soil survey and soil data in austria...agricultural soil survey soil taxation survey since 1947 the...

EUROPEAN SOIL BUREAU RESEARCH REPORT NO. 6

29Soil Survey and Soil Data in Austria. Blum et al.

Soil Survey and Soil Data in Austria

Winfried E.H. Blum1

Michael Englisch2

Peter Nelhiebl3

Wilhelm Schneider3

Sigrid Schwarz4

Josef Wagner5

1 Institut für Bodenforschung, Universität für Bodenkultur, Gregor-Mendelstraße 33, A-1180 Wien, AUSTRIA2 Institut für Forstökologie, Forstliche Bundesversuchsanstalt, Seckendorff-Gudent-Weg 8, A-1131 Wien, AUSTRIA3 Institut für Bodenwirtschaft, Bundesamt und Forschungszentrum für Landwirtschaft Spargelfeldstraße 191, A-1226 Wien, AUSTRIA4 Abteilung Terrestrische Ökologie, Umweltbundesamt GmbH, Spittelauer Lände 5, A-1090 Wien, AUSTRIA5 Abteilung IV/8 - Bodenschätzung und landwirtschaftliche Einheitsbewertung, Bundesministerium für Finanzen, Himmelpfortgasse 4-8, A-1015 Wien, AUSTRIA

IntroductionThere are three principal systems of soil survey inAustria: on forested land the Forest Soil Surveyand on agricultural land, the Soil Taxation Surveyand the Soil Management Survey. In addition,there is an Environmental Soil Survey, a SoilMonitoring System and a Soil Information System(BORIS). Each of these is described below.

Forest Soil Survey

Forest Site MappingMajor efforts to map forest sites started in the late1950s and early 1960s, carried out mainly by theUniversity of Agricultural Sciences in Vienna, theadministration of the government-owned forests(Österreichische Bundesforste) and the FederalForest Research Centre (FFRC).

Today, the chief emphasis is on site classification,with site mapping limited to use in local projects.These local projects are carried out by variousorganisations of governmental and private forestadministration. FFRC acts as service unit forharmonisation, quality control and training.

Methods and Output

Forest site mapping in Austria uses the “combinedmethod” developed in Baden-Württemberg(Kirschner and Schlenker 1955) with some minorvariations. The method takes into account climate,soil (geology) and vegetation characteristics in siteclassification. The goal of mapping is to delineateecologically-based site units that are locally validand fit into a hierarchical framework (groups ofsites, growth districts, altitudinal zones and growthregions).

Vegetation type, growth data, and soilcharacteristics, supplemented by chemical analyses(pH-value, Corg, Ntot, nutrients, CEC, basesaturation), are identified on plots selected to berepresentative of the entire range of the sites in thearea to be mapped. The plots, which may bearranged in a grid, a transect covering importantgradients or distributed randomly in pre-stratifiedareas, are used to define the site units of theproposed mapping area. Based on theseinvestigations the site units are classified and fromthis classification is developed the key for mappingthe units. Mapping of soil indicators is carried outusing a 1m soil auger (1-4 samples per hectare).


30 Soil Survey and Soil Data in Austria. Blum et al.

Recently a working group of all involvedorganisations has completed a guide for forest sitemapping in Austria, considering newdevelopments and modern techniques eg. GIS, useof databases, IR-aerial pictures and multivariatestatistical analysis (Englisch and Kilian, 1998). Upto now, about 400,000 ha, i.e. approximately 10 %of forest land has been mapped, predominantly atscales of 1:10,000 and 1:25,000.

Mapping has been focussed on state-owned forestland (mainly the federal provinces of Salzburg,Upper Austria (southern part) and Styria), thefloodplain forests of the Danube, the ViennaWoods and North-Eastern Styria. Additionally, theFFRC has carried out site classifications in most ofthe 21 forest growth regions in order to provide abasis for local mapping projects.

Application of results

Forest site maps have been instrumental in theselection of tree species and are thus part of theforest management. In addition, they serve inunderstanding ecological changes (e.g. to identifychanges of the water regime of sites afterconstruction of power stations), as a basis for localforest melioration and can be used for scientificpurposes (e.g. selection of trial plots).

