Soil-related map servers in Hungary and their role in the development of knowledge-intensive services

Abstract

In line with the European development, three complete, centrally edited soil maps were compiled in Hungary
between 1953 and 1984. They have also been published in map servers which are up-to-date distribution
tools to share spatial information with experts and the general public. Digital soil mapping is an up-coming
research area in soil science with the aim to produce reliable soil maps for those areas where soil information
is sparse or missing. Its general idea is that once soil forming factors can be represented with high spatial
detail (maps, ortophotos), their combination will be well related to soil types and properties. In general form,
this has been the axiom of soil science since the late 19th centaury but the idea of its mathematical
formulation was conceived in the mid 20th centaury and it has been put into practice since the advent of the
modern GIS software. The power of the approach has been proven but it is far from perfection. Much better
prediction accuracy can be achieved if field observations on soils are incorporated. We give a short overview
of the map servers which provide information on soils and soil forming factors, evaluate their functionality
and suggest how mesh-up services of the recent GIS software should be used to combine information and
enable users to formulate mental models of soil formation. Citizen science approach should be implemented
to make users involved in soil related issues. The program should have two-fold objectives: 1.) to collect soft
but highly detailed information on soils for research and 2.) to develop services for soil users.