Map of Anthropogenic Soil Erosion of Russia

Abstract

The last map of anthropogenic soil erosion in Russia was compiled more than 20 years ago on a scale of 1 : 5 000 000. In recent years, additional data on soil erosion have been accumulated. New mapping approaches have appeared that enable us to present more detailed digital data at the country level. The geometric part of the Unified State Register of Soil Resources of Russia (on the initial scale of 1 : 2 500 000) (USRSRR) was used as the basis for map updating. Information on soil erosion was read from the old erosion map for each delineated soil area of the USRSRR. Then it was expertly analyzed and corrected, using the data on soil properties in each soil mapping unit. After that, the information on anthropogenic soil erosion was corrected based on the soil plowing map of Russia and the map of pastures. At the last stage, additional data obtained over the past twenty-year period were entered into the database. The updated map is presented in a GIS format (shapefile). The map contains information on the distribution of soils disturbed as a result of water and anthropogenic erosion.