Recently, site classification and mapping has beenused for environmental planning, as a basis for theassessment of biodiversity, for nature conservation,and for wildlife management, amongst other uses.

Forest Soil MonitoringIn Austria, there are two schemes for forest soilmonitoring. In the late 1980s the Forest SoilMonitoring System (FSMS) was started by theFFRC as part of the Forest Damage MonitoringSystem in order to obtain information on the causesand effects of forest die-back. The FSMS consistsof 514 plots arranged in a grid of 8.7km x 8.7km.At each plot, growth measurements and vegetationrelevés, site and soil description, chemical analysesof soil and foliar samples are carried out and crowndamage assessed.

Soil and site descriptions and soil analyses (pH-value, Corg, Ntot, nutrients (“total” contents in aquaregia, cations in BaCl2-solution), carbonatecontent, CEC, base saturation, heavy metals,texture analysis) were carried out between 1987and 1990. Soil samples, including soil organic(ectorganic) horizons, were taken at predefined soildepths (0-10 cm, 10-20 cm, 20-30 cm, 30-50 cm).About 140 plots are included in the European-widelevel I ECE/ICP forest soil monitoring network.Repetition of soil sampling is not planned before2003.

Additionally forest soil monitoring networks wereestablished in several Federal Provinces (Länder),including Lower Austria, Salzburg, Tyrol andVorarlberg. All plots of the FSMS and of theregional networks were included in the combinedreport on soil conditions in the countries of ARGEAlp and ARGE Alpen-Adria (Huber and Englisch1997).

The main results of these projects indicatemoderate regional forest soil acidification, wide-spread heavy metal pollution (Pb, Cd), whichpeaks at the northern fringe of the Alps and varieswith increasing altitude, and accumulation ofnitrogen.

Another 20 plots are part of the level II /ECE/ICPintensive soil monitoring network, which wasestablished in 1994. Intensive soil sampling (5samples as a mixed sample of 8 subsamples in theupper soil horizon, 4 samples as a mixed samplefrom 4 subsamples in the lower soil horizon) iscarried out in soil organic (ectorganic) horizonsand mineral soil horizons at predefined depthintervals of 0-5 cm, 5-10 cm, 10-20 cm, 20-40 cm,40-80 cm. The same methods of soil analyses as inlevel I are used. The aim of the intensivemonitoring is to assess soil changes with time.

Forest Soil DatabaseThe largest forest soil database (GEA) in Austria ismanaged by FFRC. It includes descriptions ofabout 5,000 forest soil profiles and about 26,000analyses of individual soil horizons (standard suiteof analysis: compare FSMS). It is planned toenlarge this database to become a general forest–site information system.

Applications of Forest SoilDataForest soil data are principally used for sitemapping, for the protection of forest soils andforest ecosystems (mainly in relation to heavymetal pollution, acidification, nitrogen input),ground water protection and environmentalplanning, for forest melioration and fertilisation,and for scientific purposes.

OutlookRecently introduced methods for intensive soilmonitoring mainly focus on soil biologicalparameters. They have been used in soil surveys inUpper Austria and in monitoring programmes (e.g.Salzburg) as indicators of soil fertility. Thesemethods can reveal local soil pollution (Tscherkoand Kandeler, 1997).



Figure 1: Forest Soil Monitoring System

The most widely applied microbial parameters aremicrobial biomass (measured as substrate inducedrespiration: Beck et al., 1996) and nitrogenmineralisation potential (Kandeler, 1996).

Soil fauna can also be used as an indicator of soilquality. Earthworms (lumbricidae), potworms(enchytraeidae), and springtails (collembola) haveproved to be successful indicators in the intensivemonitoring programmes. Because of the constantdevelopment of new biological methods andincreasing experience in this field, it can beexpected that in the future those methods will beused increasingly as an obligatory part of intensivesoil monitoring programmes.

