There is growing international interest in better managing soils to increase soil organic carbon (SOC) content to contribute to climate change mitigation, to enhance resilience to climate change and to underpin food security, through initiatives such as international \uffe2\uff80\uff984p1000\uffe2\uff80\uff99 initiative and the FAO's Global assessment of SOC sequestration potential (GSOCseq) programme. Since SOC content of soils cannot be easily measured, a key barrier to implementing programmes to increase SOC at large scale, is the need for credible and reliable measurement/monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) platforms, both for national reporting and for emissions trading. Without such platforms, investments could be considered risky. In this paper, we review methods and challenges of measuring SOC change directly in soils, before examining some recent novel developments that show promise for quantifying SOC. We describe how repeat soil surveys are used to estimate changes in SOC over time, and how long\uffe2\uff80\uff90term experiments and space\uffe2\uff80\uff90for\uffe2\uff80\uff90time substitution sites can serve as sources of knowledge and can be used to test models, and as potential benchmark sites in global frameworks to estimate SOC change. We briefly consider models that can be used to simulate and project change in SOC and examine the MRV platforms for SOC change already in use in various countries/regions. In the final section, we bring together the various components described in this review, to describe a new vision for a global framework for MRV of SOC change, to support national and international initiatives seeking to effect change in the way we manage our soils.
A community effort is needed to move soil modeling forward.
Establishing an international soil modeling consortium is key in this respect.
There is a need to better integrate existing knowledge in soil models.
Integration of data and models is a key challenge in soil modeling.
The remarkable complexity of soil and its importance to a wide range of ecosystem services presents major challenges to the modeling of soil processes. Although major progress in soil models has occurred in the last decades, models of soil processes remain disjointed between disciplines or ecosystem services, with considerable uncertainty remaining in the quality of predictions and several challenges that remain yet to be addressed. First, there is a need to improve exchange of knowledge and experience among the different disciplines in soil science and to reach out to other Earth science communities. Second, the community needs to develop a new generation of soil models based on a systemic approach comprising relevant physical, chemical, and biological processes to address critical knowledge gaps in our understanding of soil processes and their interactions. Overcoming these challenges will facilitate exchanges between soil modeling and climate, plant, and social science modeling communities. It will allow us to contribute to preserve and improve our assessment of ecosystem services and advance our understanding of climate\uffe2\uff80\uff90change feedback mechanisms, among others, thereby facilitating and strengthening communication among scientific disciplines and society. We review the role of modeling soil processes in quantifying key soil processes that shape ecosystem services, with a focus on provisioning and regulating services. We then identify key challenges in modeling soil processes, including the systematic incorporation of heterogeneity and uncertainty, the integration of data and models, and strategies for effective integration of knowledge on physical, chemical, and biological soil processes. We discuss how the soil modeling community could best interface with modern modeling activities in other disciplines, such as climate, ecology, and plant research, and how to weave novel observation and measurement techniques into soil models. We propose the establishment of an international soil modeling consortium to coherently advance soil modeling activities and foster communication with other Earth science disciplines. Such a consortium should promote soil modeling platforms and data repository for model development, calibration and intercomparison essential for addressing contemporary challenges.
