Soil erosion is both a major driver and consequence of land degradation with significant on-site and off-site costs which are critical to understand and quantify. One major cost of soil erosion originates from the sediments delivered to aquatic systems (e.g., rivers, lakes, and seas), which may generate a broad array of environmental and economic impacts. As part of the EU Soil Observatory (EUSO) working group on soil erosion, we provide a comprehensive assessment of the existing costs of sediment removal from European Union (EU) catchments due to water erosion. more ...

This study addressed a critical resource—soil—through the prism of processing big data at the continental scale. Rapid progress in technology and remote sensing has majorly improved data processing on extensive spatial and temporal scales. Here, the manuscript presents the results of a systematic effort to geo-process and analyze soil-relevant data. more ...

The European Soil Data Centre (ESDAC), hosted by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC), is the focal point for soil data, support to policy making and awareness raising for the European Union (EU). Established in 2006 to provide harmonised soil-related information for the EU Member States, and ESDAC currently hosts 88 datasets, 6000 maps, six atlases, 500 scientific publications, and a copious amount of soil-related material. more ...