iSDA Soil
Products used: iSDA Soil; iSDA Soil Bedrock Depth; iSDA Soil Bulk Density; iSDA Soil Carbon Total; iSDA Soil Clay Content; iSDA Soil Sand Content; iSDA Soil Silt Content;
Date modified: 31 October 2023
Background
Innovative Solutions for Decision Agriculture iSDA soil is an open access soils data resource for the African continent. The key data products are spatial predictions of soil nutrient concentrations and soil properties, derived from predictive soil mapping (PSM) techniques.
Soils data can be useful for a range of applications including land suitability mapping for agriculture, soil amelioration planning (e.g. liming to address acidic soils or fertiliser to address fertility constraints), and for construction or infrastructure planning.
iSDA variables
iSDA offers numerous soil variables shown in the table below. Many of the variables have four layers: mean and standard deviation at 0-20cm and 20-50cm depth. Layers are accessible via their Access Names e.g. ‘bedrock_depth’ in the Sandbox.
Some variables are indexed in Digital Earth Africa, and others can be brought in directly.
Table 1: iSDA soil products available on the DE Africa platform.
Variable |
Access Name |
Layers |
---|---|---|
Depth to bedrock |
bedrock_depth |
0-200cm depth, predicted mean and standard deviation |
Bulk density, <2mm fraction |
bulk_density |
0-20cm and 20-50cm, predicted mean and standard deviation |
Carbon, total |
carbon_total |
0-20cm and 20-50cm, predicted mean and standard deviation |
Clay content |
clay_content |
0-20 cm and 20-50 cm, predicted mean and standard deviation |
Sand content |
sand_content |
0-20cm and 20-50cm, predicted mean and standard deviation |
Silt content |
silt_content |
0-20cm and 20-50cm, predicted mean and standard deviation |
Relevant metadata for the iSDA soil products, as well as the specific temporal and geographic extents for the product can be explored as an interactive map on the DE Africa Metadata Explorer. Data is available for the shaded region. A Jupyter Notebook which demonstrates loading and using iSDA soil products in the Sandbox is also available.
Figure 1: iSDA soil bedrock depth geographic extent
Technical information
Spatial prediction of soil properties in the iSDA product suite was undertaken with five regression modelling algorithms. The prediction process utilises field data in combination with covariates such as topographic and surface reflectance data. Further technical information on iSDA products, and links to academic papers describing the methodology, can be found on the iSDA technical information page.
References
Miller MAE, Shepherd KD, Kisitu B, Collinson J (2021) iSDAsoil: The first continent-scale soil property map at 30 m resolution provides a soil information revolution for Africa. PLoS Biol 19(11): e3001441. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001441
License and Acknowledgements
This data is licensed under a Creative Commons by Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license.
Credits: iSDA
Product Details
The specifications for the six products listed above in Table 1 are described in succession below.
1. iSDA Soil Bedrock Depth
Product Overview
Soil bedrock depth can be useful for development planning, such as agricultural developments or construction.
Specifications
Table 2: iSDA soil bedrock depth product specifications
Specification |
|
---|---|
Product name |
|
Cell size - X (metres) |
30 |
Cell size - Y (metres) |
30 |
Coordinate reference system |
EPSG:3857 |
Update frequency |
None |
Measurements
Table 3: iSDA soil bedrock depth product measurements
Band ID |
Description |
Units |
Data type |
No data\(^\dagger\) |
---|---|---|---|---|
mean_0_200 |
Soil bedrock depth, mean prediction 0-200cm |
cm |
float32 |
NaN |
stdev_0_200 |
Soil bedrock depth, prediction standard deviation 0-200cm |
cm |
float32 |
NaN |
Media and example images
Figure 2: iSDA soil bedrock depth (cm) for an area near Cape Town, South Africa.
Data Access
Amazon web services S3
iSDA layers are available in AWS S3, details below. iSDA has published documentation on accessing data through AWS.
Table 4: iSDA depth to bedrock access details through AWS.
