Soil

Africa Groundwater Atlas >> Additional resources >> Soil

Soil in Africa

Maps of soil type for each country in Africa in this Atlas have been extracted from the Africa-wide harmonised soil map produced and owned by the European Commission Joint Research Centre, which is available through the European Soil Portal – Soil Data and Information Service.

The soil map describes the dominant World Reference Base Reference Soil Group and associated qualifiers. It was derived by the European Commission Joint Research Centre from the Harmonised World Soil Database, and updated and modified according to the World Reference Base for Soil Resources classification system.

The soil map of Africa is provided as part of the Soil Atlas of Africa, which is an excellent resource describing the changing nature of soil across the continent as well as essential background on soils globally and in Africa. The map is available to download from the European Soil Portal as either a PDF or vector based (.shp or shapefile) GIS-enabled file.

Soil type classification across Africa. European Commission Joint Research Centre: European Soil Portal

Soil Classification

AC

Acrisols

AL

Alisols

AN

Andosols

AR

Arenosols

CH

Chernozems

CL

Calcisols

CM

Cambisols

CR

Cryosols

DU

Durisols

FR

Ferrasols

FL

Fluvisols

GL

Gleysols

GY

Gypsisols

HS

Histosols

KS

Kastanozems

LP

Leptosols

LX

Lixisols

LV

Luvisols

NT

Nitisols

PH

Phaeozems

PL

Planosols

PT

Plinthosols

PZ

Podzols

RG

Regosols

SC

Solonchaks

SN

Solonetz

ST

Stagnosols

TC

Technosols

UM

Umbrisols

VR

Vertisols

WR

Water Body

Citations

Dewitte, O, Jones, A, Spaargaren, O, Breuning-Madsen, H, Brossard, M, Dampha, A, Deckers, J, Gallali, T, Hallett, S, Jones, R, Kilasara, M, Le Roux, P, Michéli, E, Montanarella, L, Thiombiano, L, Van Ranst, E, Yemefack, M, Zougmore, R. 2013. Harmonisation of the soil map of Africa at the continental scale. Geoderma, 211-212, 138-153.

Jones A, Breuning-Madsen, H, Brossard, M, Dampha, A, Deckers, Dewitte, O, Gallali, T, Hallet, S, Jones, R, Kilasara, M, Le Roux, P, Michéli, E, Montanarella, L, Spaargaren, O, Thiombiano, L, Van Ranst, E, Yemefack, M, and Zougmore, R (edsitors). 2013. Soil Atlas of Africa. European Commission, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg. 176 pp. ISBN 978-92-79-26715-4, doi 10.2788/52319

Panagos, P, Van Liedekerke, M, Jones, A, Montanarella, L. 2012. European Soil Data Centre: Response to European policy support and public data requirements. Land Use Policy, Vol. 29, 329-338. doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2011.07.003

Spaargaren, O, Schad, P, and Michéli, E. 2010. Guidelines for constructing small-scale map legends using the WRB. FAO, Rome.

Africa Groundwater Atlas >> Additional resources >> Soil