", "keywords": ["organic-matter dynamics", "550", "QH301 Biology", "0208 environmental biotechnology", "SATURATED-UNSATURATED FLOW", "02 engineering and technology", "soil processes", "01 natural sciences", "Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience", "Sciences de la Terre", "ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZAL FUNGI", "sciences du sol", "ANZSRC::3707 Hydrology", "SYNTHETIC-APERTURE RADAR", "ANZSRC::4106 Soil sciences", "SDG 13 - Climate Action", "2. Zero hunger", "GROUND-PENETRATING RADAR", "diffuse-reflectance spectroscopy", "ANZSRC::050399 Soil Sciences not elsewhere classified", "synthetic-aperture radar", "digital elevation model", "SDG 13 \u2013 Ma\u00dfnahmen zum Klimaschutz", "MULTIPLE ECOSYSTEM SERVICES", "knowledge integration", "Crop and Pasture Production", "101028 Mathematical modelling", "570", "DIFFUSE-REFLECTANCE SPECTROSCOPY", "Environmental Engineering", "international soil modeling consortium", "0207 environmental engineering", "Soil Science", "[SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences", "arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi", "soil science", "ORGANIC-MATTER DYNAMICS", "QH301", "ANZSRC::0503 Soil Sciences", "Life Science", "SEDIMENT TRANSPORT MODELS", "data integration", "sediment transport models", "approche ecosyst\u00e9mique", "mod\u00e9lisation", "0105 earth and related environmental sciences", "ground-penetrating radar", "info:eu-repo/classification/ddc/550", "soil modeling", "ANZSRC::080110 Simulation and Modelling", "ROOT WATER-UPTAKE", "15. Life on land", "multiple ecosystem services", "root water-uptake", "13. Climate action", "Earth and Environmental Sciences", "Soil Sciences", "[SDU.STU] Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences", "Earth Sciences", "101028 Mathematische Modellierung", "saturated-unsaturated flow", "root water-uptake", " sediment transport models", " diffuse-reflectance spectroscopy", " arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi", " multiple ecosystem services", " saturated-unsaturated flow", " ground-penetrating radar", " synthetic-aperture radar", " digital elevation model", " organic-matter dynamics.", "DIGITAL ELEVATION MODEL"]}, "links": [{"href": "http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.2136/vzj2015.09.0131/fullpdf"}, {"href": "https://escholarship.org/content/qt6976n34c/qt6976n34c.pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.2136/vzj2015.09.0131"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Vadose%20Zone%20Journal", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.2136/vzj2015.09.0131", "name": "item", "description": "10.2136/vzj2015.09.0131", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.2136/vzj2015.09.0131"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2016-05-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "2164/6134", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-04-13T16:27:03Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2016-05-13", "title": "Modeling Soil Processes: Review, Key Challenges, and New Perspectives", "description": "Core Ideas
A community effort is needed to move soil modeling forward.
Establishing an international soil modeling consortium is key in this respect.
There is a need to better integrate existing knowledge in soil models.
Integration of data and models is a key challenge in soil modeling.
The remarkable complexity of soil and its importance to a wide range of ecosystem services presents major challenges to the modeling of soil processes. Although major progress in soil models has occurred in the last decades, models of soil processes remain disjointed between disciplines or ecosystem services, with considerable uncertainty remaining in the quality of predictions and several challenges that remain yet to be addressed. First, there is a need to improve exchange of knowledge and experience among the different disciplines in soil science and to reach out to other Earth science communities. Second, the community needs to develop a new generation of soil models based on a systemic approach comprising relevant physical, chemical, and biological processes to address critical knowledge gaps in our understanding of soil processes and their interactions. Overcoming these challenges will facilitate exchanges between soil modeling and climate, plant, and social science modeling communities. It will allow us to contribute to preserve and improve our assessment of ecosystem services and advance our understanding of climate\uffe2\uff80\uff90change feedback mechanisms, among others, thereby facilitating and strengthening communication among scientific disciplines and society. We review the role of modeling soil processes in quantifying key soil processes that shape ecosystem services, with a focus on provisioning and regulating services. We then identify key challenges in modeling soil processes, including the systematic incorporation of heterogeneity and uncertainty, the integration of data and models, and strategies for effective integration of knowledge on physical, chemical, and biological soil processes. We discuss how the soil modeling community could best interface with modern modeling activities in other disciplines, such as climate, ecology, and plant research, and how to weave novel observation and measurement techniques into soil models. We propose the establishment of an international soil modeling consortium to coherently advance soil modeling activities and foster communication with other Earth science disciplines. Such a consortium should promote soil modeling platforms and data repository for model development, calibration and intercomparison essential for addressing contemporary challenges.
