7.4 Soil water holding capacity

This data set shows the global distribution of soil water holding capacity, at field capacity for the top 30 centimeters of soil only (0-30 cm.). It was derived from information on soil type and texture compiled by L. Zobler (1986) at a one-by-one degree latitude/longitude resolution from the FAO-Unesco Soil Map of the World (1974). The data set was developed in 1990 at the NASA/Goddard Institute of Space Studies (GISS), Columbia University, New York City by A. F. Bouwman of the National Institute of Public Health and Environmental Protection (or RIVM; Bilthoven, the Netherlands) and scientists at NASA/GISS.