World Soils 250m Organic Carbon Density

Soilgrids.org (ISRIC) prediction of organic carbon density (mass divided by volume) of world soils at 6 depth ranges. Machine learning was used to predict soil characteristics at 250m resolution from 230,000 soil profile observations. Use the layer's multidimensional properties to choose a variable and depth to display. This version, sourced from SoilGrids250m version 2.0, was released in May 2020.

Soil is the foundation of life on earth. More living things by weight live in the soil than upon it. It determines what crops we can grow, what structures we can build, what forests can take root.
This layer contains the chemical soil variable organic carbon density (ocd) which measures carbon mass in proportion to volume of soil (mass divided by volume.)

From Agriculture Victoria: Soil carbon provides a source of nutrients through mineralisation, helps to aggregate soil particles (structure) to provide resilience to physical degradation, increases microbial activity, increases water storage and availability to plants, and protects soil from erosion.

This layer is a general, medium scale global predictive soil layer suitable for global mapping and decision support. In many places samples of soils do not exist so this map represents a prediction of what is most likely in that location. The predictions are made in six depth ranges by soilgrids.org, funded by ISRIC based in Wageningen, Netherlands.

Each 250m pixel contains a value predicted for that area by soilgrids.org from best available data worldwide. Data for organic carbon density are provided at six depth ranges from the surface to 2 meters below the surface. Each variable and depth range may be accessed in the layer's multidimensional properties.
Dataset Summary

Phenomenon Mapped: Organic carbon density in kg/m³
Cell Size: 250 meters
Pixel Type: 32 bit float, converted from online data that is 16 Bit Unsigned Integer
Coordinate System: Web Mercator Auxiliary Sphere, projected via nearest neighbor from goode's homolosine land (250m)
Extent: World land area except Antarctica
Visible Scale: All scales are visible
Number of Columns and Rows: 160300, 100498
Source: Soilgrids.org
Publication Date: May 2020

Data from the soilgrids.org mean predictions for ocd were used to create this layer. You may access organic carbon density values in one of six depth ranges. To select one choose the depth variable in the multidimensional selector in your map client.

Mean depth (cm)Actual depth range of data-2.50-5cm depth range-105-15cm depth range-22.515-30cm depth range-4530-60cm depth range-8060-100cm depth range-150100-200cm depth rangeWhat can you do with this Layer?

This layer is suitable for both visualization and analysis across the ArcGIS system. This layer can be combined with your data and other layers from the ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World in ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Pro to create powerful web maps that can be used alone or in a story map or other application.

Because this layer is part of the ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World it is easy to add to your map:

    In ArcGIS Online, you can add this layer to a map by selecting Add then Browse Living Atlas Layers. A window will open. Type "world soils soilgrids" in the search box and browse to the layer. Select the layer then click Add to Map.
    In ArcGIS Pro, open a map and select Add Data from the Map Tab. Select Data at the top of the drop down menu. The Add Data dialog box will open on the left side of the box, expand Portal if necessary, then select Living Atlas. Type "world soils soilgrids" in the search box, browse to the layer then click OK.

In ArcGIS Pro you can use the built-in raster functions or create your own to create custom extracts of the data. Imagery layers provide fast, powerful inputs to geoprocessing tools, models, or Python scripts in Pro.

Online you can filter the layer to show subsets of the data using the filter button and the layer's built-in raster functions.

This layer is part of the Living Atlas of the World that provides an easy way to explore the landscape layers and many other beautiful and authoritative maps on hundreds of topics.
More information about soilgrids layers

Answers to many questions may be found at soilgrids.org (ISRIC) frequently asked questions (faq) page about the data.

To make this layer, Esri reprojected the expected value of ISRIC soil grids from soilgrids' source projection (goode's land WKID 54052) to web mercator projection, nearest neighbor, to facilitate online mapping. The resolution in web mercator projection is the same as the original projection, 250m. But keep in mind that the original dataset has been reprojected to make this web mercator version.

This multidimensional soil collection serves the mean or expected value for each soil variable as calculated by soilgrids.org. For all other distributions of the soil variable, be sure to download the data directly from soilgrids.org. The data are available in VRT format and may be converted to other image formats within ArcGIS Pro.

Accessing this layer's companion uncertainty layer

Because data quality varies worldwide, the uncertainty of the predicted value varies worldwide. A companion uncertainty layer exists for this layer which you can use to qualify the values you see in this map for analysis. Choose a variable and depth in the multidimensional settings of your map client to access the companion uncertainty layer.

Datasets available for download

Additional Info

Field Value
Last Updated March 24, 2026, 21:07 (UTC)
Created March 24, 2026, 21:07 (UTC)
Domain / Topic
Domain or topic of the dataset being cataloged.
Title
Title for the Dataset.
World Soils 250m Organic Carbon Density
Description
A description of the dataset.

Soilgrids.org (ISRIC) prediction of organic carbon density (mass divided by volume) of world soils at 6 depth ranges. Machine learning was used to predict soil characteristics at 250m resolution from 230,000 soil profile observations. Use the layer's multidimensional properties to choose a variable and depth to display. This version, sourced from SoilGrids250m version 2.0, was released in May 2020.