Agricultural Soil Survey

Soil Taxation SurveySince 1947 the taxation of agricultural land hasbeen carried out by the financial administration inco-operation with the Federal Surveying Office.The first taxation - mainly based on the GermanSoil Taxation Act of 1934 – was completed in1973. The Austrian Soil Taxation Act of 1970provided a new legal basis, regulating thecontinuity and updating of soil taxation data aswell as their integration into the Austrian cadastre.

The main task of the soil assessment is to maintainup-to-date data on agricultural properties. Since1974 the data have been updated through revisionand reassessment to take into account changes inimportant environmental factors.

Methods and Output

Field methods are used to estimate the quality andnatural productivity of soils for taxation purposes.Soil is described to a depth of 1 metre at intervalsof 40 metres across the agricultural land using asoil auger. Parent material, texture, organic matter,horizons and structure are investigated. Units withcomparable conditions of soil, relief, water regimeand climate are defined and included in theCadastre Map. Such maps are at a scale of 1: 2,000or 1:2,880 (scale of the old cadastre).

For comparison purposes, a system of valuesbetween 1 and 100 is used to assess soilconditions, relief, climate and water regime. Thebest possible value is 100, attributed to the soilwith the highest yield potential. In typical Austrianregions, 470 standard sites guarantee a harmonisedassessment. There is a close relationship betweena given soil taxation and these standard sites.

The results of the soil assessment are documentedin the Soil Taxation Register, the"Schätzungsbuch", and in soil taxation maps.These data exist for every parcel of agriculturalland in Austria. For each parcel the value



mentioned above is multiplied by the size of theparcel and this new value forms the basis foragricultural taxation.

Soil assessment data exist in analogue form forapproximately 2.8 million hectares of agriculturalland, corresponding to 33% of the total area ofAustria.

Application of Results

As the soil taxation data have been investigatedwith a high degree of continuity and comparabilityfor decades and are characterised by very precisegeometric positioning, they can be combined withother data of the Cadastre for every parcel.Therefore, soil assessment data are not only usedfor taxation of agricultural property. They alsoinclude basic ecological information about soilsand are used for various purposes, including:

1. soil reform;2. compensation;3. land use planning;4. use of sewage sludge;5. proceedings of the Water Act;6. measures within the Austrian Programme for

the Promotion of Environmentally Friendlyand Extensive Agriculture that ProtectsNatural Habitats (ÖPUL);

7. basis for site adapted soil management;8. scientific projects.

Outlook

Following the realisation of a pilot programme inco-operation with the Federal Surveying Office,the digital capture of the soil assessment data isplanned.

Soil Management SurveyThe origins of agricultural soil mapping – acartographic representation of soil conditions at ascale as large as possible – go back to the 19th

century. One of the oldest "agro-geological" soilmaps was drawn in 1858, in the Austro-HungarianEmpire, at a scale of 1:500,000 (Szabolcs, 1997).In Austria, soil mapping has been carried out sincethe 1920s. Experimental soil mapping was carriedout after the Second World War. Since 1958,systematic mapping has been conducted by theFederal Institute of Soil Survey and SoilManagement. At that time it was decided to surveyagriculturally used land only, and involved thecollection of field data and production of maps.

By 1969, 20% of the arable land in Austria hadbeen surveyed at a scale of 1:2,880 (Cadastrescale) and maps produced at a scale of 1:5,000.Since 1970 the survey has been made at a scale of

1:10,000 and published at a scale of 1:25,000, toaccelerate the procedure. The latter scale is exactenough to meet several needs and relatedquestions.

Methods and Results

Soil mapping, which includes an assessment ofgeological, geomorphological and climaticconditions, is carried out from an agricultural andpedological point of view. The sampling densityvaries with soil heterogeneity but on average oneboring per hectare is made. This approach is usedto identify Soil Units which are defined as areaswith the same soil type and similar sitecharacteristics.

For each Soil Unit at least one profile is described(to approximately 120 cm depth) and samples ofthe individual horizons are subjected to laboratoryanalysis, including texture (percentage of clay, siltand sand), organic matter, carbonate, pH-value,electric conductivity, exchangeable cations,nutrients, heavy metals. Until now, the 1:25,000soil maps as well as the supporting explanatorytexts have been produced by offset printing. Adigitised soil databank is currently beingestablished. Maps of some 144 mapping regions(mostly judicial districts), representing an area ofapproximately 22,000 km2 or 63 % of agriculturalland have been published (Figure 2).