AWS S3 details |
|
---|---|
Product |
bedrock_depth |
Bucket ARD |
|
Region |
|
Open Data Cube (ODC)
The iSDA soil depth to bedrock product can be accessed through the Digital Earth Africa ODC API, which is available through the Digital Earth Africa Sandbox.
ODC product name: isda_soil_bedrock_depth
The isda_soil_bedrock_depth
has two layers: the estimate itself and standard deviation as a measure of prediction uncertainty. They can be called by using the default name or by the band’s alternative name as listed in the table below.
Table 5: iSDA depth to bedrock band names.
Band name |
Alternative names |
Fill value |
---|---|---|
mean_0_200 |
MEAN_0_200 |
NaN |
stdev_0_200 |
STDEV_0_200 |
NaN |
2. iSDA Soil Bulk Density
Product Overview
Soil bulk density is a useful variable for understanding soil’s capacity to support ecosystem functions and other uses. It is also a useful input for planning soil additive rates.
Specifications
Table 6: iSDA soil bulk density product specifications
Specification |
|
---|---|
Product name |
|
Cell size - X (metres) |
30 |
Cell size - Y (metres) |
30 |
Coordinate reference system |
EPSG:3857 |
Update frequency |
None |
Measurements
Table 7: iSDA soil bulk density product measurements
Band ID |
Description |
Units |
Data type |
No data\(^\dagger\) |
---|---|---|---|---|
mean_0_20 |
Soil bulk density, mean prediction 0-20cm |
g/cm\(^3\) |
float32 |
NaN |
mean_20_50 |
Soil bulk density, mean prediction 20-50cm |
g/cm\(^3\) |
float32 |
NaN |
stdev_0_20 |
Soil bulk density, prediction standard deviation 0-20cm |
g/cm\(^3\) |
float32 |
NaN |
stdev_20_50 |
Soil bulk density, prediction standard deviation 20-50cm |
g/cm\(^3\) |
float32 |
NaN |
Media and example images
Figure 3: iSDA soil bulk density (g/cm3) for an area near Cape Town, South Africa.
Data Access
Amazon web services S3
iSDA layers are available in AWS S3, details below. iSDA has published documentation on accessing data through AWS.
Table 8: iSDA soil bulk density access details through AWS.
AWS S3 details |
|
---|---|
Product |
bulk_density |
Bucket ARD |
|
Region |
|
Open Data Cube (ODC)
The iSDA soil bulk density product can be accessed through the Digital Earth Africa ODC API, which is available through the Digital Earth Africa Sandbox.
ODC product name: isda_soil_bulk_density
The isda_soil_bulk_density
has two layers: the estimate itself and standard deviation as a measure of prediction uncertainty. They can be called by using the default name or by the band’s alternative name as listed in the table below.
Table 9: iSDA soil bulk density band names.
Band name |
Alternative names |
Fill value |
---|---|---|
mean_0_20 |
MEAN_0_20 |
NaN |
mean_20_50 |
MEAN_20_50 |
NaN |
stdev_0_20 |
STDEV_0_20 |
NaN |
stdev_20_50 |
STDEV_20_50 |
NaN |
3. iSDA Soil Carbon Total
Product Overview
Total soil carbon is critical to a range of application such as Carbon cycle and Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) monitoring.
Specifications
Table 10: iSDA soil carbon total product specifications
Specification |
|
---|---|
Product name |
|
Cell size - X (metres) |
30 |
Cell size - Y (metres) |
30 |
Coordinate reference system |
EPSG:3857 |
Update frequency |
None |
Measurements
Table 11: iSDA soil carbon total product measurements
Band ID |
Description |
Units |
Data type |
No data\(^\dagger\) |
---|---|---|---|---|
mean_0_20 |
Soil carbon total, mean prediction 0-20cm |
g/kg |
float32 |
NaN |
mean_20_50 |
Soil carbon total, mean prediction 20-50cm |
g/kg |
float32 |
NaN |
stdev_0_20 |
Soil carbon total, prediction standard deviation 0-20cm |
g/kg |
float32 |
NaN |
stdev_20_50 |
Soil carbon total, prediction standard deviation 20-50cm |
g/kg |
float32 |
NaN |
Back Transformation
Soil carbon total values must be transformed, in Python the transformation can be written as np.expm1(x/10)
.
