WP leader: Alterra, Rudi Hessel and Coen Ritsema

We will investigate whether use of the e-SOTER database will improve evaluation of threats to soil quality and performance compared with using data from previous soil maps and databases. The examples will focus on threats identified by the EU Soil Thematic Strategy: erosion, compaction, flooding, landslides, loss of organic matter, salinization and sealing. Appropriate models that can measure the threats at the relevant scales will be selected, and run with e-SOTER data and any additional data required.

The work consists of four tasks:

1. identification of the most important threat to soil quality and performance in three 1:1 million-scale windows (W-Europe, C-Europe and Morocco) and two 1:250 000-scale pilot areas (D/CZ and Morocco);
2. collection of data for the models;
3. comparison of threats assessment based on e-SOTER and on pre-existing data sources considering both spatial patterns and at statistical trends;
4. comparison between existing data on threats and the results obtained from the 1:1 million and 1:250 000-scale windows by running models for the most important threats determined in 1.