A spatially explicit scheme for tracking and validating annual landscape scale changes in soil carbon

► Assimilating annual land cover in soil organic carbon modeling framework. ► Tracking annual changes in the soil organic carbon due to tillage and land cover. ► Validating modeled annual changes in the soil organic carbon with ground based soil sampling. ► Rising concentration of the soil organic carbon due to increasing prevalence of perennial land covers. ► Land cover in comparison to soil type is a major factor that governs changes in the soil organic carbon.