- Estonian University of Life Sciences Estonia
- University of Tartu Estonia
The Soil Map of Estonia is a vector dataset that maps more than 750 000 soil units throughout Estonia at a scale of 1:10 000. It is the most detailed and information-rich dataset for soils in Estonia, a Baltic country with an area of approximately 45 000 km2. For each soil unit, it describes the soil type, quality, texture, and layer information with a series of complex text codes. However, to use it as an input for numerical modelling using process-based physical models, these text codes must be translated into numbers. Various generalisations and aggregations for agricultural soils for less-detailed versions of the map have been made at a scale of 1:100 000 and 1:200 000. In this study, we create an extended eco-hydrological dataset for Estonia, the EstSoil-EH v1.0 (Kmoch et al., 2019a; https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.3473290), containing derived numerical values for the following data in all of the mapped soil units in the 1:10 000 soil map: soil profiles (e.g., layers, depths), texture (clay, silt, sand components), coarse fragments and rock content, and physical variables related to water and carbon (bulk density, hydraulic conductivity, organic carbon content). Ultimately, our objective was to develop a reproducible method for deriving numerical values to support modelling and prediction of eco-hydrological processes in Estonia using the popular Soil and Water Assessment Tool. The developed methodology and dataset will be an important resource for the Baltic region. Countries like Lithuania and Latvia have similar historical soil records from the Soviet era that could be turned into value-added datasets such as the one we developed for Estonia.