Media and example images
Figure 4: iSDA soil carbon total (g/kg) for an area near Lake Tana, Ethiopia.
Data Access
Amazon web services S3
iSDA layers are available in AWS S3, details below. iSDA has published documentation on accessing data through AWS.
Table 12: iSDA soil carbon total access details through AWS.
AWS S3 details |
|
---|---|
Product |
carbon_total |
Bucket ARD |
|
Region |
|
Open Data Cube (ODC)
The iSDA soil carbon total product can be accessed through the Digital Earth Africa ODC API, which is available through the Digital Earth Africa Sandbox.
ODC product name: isda_soil_carbon_total
The isda_soil_carbon_total
has two layers: the estimate itself and standard deviation as a measure of prediction uncertainty. They can be called by using the default name or by the band’s alternative name as listed in the table below.
Table 13: iSDA soil carbon total band names.
Band name |
Alternative names |
Fill value |
---|---|---|
mean_0_20 |
MEAN_0_20 |
NaN |
mean_20_50 |
MEAN_20_50 |
NaN |
stdev_0_20 |
STDEV_0_20 |
NaN |
stdev_20_50 |
STDEV_20_50 |
NaN |
4. iSDA Soil Clay Content
Product Overview
Soil clay content is one of three (sand, silt, clay) soil texture layers. Soil texture determines many other soil attributes, such as water and nutrient holding capacity.
Specifications
Table 14: iSDA soil clay content product specifications
Specification |
|
---|---|
Product name |
|
Cell size - X (metres) |
30 |
Cell size - Y (metres) |
30 |
Coordinate reference system |
EPSG:3857 |
Update frequency |
None |
Measurements
Table 15: iSDA soil clay content total product measurements
Band ID |
Description |
Units |
Data type |
No data\(^\dagger\) |
---|---|---|---|---|
mean_0_20 |
Soil clay content, mean prediction 0-20cm |
percent |
float32 |
NaN |
mean_20_50 |
Soil clay content, mean prediction 20-50cm |
percent |
float32 |
NaN |
stdev_0_20 |
Soil clay content, prediction standard deviation 0-20cm |
percent |
float32 |
NaN |
stdev_20_50 |
Soil clay content, prediction standard deviation 20-50cm |
percent |
float32 |
NaN |
Media and example images
Figure 5: iSDA soil clay content (%) in the Okavango Delta, Botswana.
Credits: iSDA
Data Access
Amazon web services S3
iSDA layers are available in AWS S3, details below. iSDA has published documentation on accessing data through AWS.
Table 16: iSDA soil clay content access details through AWS.
AWS S3 details |
|
---|---|
Product |
clay_content |
Bucket ARD |
|
Region |
|
Open Data Cube (ODC)
The iSDA soil clay content product can be accessed through the Digital Earth Africa ODC API, which is available through the Digital Earth Africa Sandbox.
ODC product name: isda_soil_clay_content
The isda_soil_clay_content
has two layers: the estimate itself and standard deviation as a measure of prediction uncertainty. They can be called by using the default name or by the band’s alternative name as listed in the table below.
Table 17: iSDA soil clay content band names.
Band name |
Alternative names |
Fill value |
---|---|---|
mean_0_20 |
MEAN_0_20 |
NaN |
mean_20_50 |
MEAN_20_50 |
NaN |
stdev_0_20 |
STDEV_0_20 |
NaN |
stdev_20_50 |
STDEV_20_50 |
NaN |
5. iSDA Soil Sand Content
Product Overview
Innovative Solutions for Decision Agriculture iSDA soil is an open access soils data resource for the African continent. The key data products are spatial predictions of soil nutrient concentrations and soil properties, derived from predictive soil mapping (PSM) techniques.
Soil sand content is one of three (sand, silt, clay) soil texture layers. Soil texture determines many other soil attributes, such as water and nutrient holding capacity.