Manuscript soil maps (1:25,000 scale) exist foranother 10 % of agricultural land. In total, about 98% of the agricultural land has been surveyed andthe results are available to interested persons orinstitutions. The Institute for Soil Management inthe Federal Office and Research Centre ofAgriculture has succeeded the Federal Institute ofSoil Survey and Soil Management and isresponsible for problems and questions dealingwith soil management.

Application of Results

Examples of the practical applications of the1:25,000 scale soil maps include:

1. Fertilisation and cultivation of soil in anenvironmentally friendly way;

2. Selection of experimental sites;3. Crop suitability modelling;4. Regional and Provincial land-use planning;5. Background to the preservation of ecological

sites;6. Survey of the Potential of Natural Habitats;7. Use in research projects.



Figure 2: State of Soil Management Survey

On the basis of the 1:25,000 soil map, a number ofspecial maps have been generated, concerned with:

1. Water regimes;2. Sensitivity to erosion;3. Use of sewage sludge;4. Sensitivity to nitrate leaching.

These special soil maps allow early detection ofnegative impacts on soil, such as wind erosion,water erosion, decline of soil structure, andcontamination and drought, enabling relevantmeasures to be taken.

Outlook

Thirty hectares of agricultural land are lost to non-agricultural purposes every day. This is likely tolead to a greater pressure on soils suitable foragriculture in the future, especially if the plannedextensification of crop production takes place. Bythis time a well organised digital soil informationsystem will be indispensable. Areal and point datafor Austrian soils are essential to protect/conservethe soil and to sustain soil fertility

Environmental Soil SurveyThe decision to establish an intensiveenvironmental soil survey programme was takenby provincial governments, which have the mainresponsibility for soil management and soilprotection of agricultural land. In 1986,Vorarlberg, the most western province of Austria,began an environmental soil survey although at thetime no special guidelines were available.

A recommendation for carrying out anenvironmental soil survey was prepared by theworking group "Environmental Soil Survey" of theASSS (Austrian Society of Soil Science) (Blum etal., 1989) to create a basis for comparable soil dataall over Austria. As a result of these guidelines theinvestigations of all the other Federal Provinces areto a large extent comparable in soil samplingdesign and analytical methods.

Methods and OutputThe sites are situated in a basic grid of about 4kmx 4km. In some regions the grid was narrowed to2.75km x 2.75km. For the FSMS a grid of 8.7km x8.7km was used. Each sampling site is marked andcoded.



Figure 3: State of Environmental Soil Surveys in Austria

Sites and soil profiles are described and compositesoil samples are taken at predetermined depths(mixed from several parallel samples) using a soilauger. The number of subsamples in eachcomposite sample varied between theEnvironmental Soil Surveys in the differentFederal Provinces. Soil analyses include pH,carbonate concentration, nutrients, heavy metals,humus content, particle size distribution. Specialprogrammes also included organic pollutants,biological and physical soil parameters.

Figure 3 shows the actual state of environmentalsoil surveys in Austria. In Table 1 the number ofinvestigated sites according to land use is given.

In Tyrol a replicate sampling was made in 1996,eight years after the first investigation. 107 of theoriginal 658 sites were investigated in the secondsampling. In Vienna – the capital of Austria – aspecial programme covering only heavy metals hasbeen launched.

Most of the sites of the environmental soil surveysare situated on agricultural land.

The Forest Site Monitoring System (FSMS) of theFederal Forest Research Centre (FFRC), underwhich forest soils are investigated, is included inTable 1, although the FSMS is a Federal nation-wide investigation (cf. Forest Soil MonitoringSection above).

An evaluation of all the data (of more than 5,000sites), investigated with comparable methods, willbe possible after the completion of theEnvironmental Soil Survey in Carinthia and therecording of data in a Soil Information System (seeBORIS below).

