MAP OF PLOWED SOILS OF RUSSIA

Abstract

The paper presents the results of the of the country's plowed area assessment on the basis of the Unified State Register of Soil Resources of Russia, a digital land cover map created on the basis of MODIS satellite data, and study of plowed land areas according to the data of the Internet service Google Earth. Information on the plowing of soils is tied to the soil-geographical units. The map shows the actually plowed soils and soils under the layland. Independent verification of the plowland soil digital map of Russia showed its high enough accuracy (an error of about 8–9%). The share of all plowed soils of the Unified State Register of Soil Resources in Russia has been determined. It is found that chernozem soils predominate on the arable land of Russia, from the northernmost subtypes to the most southern ones. Somewhat unexpected is the presence in this list of meadow chernozem solonetzic and solonchak soils. The map is intended for applied analysis and accounting of soil resources at the national level.