk space, not 58 MB as indicated on the screen. Users who do not have
enough disk space can still carry out the partial installation, which requires
only 8 MB. A list of addresses for technical/copyright/software queries
is included with the CD-ROM. (GeoPubs does not have the capability to answer
such queries.)
£250-00 (10% discount given to educational establishments).
Paper version: £175-00