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Large-scale soil maps produced by research institutes for land management (GIPROZEM) are the main source of soil information on arable land in Russia. These maps date back to the 1960s–1990s. During the time that has passed since the last round of soil surveys, the development of precision farming has greatly increased the requirements for the accuracy of the maps. At present, archival soil maps require correction (verification, updating, detailing, and unification). It is suggested that the maps of stable intrafield heterogeneity (SIFH) of soil fertility based on the analysis of big remote sensing data can find application in modern agriculture. Such maps are created within the framework of the general concept of big data analysis, including big geodata and big agricultural data as its components. Comparative analysis of archival soil maps and the SIFH map for the territory of southern Russia attests to the great potential of SIFH maps for soil mapping. Missing soil polygons have been detected, the location of existing soil polygons has been refined, new soil units not marked on archival soil maps have been identified, and a plan for additional soil surveys within the framework of the data-driven geography concept has been worked out. The accuracy of the soil map has been improved to be applicable to state-of-the-art farming systems, including precision farming. A new source of information on the spatial heterogeneity of the soil cover and its fertility has appeared. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is an attempt to quantify parameters taken into account in separation of the dry steppe soil zone. A detailed analysis of the maps of zoning, vegetation, land use, and soils has made it possible to suggest quantitative criteria of the dry steppe soil zone in Russia and to gain a better correlation between the calculated boundaries of this zone and the maps of vegetation, land use, and soils. Except for the East European Plain, boundaries of the dry steppe zone with chestnut soils do not coincide on different maps of zoning. Climatic parameters—the sum of active temperatures, the humidity factor, and the continentality coefficient—are the main factors specifying the spatial pattern of soil zones and facies on the maps of zoning. Soil characteristics—texture and water-physical properties—play a subdominant role. It is argued that data on the texture, water-physical properties, and solonetzic properties of soils should be taken into account in separation of the dry steppe zone as the factors controlling the depth of soil moistening and the reserves of productive moisture. Together with the accumulated sum of active temperatures, they specify the development of dry steppe vegetation and, hence, the boundaries of the dry steppe soil zone. A new indicator—the sum of monthly excesses of precipitation over evapotranspiration—should be calculated with due correction for the soil texture, solonetzic properties, and the content of carbonates. In combination with the accumulated sum of active temperatures, this indicator makes it possible to perform a detailed zoning of the area of chestnut soils on a quantitative basis and to separate cryoarid areas (cold semideserts) and semideserts with chestnut soils. Soil zones and facies determined with the use of this indicator are in good agreement with geobotanical maps and maps of land use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Factual materials on salt-affected soils in the Barguzin Depression (Buryat Republic) are generalized. A geomorphic map of the depression has been developed. The distribution of salt-affected soils and the specificity of salinization in different geomorphic regions are characterized. These soils tend to be developed within the low lacustrine-alluvial plain of the depression, on the floodplain of the Barguzin River and its tributaries. Smaller areas of salt-affected soils are found on the river terraces. They are virtually absent on ancient sandy ridged terraces (kuituns). The genesis and chemistry of soil salinization are mainly related to the discharge of slightly saline deep water along tectonic faults and fissures. An additional source of soil salinity is represented by surface water flows. The presence of permafrost preventing the leaching of salts and the cryoarid climate favoring the migration of salts toward the soil surface during the dry spring and early summer periods and during the soil freezing in the winter contribute to the soil salinization. Slightly saline hydromorphic solonchakous soils predominate among salt-affected soils of the depression; the portion of semihydromorphic saline soils is smaller. Automorphic saline soils rarely occur in the depression. Strongly saline soils- solonchaks-are widespread within lacustrine depressions around salt lakes. Soils of the soda and sulfate salinization predominate. The content of chlorides is small; their increased amounts, as well as the presence of sulfates, are indicative of the discharge of dee ground water onto the surface. The soda type of salinization is also related to the discharge of deep stratal water with further transformation of salt solutions during freeze-thaw cycles. Under anaerobic conditions, the formation of soda is favored the processes of sulfate reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A retrospective monitoring of changes in land use on cultivated salt-affected soils of Azov district in Rostov oblast for a period from 1968 to 2013 was performed within the framework of the creation of a problem- oriented system of retrospective monitoring of the soil cover and land uses. A higher dynamism of land uses on salt-affected soils in comparison with that on nonsaline soils was shown. A decisive role of the anthropogenic factor in the increasing soil salinization in the region was established. The areas of meadow ecosystems with participation of salt-affected soils considerably increased at the end of the 1960s-the beginning of the 1970s. It is argued that their development with a corresponding worsening of the salt status of regional soils was initiated by the wide-scale planting of shelterbelts in the 1940s and 1950s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The subdistrict zoning map distinguishes 27 subjects of the Russian Federation, 109 municipal districts, and 142 districts and subdistricts along the latitude line at 53°44′ N in Russia. Among them, soil salinization is observed in 13 subjects of the Russian Federation, 39 municipal districts, and 41 districts and subdistricts. The total length of the transect is 6354 m. The relationship between the distribution of saline soils and climatic parameters has been analyzed in the districts and subdistricts of the subdistrict zoning map. Information about soil salinity has been borrowed from the Soil Salinization