Digital soil mapping across the globe

Digital soil mapping has largely expanded across the globe since the early 2000s. Numerous national, continental and global digital soil mapping products have been produced. In this paper, we review some major developments and highlight areas where progress is needed, including refinements in uncertainty assessments and increasing soil data collection. There are several useful top-down approaches, but we sense that digital soil mapping should be conducted at a regional or local level to be consistent with its use and application, and to ensure efficient soil data collection, and involvement of end users. Despite the numerous mapping activities, a concerted action is needed for enhanced investment in soil mapping, including capacity building and training the next generation of soil surveyors who are grounded in pedology as well as digital soil mapping.