Soil organic carbon, the major component of soil organic matter, is extremely important in all soil processes. Organic material in the soil is essentially derived from residual plant and animal material, synthesized by microbes and decomposed under the influence of temperature, moisture and ambient soil conditions. The JRC has developed and makes available a map of Soil Organic Carbon content (%) in the surface horizon of soils in Europe. This metadata record is adapted from the orginal one received from JRC.

Global estimates of soil organic carbon stocks have been produced in the past to support the calculation of potential emissions of CO2 from the soil under scenarios of change land use/cover and climatic conditions (IPCC, 2006), but very few global estimates are presented as spatial data. For global spatial layers on soil parameters, the most recent and complete dataset is available as the Harmonized World Soil Database (HWSD). The HWSD represents a step forward towards a spatially more detailed and thematically more refined set of global soil data. This dataset contains the organic carbon density (t ha-1) for the topsoil (0 – 30cm) from the amended HWSD. This metadata record is adapted from the orginal one received from JRC.

Global estimates of soil organic carbon stocks have been produced in the past to support the calculation of potential emissions of CO2 from the soil under scenarios of change land use/cover and climatic conditions (IPCC, 2006), but very few global estimates are presented as spatial data. For global spatial layers on soil parameters, the most recent and complete dataset is available as the Harmonized World Soil Database (HWSD). The HWSD represents a step forward towards a spatially more detailed and thematically more refined set of global soil data. This dataset contains the organic carbon density (t ha-1) for the topsoil (30 - 100cm) from the amended HWSD. The original delivery from JRC consisted of two files in IDRISI Raster format, each covering half of the globe. For convenience, these files have been merged at EEA into a single GeoTIFF file covering the whole globe. The original files are in the zip archive HWSDa_OC_Dens_30SEC.zip This metadata record is adapted from the orginal one received from JRC.

Global estimates of soil organic carbon stocks have been produced in the past to support the calculation of potential emissions of CO2 from the soil under scenarios of change land use/cover and climatic conditions (IPCC, 2006), but very few global estimates are presented as spatial data. For global spatial layers on soil parameters, the most recent and complete dataset is available as the Harmonized World Soil Database (HWSD). The HWSD represents a step forward towards a spatially more detailed and thematically more refined set of global soil data. This dataset contains the organic carbon density (t ha-1) for the subsoil (30 - 100cm) from the amended HWSD. The original delivery from JRC consisted of two files in IDRISI Raster format, each covering half of the globe. For convenience, these files have been merged at EEA into a single GeoTIFF file covering the whole globe. The original files are in the zip archive HWSDa_OC_Dens_30SEC.zip This metadata record is adapted from the orginal one received from JRC.

Global estimates of soil organic carbon stocks have been produced in the past to support the calculation of potential emissions of CO2 from the soil under scenarios of change land use/cover and climatic conditions (IPCC, 2006), but very few global estimates are presented as spatial data. For global spatial layers on soil parameters, the most recent and complete dataset is available as the Harmonized World Soil Database (HWSD). The HWSD represents a step forward towards a spatially more detailed and thematically more refined set of global soil data. This dataset contains the organic carbon density (t ha-1) for the subsoil (30 - 100cm) from the amended HWSD. This metadata record is adapted from the orginal one received from JRC.