Specifications
Table 18: iSDA soil sand content product specifications
Specification |
|
---|---|
Product name |
|
Cell size - X (metres) |
30 |
Cell size - Y (metres) |
30 |
Coordinate reference system |
EPSG:3857 |
Update frequency |
None |
Measurements
Table 19: iSDA soil sand content total product measurements
Band ID |
Description |
Units |
Data type |
No data\(^\dagger\) |
---|---|---|---|---|
mean_0_20 |
Soil sand content, mean prediction 0-20cm |
percent |
float32 |
NaN |
mean_20_50 |
Soil sand content, mean prediction 20-50cm |
percent |
float32 |
NaN |
stdev_0_20 |
Soil sand content, prediction standard deviation 0-20cm |
percent |
float32 |
NaN |
stdev_20_50 |
Soil sand content, prediction standard deviation 20-50cm |
percent |
float32 |
NaN |
Media and example images
Figure 6: iSDA soil sand content (%) in the Okavango Delta, Botswana.
Data Access
Amazon web services S3
iSDA layers are available in AWS S3, details below. iSDA has published documentation on accessing data through AWS.
Table 20: iSDA soil sand content access details through AWS.
AWS S3 details |
|
---|---|
Product |
sand_content |
Bucket ARD |
|
Region |
|
Open Data Cube (ODC)
The iSDA soil sand content product can be accessed through the Digital Earth Africa ODC API, which is available through the Digital Earth Africa Sandbox.
ODC product name: isda_soil_sand_content
The isda_soil_sand_content
has two layers: the estimate itself and standard deviation as a measure of prediction uncertainty. They can be called by using the default name or by the band’s alternative name as listed in the table below.
Table 21: iSDA soil sand content band names.
Band name |
Alternative names |
Fill value |
---|---|---|
mean_0_20 |
MEAN_0_20 |
NaN |
mean_20_50 |
MEAN_20_50 |
NaN |
stdev_0_20 |
STDEV_0_20 |
NaN |
stdev_20_50 |
STDEV_20_50 |
NaN |
6. iSDA Soil Silt Content
Product Overview
Soil silt content is one of three (sand, silt, clay) soil texture layers. Soil texture determines many other soil attributes, such as water and nutrient holding capacity.
Specifications
Table 22: iSDA soil silt content product specifications
Specification |
|
---|---|
Product name |
|
Cell size - X (metres) |
30 |
Cell size - Y (metres) |
30 |
Coordinate reference system |
EPSG:3857 |
Update frequency |
None |
Measurements
Table 23: iSDA soil silt content total product measurements
Band ID |
Description |
Units |
Data type |
No data\(^\dagger\) |
---|---|---|---|---|
mean_0_20 |
Soil silt content, mean prediction 0-20cm |
percent |
float32 |
NaN |
mean_20_50 |
Soil silt content, mean prediction 20-50cm |
percent |
float32 |
NaN |
stdev_0_20 |
Soil silt content, prediction standard deviation 0-20cm |
percent |
float32 |
NaN |
stdev_20_50 |
Soil silt content, prediction standard deviation 20-50cm |
percent |
float32 |
NaN |
Media and example images
Figure 7: iSDA soil silt content (%) in the Okavango Delta, Botswana.
Data Access
Amazon web services S3
iSDA layers are available in AWS S3, details below. iSDA has published documentation on accessing data through AWS.
Table 24: iSDA soil silt content access details through AWS.
AWS S3 details |
|
---|---|
Product |
silt_content |
Bucket ARD |
|
Region |
|
Open Data Cube (ODC)
The iSDA soil silt content product can be accessed through the Digital Earth Africa ODC API, which is available through the Digital Earth Africa Sandbox.
ODC product name: isda_soil_silt_content
The isda_soil_silt_content
has two layers: the estimate itself and standard deviation as a measure of prediction uncertainty. They can be called by using the default name or by the band’s alternative name as listed in the table below.
Table 4: iSDA soil silt content band names.
Band name |
Alternative names |
Fill value |
---|---|---|
mean_0_20 |
MEAN_0_20 |
NaN |
mean_20_50 |
MEAN_20_50 |
NaN |
stdev_0_20 |
STDEV_0_20 |
NaN |
stdev_20_50 |
STDEV_20_50 |
NaN |