An overview of the state of agriculturally usedland in Tyrol (153 sites), Salzburg (197 sites),Lower Austria (1,449 sites), Upper Austria (453sites), Burgenland (174 sites) and part of Styria(84 sites) has been made by the Federal Office andResearch Centre of Agriculture in 1997(Danneberg et al.,1997), based on the upper 20 cmof agricultural and grassland soils, with data fromapproximately 2,500 sites.



Tab. 1:Number of Environmental Soil Survey (ESS) sites in Austria according toland use (1998).

Land use Tyrol (Tyrol 1) S UA LA St Vbg+ B Car 2 Vie 3 FSMS TOTAL

forest 263 (15) 177 90 17 150 514 1,211

agricult. land 47 (33) 14 439* 1,151 193 40 164 140 2,188

grasslandextensively usedintensively used

139 (59)137134

441* 298 256 243 10 250 1,637137134

alpine pasture 209 61 91 361

others 21 2 286 309

total 658 (107) 462 880 1,539 548 435 174 481 286 514 5,9771

----------- replicate sampling2

----------- to be completed in 19983

----------- investigations of heavy metals (1992: 286 sites; 1994: replicate sampling at 257 of 286 sites)

* ----------- agricultural and horticultural land

**---------- grassland incl.alpine pastures, pastures and others

+ ---------- As the ESS in Vorarlberg was completed in 1986 before the ESS-guidelines (Blum et al.,1989)were published, the data cannot be compared to the other ESS, due to different methodology.

S Salzburg, UA Upper Austria, LA Lower Austria, St Styria, Vbg Vorarlberg, B Burgenland, Car Carinthia,Vie Vienna, FSMS Forest Soil Monitoring System

Amt der Burgenländischen Landesregierung (1996), Bundesanstalt für Bodenwirtschaft (1994),Bundesanstalt für Agrarbiologie (1993), Amt der Steiermärkischen Landesregierung (1991-1996), Amt derSalzburger Landesregierung (1993), Amt der Tiroler Landesregierung (1988, 1996), FBVA (1992), MA 22(1993, 1995)

Acidification and pH Value

Acidification is a minor problem on agriculturalland compared with land under forest, since acidicinputs are smaller. Moreover, they are neutralisedby regular fertilisation and by liming. Problemsoccur only in extensively used areas.

Alkaline sites, with a pH value of more than 7.2,occupy more than 40% of the areas in the east ofthe country, in Lower Austria and in Burgenland,whereas the percentage in Tyrol, Salzburg andUpper Austria is less than 4%. Strongly acidic siteswith a pH-value below 4.5 are found in Styria(14%), Tyrol (35%) and Salzburg (38%).

Low cation exchange capacity, which indicatessensitivity to acidification, occurs in soils onsiliceous parent materials (e.g. granites) in theWald- and Mühlviertel area, Semmering, Wechsel,Central Alps and the foothills of the Alps.

Organic Matter Depletion

The content of organic matter is determined by theamount of organic litter produced by plants and bythe intensity of turnover processes. This is why thehumus content in grassland is higher than in cropland and therefore is higher in the cool and humidwest of Austria than in the warm and dry east.

For example, in Salzburg 40% of the soils havemore than 8% organic matter in the topsoilwhereas in Lower Austria about 40% have lessthan 2%. In the areas used for agriculture in theeast of Austria the organic matter content mayhave diminished by 0.5%, due probably to anintensification of soil tillage and former strawburning or a dilution of organic matter caused byincreasing the plough depth.

Heavy Metal Contamination

In general, contamination with heavy metals is notvery extensive. The standard values ÖNORM L1075 (Austrian standard L 1075) for most heavymetals are only exceeded in less than 3% of thesites. Arsenic, lead and cadmium pollution occursin more than 3% of the sites.

Arsenic contents are especially high in someregions of Salzburg, Styria and Lower Austria.This may be due to geogenic or anthropogenicsources. A study is currently being carried out bythe Institute of Soil Science of the University ofAgricultural Sciences, Vienna to answer thisquestion and to determine the effects on theenvironment and on humans.