", "keywords": ["organic-matter dynamics", "550", "Sciences de l\u2019environnement & \u00e9cologie", "QH301 Biology", "Knowledge management", "0208 environmental biotechnology", "ECOSYSTEM SERVICES", "02 engineering and technology", "soil processes", "01 natural sciences", "Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience", "Sciences de la Terre", "Biological process", "ANZSRC::3707 Hydrology", "DROUGHT SEVERITY INDEX", "SYNTHETIC-APERTURE RADAR", "ANZSRC::4106 Soil sciences", "SDG 13 - Climate Action", "Climate change", "0503 Soil Sciences", "GROUND-PENETRATING RADAR", "Integration of knowledge", "Life sciences", "ANZSRC::050399 Soil Sciences not elsewhere classified", "synthetic-aperture radar", "Physical Sciences", "Water Resources", "Knowledge and experience", "MULTIPLE ECOSYSTEM SERVICES", "knowledge integration", "570", "DIFFUSE-REFLECTANCE SPECTROSCOPY", "Environmental Engineering", "Physique", " chimie", " math\u00e9matiques & sciences de la terre", "Scientific discipline", "0703 Crop and Pasture Production", "0207 environmental engineering", "Soil Science", "soil science", "ORGANIC-MATTER DYNAMICS", "DATA ASSIMILATION", "Physical", " chemical", " mathematical & earth Sciences", "ANZSRC::0503 Soil Sciences", "Science disciplines", "PEDOTRANSFER FUNCTIONS", "Feedback mechanisms", "mod\u00e9lisation", "ground-penetrating radar", "Science & Technology", "ANZSRC::080110 Simulation and Modelling", "15. Life on land", "Sciences de la terre & g\u00e9ographie physique", "multiple ecosystem services", "root water-uptake", "Observation and measurement", "DIGITAL ELEVATION MODEL", "Quality of predictions", "SATURATED-UNSATURATED FLOW", "ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZAL FUNGI", "sciences du sol", "HYDRAULIC-PROPERTIES", "2. Zero hunger", "Agriculture", "diffuse-reflectance spectroscopy", "4106 Soil sciences", "ORGANIC-MATTER", "digital elevation model", "SDG 13 \u2013 Ma\u00dfnahmen zum Klimaschutz", "Sciences du vivant", "Uncertainty analysis", "0406 Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience", "Life Sciences & Biomedicine", "Crop and Pasture Production", "101028 Mathematical modelling", "international soil modeling consortium", "[SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences", "Environmental Sciences & Ecology", "arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi", "Ecosystems", "Climate models", "QH301", "Environmental sciences & ecology", "Life Science", "SEDIMENT TRANSPORT MODELS", "data integration", "sediment transport models", "approche ecosyst\u00e9mique", "0105 earth and related environmental sciences", "info:eu-repo/classification/ddc/550", "3707 Hydrology", "soil modeling", "ROOT WATER-UPTAKE", "SOLUTE TRANSPORT", "13. Climate action", "Earth and Environmental Sciences", "Soil Sciences", "[SDU.STU] Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences", "Earth Sciences", "Earth sciences & physical geography", "Soils", "101028 Mathematische Modellierung", "saturated-unsaturated flow", "Environmental Sciences", "root water-uptake", " sediment transport models", " diffuse-reflectance spectroscopy", " arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi", " multiple ecosystem services", " saturated-unsaturated flow", " ground-penetrating radar", " synthetic-aperture radar", " digital elevation model", " organic-matter dynamics."]}, "links": [{"href": "https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/263634/1/Vereecken%20VZJ%202016.pdf"}, {"href": "http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.2136/vzj2015.09.0131/fullpdf"}, {"href": "https://escholarship.org/content/qt6976n34c/qt6976n34c.pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/2164/6134"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Vadose%20Zone%20Journal", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "2164/6134", "name": "item", "description": "2164/6134", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/2164/6134"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2016-05-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "1854/LU-8720112", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-04-13T16:26:33Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2021-09-09", "title": "Diagnosis of cadmium contamination in urban and suburban soils using visible-to-near-infrared spectroscopy", "description": "Previous studies have mostly focused on using visible-to-near-infrared spectral technique to quantitatively estimate soil cadmium (Cd) content, whereas little attention has been paid to identifying