WOSSAC World Soil Survey Archive and Catalogue
Country: United Kingdom
Start Date:   1/1/2004         Duration:          Project Type: Concerted Action
Contract Number: 
Organisation Type:  University research group / research institute
Topics: 
Diffuse pollution-->Monitoring
Soil-->Soil Overview
Soil-->Soil quality
Project objectives: 
Commencing in January, 2004, Cranfield University's 'World Soil Survey Archive and Catalogue' (WOSSAC) project aims to develop an archive and catalogue 
of all substantial soil surveys and reports made overseas, with particular reference to those by British companies and personnel, to provide a safe repository 
for endangered copies, and to make the accrued information available for consultation by interested parties.
Project Summary: 
Large numbers of substantial soil surveys have been made worldwide by British companies over the past 50 years, mainly funded by development assistance donors. 
A rough estimate, almost certainly on the low side, is that such surveys number many thousand and by today's prices would have cost well over £200 million. This 
is an extremely valuable bank of international data about soils, their nature, properties and potential use.     
This large body of information about world soils is now in grave danger of becoming lost, destroyed or generally unavailable as the original donor funding 
agencies have been subject to reorganisation, and the companies that produced the surveys have been acquired, merged, downsized or closed down, and the soil 
surveyors themselves are now retiring or deceased.     
The WOSSAC Project aims to develop an Archive and Catalogue of all substantial soil surveys made by British companies and staff around the world, with a view 
to ensuring their enduring availability     
and protection.     
     
The WOSSAC project has the support of the British Society of Soil Science and the Tropical Agriculture Association, and is led by Cranfield University’s 
National Soil Resources Institute.
Achieved Objectives: 
Archive accessions:    
28th Jan 2005: Accession of HTSPE Ltd documents pertaining to themes such as soil survey, geology, natural resource management, land evaluation and suitability, 
topography, remote sensing and GIS.     
19 Jan 2005: Soil-relate publictions from LRDC.    
4 Jan 2005: Soil-related publications, noteably concerning vertisols, from BBSRCs Silsoe Research Institute (SRI) library.    
25 Nov 2004: African soil survey material.
Product Descriptions: 
Fully searchable archive database.
Additional Information:
Project Resources:
Weblink:
http://www.soil-net.com/wossac/
Funding Programme(s): 
National programme - details yet to be uploaded
Link to Organisations:

Cranfield University
Submitted by: EUGRIS Team Dr Denise Lambkin  Who does what?  04/09/2005 14:29:00
Updated by: EUGRIS Team Professor Paul Bardos  Who does what?  03/10/2006 15:28:00