WorldSoils

WorldSoils

activity - Mon, 07/04/2025 - 10:55

According to the UN FAO 33% of the Earth's soils are already degraded and over 90% could become degraded by 2050.

Source : FAO

The WorldSoils project, launched in September 2020 aims to develop a global Earth Observation–Soil Monitoring System (EO-SMS). This cloud-based system leverages open-source technologies and integrates data from existing operational services such as the Copernicus Land Monitoring Service (CLMS), incorporating layers like imperviousness, land cover and land use change, and soil moisture.

The EO-SMS is being co-developed with key stakeholders including institutional end-users responsible for soil reporting, the proximal soil mapping community, and Earth observation experts. The primary focus of the system is to monitor topsoil organic carbon (TOC)—a critical parameter for soil health, land productivity, and climate change mitigation.

EO-SMS aims to serve as a robust baseline for a wide range of downstream applications, from scientific research to national reporting, sustainable agriculture, and commercial soil management services.

Target:
2.4 Ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production ... that improve land and soil quality
12.2 Achieve the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources
13.1 Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries
13.3 Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning
15.1 Ensure the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems ... in particular forests, wetlands, mountains and drylands
15.3 Combat desertification, restore degraded land and soil, including land affected by desertification, drought and floods ...
17.6 Enhance North-South, South-South and triangular regional and international cooperation on and access to science, technology and innovation ...
17.18 Enhance capacity-building support to developing countries ... to increase ... availability of high-quality, timely and reliable data disaggregated by income, gender, age ...
Organization:
ESA
Directorate:
EOP
Regions:
Global
Website:
world-soils.com
Status:
Ongoing