soil Cd contamination from a perspective of spectral classification. Here, we developed a framework to compare the potential of two spectral transformations (i.e., raw reflectance and continuum removal [CR]), three optimization strategies (i.e., full-spectrum, Boruta feature selection, and synthetic minority over-sampling technique [SMOTE]), and three classification algorithms (i.e., partial least squares discriminant analysis, random forest [RF], and support vector machine) for diagnosing soil Cd contamination. A total of 536 soil samples were collected from urban and suburban areas located in Wuhan City, China. Specifically, Boruta and SMOTE strategies were aimed at selecting the most informative predictors and obtaining balanced training datasets, respectively. Results indicated that soils contaminated by Cd induced decrease in spectral reflectance magnitude. Classification models developed after Boruta and SMOTE strategies out-performed to those from full-spectrum. A diagnose model combining CR preprocessing, SMOTE strategy, and RF algorithm achieved the highest validation accuracy for soil Cd (Kappa = 0.74). This study provides a theoretical reference for rapid identification of and monitoring of soil Cd contamination in urban and suburban areas.", "keywords": ["DIFFUSE-REFLECTANCE SPECTROSCOPY", "HUMAN HEALTH", "PREDICTION", "POTENTIALLY TOXIC ELEMENTS", "Boruta algorithm", "01 natural sciences", "Visible-to-near-infrared spectroscopy", "NIR SPECTROSCOPY", "Soil", "ORGANIC-CARBON", "Machine learning", "11. Sustainability", "Soil Pollutants", "Least-Squares Analysis", "0105 earth and related environmental sciences", "Spectroscopy", " Near-Infrared", "RANDOM FOREST", "Urban and suburban soil Cd contamination", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "QUANTITATIVE-ANALYSIS", "6. Clean water", "RIVER DELTA", "13. Climate action", "Earth and Environmental Sciences", "Synthetic minority over-sampling technique", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "HEAVY-METAL CONCENTRATIONS", "Cadmium"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/1854/LU-8720112"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Environmental%20Pollution", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "1854/LU-8720112", "name": "item", "description": "1854/LU-8720112", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/1854/LU-8720112"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2021-12-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "2164/13497", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-04-13T16:27:02Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2019-08-30", "title": "How to measure, report and verify soil carbon change to realize the potential of soil carbon sequestration for atmospheric greenhouse gas removal", "description": "AbstractThere is growing international interest in better managing soils to increase soil organic carbon (SOC) content to contribute to climate change mitigation, to enhance resilience to climate change and to underpin food security, through initiatives such as international \uffe2\uff80\uff984p1000\uffe2\uff80\uff99 initiative and the FAO's Global assessment of SOC sequestration potential (GSOCseq) programme. Since SOC content of soils cannot be easily measured, a key barrier to implementing programmes to increase SOC at large scale, is the need for credible and reliable measurement/monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) platforms, both for national reporting and for emissions trading. Without such platforms, investments could be considered risky. In this paper, we review methods and challenges of measuring SOC change directly in soils, before examining some recent novel developments that show promise for quantifying SOC. We describe how repeat soil surveys are used to estimate changes in SOC over time, and how long\uffe2\uff80\uff90term experiments and space\uffe2\uff80\uff90for\uffe2\uff80\uff90time substitution sites can serve as sources of knowledge and can be used to test models, and as potential benchmark sites in global frameworks to estimate SOC change. We briefly consider models that can be used to simulate and project change in SOC and examine the MRV platforms for SOC change already in use in various countries/regions. In the final section, we bring together the various components described in this review, to describe a new vision for a global framework for MRV of SOC change, to support national and international initiatives seeking to effect change in the way we manage our soils.