Soil-Land Maps
The SOTER project was initiated by the International Society of Soil Science (ISSS) in 1986 (Dobos et al., 2005). SOTER is a land resource information system based on the concept that the properties of a territory, as well as those of its components (land and soil), are the result of the interaction of physical, chemical, biological, and social processes that have acted upon the Earth’s crust over time (Batjes and Von Engelen, 1997). In some aspects, the SOTER methodology is similar to the pedological mapping used by the ICPA methodology (ICPA, 1987), with the main difference being the emphasis on land-soil relationships. The formulas and content of the parameters characterizing the units in the legend of the SOTER units map identified in Romania at a scale of 1:2,500,000 are presented in Fig. 1.
Figure 1. SOTER Cartographic Units for Romania, at a scale of 1:2,500,000
ROMSOTER1M Soil-Land Map
Following the application of the SOTER methodology at a scale of 1:2,500,000 as part of the international SOTER-SOVEUR project (Munteanu et al., 1998, 1999, 2000a), this methodology was adapted for the development of a soil and land database for Romania at a scale of 1.000.000. The land units map (Fig. 2) comprises approximately 728 delineations (polygons). Practically, all land categories with significant extension, both at local and national levels, have been identified and delimited.
Figure 2. Encoding method for SOTER units in Romania, at a scale of 1:1,000,000
GIS-MZP Pedogeoclimatic Microzone Map
The microzoning of Romania’s territory (Fig. 3) was carried out in two successive editions (Florea et al., 1989; 1999). In both cases, the separation of microzones as distinct cartographic units was based on 3 characteristics: climate, relief, and soil.
For relief conditions, 6 main categories were separated, identical in both editions of the microzoning work: floodplain, tabular (flat), undulating, slightly rugged, moderately rugged, and highly rugged. The relief categories are characterized by slope, fragmentation density, and relief energy.
Figure 3. Microzone Map at a scale of 1:1,000,000 (detail)
It should be noted that these characteristics refer to the predominant conditions in the respective microzones, without considering variations within them, although sometimes these are significant. In the second edition, a mention regarding relief units was added to the legend defining the different microzones, separating 42 units. In cases, quite frequent, where the same microzone/area is located in several relief units, it is subdivided into different sub-areas.
Regarding soil conditions, 27 taxonomic units were considered in the first edition, and 28 taxonomic units in the second, which are primarily soil types, conforming to the classification in use at that time: the Romanian Soil Classification System SRCS-80. Not all soil types from the Romanian classification are found in the final map, as some are relatively rare. There are cases where taxonomic subdivisions of soil types are also separated. The soils mentioned in the microzone description, as well as in its characterization formula, are those predominant in the respective microzones.
