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.

In the context of Service Level Agreement between JRC and EFSA, a series of datasets have been developed as support to the FATE and the ECOREGION EFSA PPR Working Groups. Soil maps: Organic matter content of the topsoil, pH of the topsoil, Bulk density of the topsoil, Texture of the topsoil, Water content at field capacity. This metadata record is adapted from the orginal one received from JRC.

One key parameter for soil erosion modelling is the soil erodibility, expressed as the K- factor in the commonly used soil erosion model USLE (Universal Soil Loss Equation). The K-factor is related to crucial soil factors triggering erosion (organic matter content, soil texture, soil structure, permeability). We calculated soil erodibility using measured soil data, collected during the 2009 LUCAS (Land Use and Cover Area frame Survey) soil survey campaign across the member states of the European Union. The estimation method of soil erodibility is based on the LUCAS point data. Since the density of points has a variety, we have performed a first assessment of Uncertainty based on the number of points in the 10km Grid Cell (dataset called uncertainty.tif available in the same folder as k-factor). Soil erodibility is expressed in [(t ha h)/(ha MJ mm)]. 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.

In the context of Service Level Agreement between JRC and EFSA, a series of datasets have been developed as support to the FATE and the ECOREGION EFSA PPR Working Groups. This dataset contains the topsoil water content at field capacity expressed in m^3 m^-3. This metadata record is adapted from the orginal one received from JRC.

In the context of Service Level Agreement between JRC and EFSA, a series of datasets have been developed as support to the FATE and the ECOREGION EFSA PPR Working Groups. This dataset contains the topsoil pH. This metadata record is adapted from the orginal one received from JRC.

In the context of Service Level Agreement between JRC and EFSA, a series of datasets have been developed as support to the FATE and the ECOREGION EFSA PPR Working Groups. This dataset contains the topsoil texture class expressed as relative proportion (%): Value ID: 1 --- Texture: Coarse (18% < clay and > 65% sand) Value ID: 2 --- Texture: Medium (18% < clay < 35% and >= 15% sand, or 18% < clay and 15% < sand < 65%) Value ID: 3 --- Texture: Medium fine (< 35% clay and < 15% sand) Value ID: 4 --- Texture: Fine (35% < clay < 60%) Value ID: 5 --- Texture: Very fine (clay > 60%) Value ID: 9 --- Texture: No mineral texture (Peat soils) This metadata record is adapted from the orginal one received from JRC.

In the context of Service Level Agreement between JRC and EFSA, a series of datasets have been developed as support to the FATE and the ECOREGION EFSA PPR Working Groups. This dataset contains the topsoil bulk density expressed in kg.m^-3 This metadata record is adapted from the orginal one received from JRC.

Soil erosion is a natural process, occurring over geological time, and indeed it is a process that is essential for soil formation in the first place. With respect to soil degradation, most concerns about erosion are related to accelerated erosion, where the natural rate has been significantly increased mostly by human activity. Soil erosion by water is a widespread problem throughout Europe. PESERA (Pan European Soil Erosion Risk Assessment) has been created in order to design a model and to handle spatial and temporal data of variable quality and detail and to enable the impacts of agricultural policy, land use and climate changes to be assessed and monitored across Europe. The Pan-European Soil Erosion Risk Assessment - PESERA - uses a process-based and spatially distributed model to quantify soil erosion by water and assess its risk across Europe. This metadata record is adapted from the orginal one received from JRC.