The standard value for lead (100 mg/kg) isexceeded in Tyrol at 9.2% of the sites investigated,



and in Salzburg at 3.6% of the sites. This could bedue to local emissions, impacts of mining or longrange transport of pollutants. The latter is seen asaccounting for contamination north of the mainalpine ridge. Due to high transit traffic, the valleyof the Inn river is the most polluted region inTyrol. Furthermore, local lead emissions (e.g.metal processing) result in point pollution.

High cadmium contents can partly be explained bylong-range pollution and subsequent deposition onexposed slopes. On the other hand, the NorthernCalcareous Alps seem to have a naturally elevatedcontent of cadmium.

Application of ResultsSome Federal Provinces (e.g. Styria, the Tyrol)have taken measures at those sites where thecontent of heavy metals exceeded the thresholdvalues. More detailed investigations have beencarried out, including analyses of plants. In heavilypolluted areas a risk assessment programme hasbeen carried out which is used to derive land userecommendations.

As mentioned above the question of widespreadhigher contents of arsenic will be answered bydetailed studies.

OutlookOne of the Federal Provinces, Styria, is carryingout a replicate Environmental Soil Survey, whichforms a transition to an extensive form of SoilMonitoring.

Soil MonitoringThe environmental soil surveys, withapproximately 6,000 sites, provide informationabout the variability of soils all over Austria. Arepeat of these surveys was originally planned inorder to monitor the changes with time. However,the results of replicate sampling in Tyrol showedthat the sampling design at each site was notprecise enough to distinguish between changesover time and the variability within the samplingsite.

Another reason for changing the plan of carryingout Environmental Soil Surveys at regular timeintervals is the great expense. Therefore, fortechnical and financial reasons and with regard toprevious results, fewer but intensively investigatedsoil monitoring areas are being established. Amethodological handbook has been prepared bythe Institute of Soil Science at the University of

Agricultural Sciences, Vienna, on behalf of theFederal Environment Agency and in co-operationwith the Austrian Soil Science Society (Blum etal., 1996).

Appropriate nationwide co-ordination of the siteswill result in a reduction of costs for the benefit ofthe individual provinces. There will be arepresentative distribution of sites according tocharacteristic landscape units of Austria (soillandscapes, main agricultural production areas,silvicultural growth areas, etc.), differentexposures to pollution (background, close toemission sources, etc.) and types of use (forest,cropland, grassland, etc.).

The Institute of Soil Science has elaborated aproposal for possible sites, which is presented inFigure 4 (Blum et al., 1996). Full points in theFigure refer to already established soil monitoringareas. These are found mainly in Salzburg whichwas the first province to set up soil monitoringareas (Juritsch, 1994). In the Tyrol, the Loisachtalsite has been planned as a soil monitoring area. InUpper Austria, the Federal Environment Agency isrunning a long-term ecosystem monitoring site(UN-ECE Integrated Monitoring) in theReichraminger Hintergebirge.

As part of the ECE/ICP-Forest Programme, theFederal Forest Research Centre, Vienna hasestablished 20 forest monitoring areas (see ForestSoil Monitoring Section above). Further sitesidentified in Figure 4 are non-obligatory proposals.It is expected that between four and ten areas, willbe established in each province.

Following establishment of the soil monitoringsites, the data collected will provide informationon changes in soil properties as well as on the stateof soil pollution. Optimum selection of areas andstandardised methods of investigation will allowrelevant policy statements to be made onenvironmental impacts on certain regions and thewhole of Austria (UMWELTBUNDESAMT,1998).

The subject ’soil monitoring’ is already beingconsidered by the ARGE Alpen-Adria workinggroup in Bavaria and in Switzerland (Blum et al.,1994). The directives of ARGE Alpen- Adria,which are also binding for Austria, provide aframework which has been enlarged to containadditional parameters to those in the abovementioned Austrian methodological handbook andmore precise investigation methods.