Map of Russia (2003) and some regional salinization maps (Khakassia, Barguzin Depression). Climate is the main factor affecting the distribution of soil salinity. Among the analyzed climatic parameters, the Ivanov wetting coefficient (WC) best describes the relationship between climate and soil salinity. The share of saline soils in a district is inversely proportional to the WC value. The degrees of drainage and dissection of the area limit the effect of climate on soil salinity. It is proposed to subdivide the relief into three groups depending on the degree of dissection in order to correct the calculations of relationship between WC and soil salinity. With consideration for relief features, the relationship between soil salinity and WC is represented by a segment of the coordinate plane with WC as the ordinate and the share of saline soils as the abscissa. The segment is limited by two lines corresponding to the maximum and minimum soil salinities at given WC values. The use of the limiting equations allows predicting, with a high probability, the presence and distribution area of saline soils at a given latitude at 0.85 ≥ WC ≥ 0.5. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The results of the first stage of works on the creation of a digital version of the State Soil Map (SSM) in vector and raster formats are discussed. The inventory of all the sheets of the SSM has been performed. The map has been vectorized in strict correspondence to the scale and projections of the initial map sheets in paper format; i.e., the digitized version of the map exactly reproduces the soil polygons shown on the original map sheets. The methods and challenges of digital soil cartography are considered. With respect to the SSM, the importance of two major advantages of the digitized version of this map is emphasized: (a) the preservation of the initial materials in the new electronic formats and (b) the possibility to improve the map with the use of new materials, including satellite images, digital elevation models, and various thematic maps after the transformation of their scales and projections. The analysis of the SSM in the vector format makes it possible to systematize and formulate the major problems and difficulties related to this project and to suggest the particular technologies and methods of their solution; certain directions requiring the elaboration of new methods are outlined. The final goal of the project on the development of the digital version of the SSM is the creation of a unified consistent soil map of Russia on a scale of 1: 1 M. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new methodological approach aimed at the creation and correction of digital soil maps on the basis of systematized and georeferenced available cartographic and attribute information arranged into a GIS project has been tested. The particular stages and methods of the creation of a digital map of salt-affected soils of Khakassia with the use of GIS technologies in the ArcInfo format are described. All the available cartographic materials, including the Soils of Russia GIS project, digital elevation models, remote sensing data, and analytical data on 82 soil pits (including the authors' materials and previously published data), have been used for the creation of this new map. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problems of the creation of a high-quality digitized version of the State Soil Map (SSM) on a scale of 1 : 1 M for the European part of Russia are discussed. Sheets of the SSM have been compiled for the entire territory of Russia. For the European part of Russia, they have been digitized, and a corresponding geographic information system has been created. At present, the attribute database to the map is being developed. In the course of the digitization of separate sheets of the map and the creation of a general legend, certain drawbacks of the map have been revealed. They are related to the insufficient completeness of information on the genesis of soil-forming rocks shown on different sheets; to the inconsistency in the names of some soils; and to the use of the same conventional signs for describing the soil texture in the upper horizons and in the parent material, which is incorrect in the case of texture-differentiated soils. The reasons for these drawbacks of the original map are explained. It is stressed that the SSM is a highly informative map that has played a crucial role in the development of pedology and soil cartography in Russia. A digitized version of this map makes it possible to introduce certain corrections to the original map sheets. The essence of the first stage of the work on the correction of the SSM in the digitized version and the methods applied for this purpose are characterized. Problems related to the creation of the database for the digitized version of this map are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soviet and Russian pedologists, ecologists, geobotanists, geographers, and other specialists created a large set of maps on the territory of the former Soviet Union. In most cases, these maps were published; at present, they are available as hardcopies. Their digitization clearly shows various merits and demerits of thematic maps on the territory of the Soviet Union and Russia. A 20-year experience of the Laboratory of Soil Informatics at the Dokuchaev Soil Science Institute on the creation of digitized maps integrated into the 'Soils of Russia' geographic information system (GIS) is discussed. The major stages of this work and the technology developed to solve the problems appearing during it are described. The reasons for certain difficulties in matching cartographic information contained on the maps of different and similar scales, the problems of georeferencing of the maps, and the problems related to the use of remote sensing materials and digital elevation models are discussed. The necessity of creating a unified cartographic base for thematic maps included in the GIS 'Soils of Russia' [28] and the technology for its development are characterized. The distortions on the original topographic maps are corrected with the use of locally affine transformation functions realized in the GeoDraw-GeoGraph software package. The requirements for the quality of the maps-their suitability for georeferencing, topological correctness, and compatibility of different versions-are formulated. The problems of digital soil mapping upon the use of object-oriented GIS are elucidated. The Soil Map of the Russian Federation (1: 2.5 M scale) was initially digitized in 1997. Since that time, four digital versions of this map have been created to reduce the initial errors and inconsistencies. It is argued that the fifth and sixth versions of this map should be created with allowance for the accumulated experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]