Soil data exchange formats

Detail of the XML-based KA5 data exchange structure (in progress) Source: BGR

Simplify data exchange

Standardised data exchange formats enhance the usability of soil data tremendously. Formerly, data formats have depended on the data provider. Data users had to make high efforts to integrate the data in their evaluation environment. Therefore BGR cooperates in various working groups that deal with data format standardisation on different levels. Our aim is to make all these standards compatible in a way that the data models can be mapped into each other.

KA5

The German Soil Mapping Guideline Bodenkundliche Kartieranleitung provides relatively detailed rules how to describe soils in the field. Nonetheless there is some scope for interpretation and extension, which has resulted in differences in soil description and data recording between the various federal state agencies. Initiated by the Ad-hoc-AG Boden, a nationwide board of the federal and federal state level geological services on soil, a common digital soil data input form for soil data obtained according to the Bodenkundliche Kartieranleitung, 5th edition (KA5) is currently developed by BGR and the geological services of the federal states, based on a common XML data exchange structure.

Data model for soil map data developed by the project GS Soil using the Universal Modelling Language (UML) Source: BGR

ISO 28258 Digital exchange of soil-related data

In the Technical Committee 190 Soil Quality of the International Standardization Organization (ISO), a working group develops a standard on the digital exchange of soil-related data. BGR has participated in these activities since 2007. Because soil data are produced in many different ways in various countries and organisations, the exchange format is very generic regarding the kind and encoding of soil properties, but on a restricted catalogue of soil-related objects that can be described (e. g. soil profiles and horizons). All attributes have to be defined by the data provider in a formalised way, such that data can be evaluated by any data receiver. In the project GS Soil the ISO approach has been completed and is being tested with data from various European soil data providers. ISO 28258 has been published in September 2013. For additions and adaption to changes made in other standards on which ISO 28258 is based, a revision process has been started immediately after publication.

INSPIRE

In the framework of the INSPIRE directive (Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe) BGR participated in the Thematic Working Group Soil (TWG SO). This group was launched by the European Commission to develop data specifications (DS) for the theme soil. The ideas of the ISO approach were taken up by the TWG, such that both data models are basically alike. In December 2013, the data specifications were formally adopted and are online available. The INSPIRE approach is fed back into the ISO group to coordinate the efforts. BGR supports the European Commission further by collaborating with the INSPIRE Maintenance and Implementation Group in the so-called expert pool.

IUSS Working Group Soil Information Standards

All the experience from the activities described above is also brought into the Working group Soil Information Standards of the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS).

e-SOTER

Within the project e-SOTER, the work on a digital structure for the Soil and Terrain Database and various soil classification systems were backed up by BGR.