Figure 4: Soil Monitoring Sites in Austria

Soil Information System(BORIS)A Soil Information System is necessary foreffective soil conservation nationwide and forensuring accessible information on general soilconditions, contamination and the sensitivity ofsoils to detrimental impacts. Detrimental effectson soils can be assessed more easily by means ofa nationally standardised recording of area andpoint data in a Soil Information System. This willprovide the basis for an evaluation and projectionsystem needed for effective soil protection.

Compared to many other European countries,Austria possesses comprehensive soil data. Yet,these data are structured heterogeneously, as theyhave been collected by different institutions withvarying objectives. At the Federal EnvironmentAgency, a pilot project (µBORIS) for theimplementation of a national Soil InformationSystem was carried out in order to test thepossibility of realising a joint soil informationsystem. In the city of Linz and its surroundings,data records from different investigations werelinked (point data, area data/maps). Experiencewith the pilot project has clearly demonstratedthat a combined evaluation of the selected datasets is possible (Schwarz et al., 1994).

In future, an integrated Soil Information Systemconsisting of a combination of soil maps, the realestate database, soil data from EnvironmentalSoil Survey sites and from Soil Monitoring siteswill be a cornerstone for soil use andmanagement.

Methods and OutputSince 1992 the Federal Environment Agency hasbeen developing the Soil Information System,BORIS. There were three main tasks to fulfil:1. prepare a handbook, the "key for soil data"

("Datenschlüssel Bodenkunde"), toharmonise the data records of differentinvestigations;

2. develop a complex data model;3. transform the existing datasets according to

the "key for soil data" and the data model.

The "key for soil data" was developed by theFederal Environment Agency. It has beenapproved by the Austrian Soil Science Society(ASSS) and is to be published.



Figure 5:



The Data Model offers special possibilities, e.g.:1. It is an open system including approximately

600 different parameters (analyticalparameters, parameters for site or soildescription), which are described with allpossible characteristics in the "key for soildata", and new parameters can be addedwhenever necessary.

2. From every single value there is a link to avariety of information (the owner of thedata, the analytical method used, etc.).

3. Information about sampling design,conditions of sample transport, handling andtreatment of samples, etc. is available.

4. If replicate sampling or parallel samplinghas taken place, this is documented for eachsample.

5. The combination of soil description in termsof natural soil horizons and analytical dataaccording to predetermined soil depths iseasily possible.

6. A model query is: Select all samples withland-use: forest, soil type: cambisols; leadcontent more than 100 mg/kg, (analysedwith aqua regia) in the depth 5-10 cm.

Currently, the databank holds a soil map ofAustria (scale 1: 750,000) and more than 500,000records from over 5000 sites. These are datafrom the Environmental Soil Surveys of Styria,Upper Austria, Burgenland, Tyrol, Vienna anddata of special investigations e.g. in Brixlegg,Linz, Arnoldstein, Köflach-Voitsberg as well asfrom the Austrian-wide caesium investigation.

The data of another 600 sites of the Forest SiteMonitoring System, FSMS, (500 sites) and ofother investigations (100 sites), were added in1998. Building this extensive data set was madepossible through of the constructive co-operationof the above mentioned Federal Provinces andthe institutions which carry out theinvestigations. Much work was involved intransforming the individual data sets. Thisincluded considering different aspects of soilscience and complying with EDP requirements.Table 2 and Figure 5 give an overview of thenumber of sites in BORIS (March 1998).

Austria is one of the countries most stronglyaffected by the Chernobyl fallout. The averagecontamination level in Austria amounts to 21kBq 137Cs /m2 (= 21.000 Becquerel Caesium -137per square metre). An amount of 18.7 kBq137Cs/m2 originates from the nuclear accident inChernobyl, the remaining part can be traced backto the fallout caused by the tests of nuclearweapons in the atmosphere in the 1950s and 60s.The maximum level of contamination is above150 kBq 137Cs/m2. Higher fallout values can be

found only in the Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and insome parts of Scandinavia. An example for anAustrian-wide evaluation of soil contaminationwith caesium-137 is given Figure 6.

