The European space agency world soils monitoring system

Kurzfassung

Soil is a key biotic element to the environment while soil organic carbon (SOC) is the main component of soil organic matter (SOM). SOC contributes to nutrient retention and turnover, soil structure, moisture retention and availability, degradation of pollutants, and carbon sequestration. SOC is an indicator of soil health and essential for food production, mitigation and adaptation to climate change, and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Recent developments in satellite and airborne sensors have sparked the interest in Earth observation for monitoring soil properties. The spectral and spatial resolution of sensors is gradually increasing together with the capacity for data analysis. Therefore, a range of present and future options exists for the workflow towards an Earth observation soil monitoring system. The availability and data quality of recent satellite missions like Copernicus Sentinels, have dramatically changed the paradigm, making remote sensing of top soils feasible in a coherent manner from regional to global scales. The ambition of the WORLDSOILS Monitoring System (WOSOMS) is to achieve a system with the following characteristics: • Modular implementation, allowing future additional soil indices into the system. • A double spatial resolution grid of 100m x 100m for continental monitoring and a 50m x 50m for regional covering. • Appropriate confidence metrics provision. • Use of large time series of a minimum of 3 years. • Validation over three regions.