Soil is the foundation of life on earth. More living things by weight live in the soil than upon it. It determines what crops we can grow, what structures we can build, what forests can take root.
This layer contains the chemical soil variable organic carbon density (ocd) which measures carbon mass in proportion to volume of soil (mass divided by volume.)

From Agriculture Victoria: Soil carbon provides a source of nutrients through mineralisation, helps to aggregate soil particles (structure) to provide resilience to physical degradation, increases microbial activity, increases water storage and availability to plants, and protects soil from erosion.

This layer is a general, medium scale global predictive soil layer suitable for global mapping and decision support. In many places samples of soils do not exist so this map represents a prediction of what is most likely in that location. The predictions are made in six depth ranges by soilgrids.org, funded by ISRIC based in Wageningen, Netherlands.

Each 250m pixel contains a value predicted for that area by soilgrids.org from best available data worldwide. Data for organic carbon density are provided at six depth ranges from the surface to 2 meters below the surface. Each variable and depth range may be accessed in the layer's multidimensional properties.
Dataset Summary

Phenomenon Mapped: Organic carbon density in kg/m³
Cell Size: 250 meters
Pixel Type: 32 bit float, converted from online data that is 16 Bit Unsigned Integer
Coordinate System: Web Mercator Auxiliary Sphere, projected via nearest neighbor from goode's homolosine land (250m)
Extent: World land area except Antarctica
Visible Scale: All scales are visible
Number of Columns and Rows: 160300, 100498
Source: Soilgrids.org
Publication Date: May 2020

Data from the soilgrids.org mean predictions for ocd were used to create this layer. You may access organic carbon density values in one of six depth ranges. To select one choose the depth variable in the multidimensional selector in your map client.

Mean depth (cm)Actual depth range of data-2.50-5cm depth range-105-15cm depth range-22.515-30cm depth range-4530-60cm depth range-8060-100cm depth range-150100-200cm depth rangeWhat can you do with this Layer?

This layer is suitable for both visualization and analysis across the ArcGIS system. This layer can be combined with your data and other layers from the ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World in ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Pro to create powerful web maps that can be used alone or in a story map or other application.

Because this layer is part of the ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World it is easy to add to your map:

    In ArcGIS Online, you can add this layer to a map by selecting Add then Browse Living Atlas Layers. A window will open. Type "world soils soilgrids" in the search box and browse to the layer. Select the layer then click Add to Map.
    In ArcGIS Pro, open a map and select Add Data from the Map Tab. Select Data at the top of the drop down menu. The Add Data dialog box will open on the left side of the box, expand Portal if necessary, then select Living Atlas. Type "world soils soilgrids" in the search box, browse to the layer then click OK.

In ArcGIS Pro you can use the built-in raster functions or create your own to create custom extracts of the data. Imagery layers provide fast, powerful inputs to geoprocessing tools, models, or Python scripts in Pro.

Online you can filter the layer to show subsets of the data using the filter button and the layer's built-in raster functions.

This layer is part of the Living Atlas of the World that provides an easy way to explore the landscape layers and many other beautiful and authoritative maps on hundreds of topics.
More information about soilgrids layers

Answers to many questions may be found at soilgrids.org (ISRIC) frequently asked questions (faq) page about the data.

To make this layer, Esri reprojected the expected value of ISRIC soil grids from soilgrids' source projection (goode's land WKID 54052) to web mercator projection, nearest neighbor, to facilitate online mapping. The resolution in web mercator projection is the same as the original projection, 250m. But keep in mind that the original dataset has been reprojected to make this web mercator version.

This multidimensional soil collection serves the mean or expected value for each soil variable as calculated by soilgrids.org. For all other distributions of the soil variable, be sure to download the data directly from soilgrids.org. The data are available in VRT format and may be converted to other image formats within ArcGIS Pro.

Accessing this layer's companion uncertainty layer

Because data quality varies worldwide, the uncertainty of the predicted value varies worldwide. A companion uncertainty layer exists for this layer which you can use to qualify the values you see in this map for analysis. Choose a variable and depth in the multidimensional settings of your map client to access the companion uncertainty layer.
Tags / Keywords
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Format (CSV, XLS, TXT, PDF, etc)
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Dataset Size
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44650722.51
Metadata Identifier
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2023-10-24
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GeoSpatial Area Data Span
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Field Value
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public
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This work is licensed under the Esri Master License Agreement. View Summary | View Terms of Use
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Location
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https://climate.esri.ca/datasets/esri::world-soils-250m-organic-carbon-density
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esri_environment
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Esri
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Esri
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esri_environment
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Accessed At
Date the data and metadata was accessed.
2025-04-03
Field Value
Identifier
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efd491203720432d893f3dedf9eedf3d
Language
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English
Link to dataset description
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https://climate.esri.ca/datasets/esri::world-soils-250m-organic-carbon-density
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Contains Indigenous Data
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None
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None
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Esri
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Temporal resolution
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GeoSpatial resolution in meters
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Field Value
Indigenous Community Permission
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Community Permission
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