This map was drawn up the Austrian FederalEnvironment Agency (FEA) and the AustrianMinistry of Health. It presents all the measureddata for available caesium–137 (Cs-137) in soilthat are available. More than 2000 results wereused in producing the map. Approximately 200of them were located in neighbouring countriesclose to the Austrian border (UBA, 1996). TheCs-137 data are available on the Internet.

Application of the ResultsFollowing the integration in BORIS of all of theEnvironmental Soil Surveys of Austria and someother special investigations, the system willcontain information about approximately 8000sites and approximately 1 million records to becombined with soil maps (on different scales)and data sets of related subjects such as landcover, geology, water, cadastre, etc. These dataform the basis of:

1. broad set of reference data over all Austriawith which to compare and classify datawith similar characteristics (of site or soildescription, methods, sampling design, etc.);

2. all-Austria evaluations (pollutants, heavymetals, erosion);

3. development and adaptation of standardvalues;

4. combined evaluation with CORINE landcover data, Austrian Surface andGroundwater Monitoring System;

5. decision-making with regard to land useplanning;

6. Environment Impact Statements andEnvironment Impact Assessments;

7. decisions on the spreading of sewage sludgeand other organic waste;

8. service to Provincial authorities (e.g.templates for data output, which will becompleted automatically by BORIS, in casea Provincial authority decides to pass oninformation about selected sites);

9. aggregated data for international reports andprojects;

10. further international agreements andprotocols for the reduction of trans-boundarypollutants and other inputs;

11. translation of Austrian soil types intointernational classification schemes (FAO-System, WRB);



Figure 6:



Table 2. Number of sites in the Soil Information System, BORIS (March 1998).

Provinces Bgl Car LA UA S St Tyrol Vbg Vie Abroad: nearAustrian border

Total

ESS * 174 - - 880 - 519 658 - 289 - 2520

CaesiumData

53 165 333 323 285 245 322 119 39 229 2113

Otherinvestigat.

- 151 62 92 21 353 47 - - - 726

Total 227 316 395 1295 306 1117 1027 119 328 229 5359

* ESS (Environmental Soil Surveys). The datasets listed in this line were provided by the Federal Provincesof Burgenland, Upper Austria, Styria, Tyrol and Vienna (Municipal Department 22)

12. scientific projects (e.g. basis for thedevelopment of pedo-transfer rules and pedo-transfer functions (e.g. with Artificial NeuralNetworks));

13. finally BORIS can provide information forlocal, Provincial and Federal authorities, forthe public and for the scientific community.The application of data is subject to priorconsent of the data owners.

OutlookTwo forms of access to the data included inBORIS via Internet are planned in the near future:BORIS INFO and BORIS EXPERT (Schwarz etal., 1998).

BORIS-INFO will be open to the public and willcontain meta data for each site such as: data owner,literature, investigating institute, parametersinvestigated, methods used, date of investigation,land use, etc. Internet users will have an overviewof existing data and information about ownershipand possible access.

BORIS EXPERT will include the completedatabase and is accessible to those institutionsconcerned with soil and included in the list oflicensed institutions granted access. These aremainly the institutions that provided data forBORIS.

The soil information system BORIS offersharmonised data sets and technical data processingtools. This facilitates linkages and, therefore,combined study of soil data beyond Provincialborders, making it easier to deal with variousaspects of soil protection.

The efforts towards the enlargement andintensification of the nationwide soil informationsystem will be continued as well as the co-ordination with European soil informationnetworks.

General OutlookSoil survey and the collection of soil data inAustria is now well developed to the extent thatthe use of soil data for specific purposes or theirlink with other environmental data through GIS orother geo-statistical tools can be facilitated.

Unfortunately, many governmental and privateinstitutions have not yet recognised the value ofsoil information, especially for the management ofnatural resources on a local, regional or countrylevel. Therefore, the BORIS project is certainly away to raise public interest in soils and to promotethe use of these data for the future development ofsustainable land use.

This goal will be reached more easily when all themonitoring stations are installed and continuouschanges in soils and sites can be measured.

All the above mentioned soil information can alsobe used in the co-operation with other Europeancountries. Co-operation has already begun and willdevelop further to harmonise the use andavailability of soil information in Europe.



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