A national soil profile database for Brazil available to international scientists

A comprehensive digital soil profile database of Brazil was compiled and is being made available through the Internet. Most of the soil data were obtained from the Radambrasil project and other regional surveys. The database contains information from 5086 profiles distributed over the whole Brazilian territory corresponding to data from 10 034 horizons, each with 31 variables. The variables were chosen to represent different areas of soil science, embracing soil morphological, chemical, mineralogical, and physical attributes. The distribution uniformity of the data was low with sampling densities varying from one profile per 10 000 km(2) to one profile per 1370 km(2). The access to the database is free and its design allows its use not only by soil scientists but also by those working with agricultural, environmental, and land use issues.