| Note |
For some 40 years, the legally registered International Soil Reference and Information Centre (ISRIC), which is called "ISRIC – World Soil Information" has been providing significant support to the international science community by collecting and archiving regional-, national- and global-scale maps of soils and land resources. Despite effective procedures for storage and maintenance, most organizations involved in archiving struggle to arrest the deterioration of paper maps and the quality of information they contain. Deterioration occurs for various reasons that include handling, transport, exposure to light, moisture and atmospheric pollution. Realizing the need to conserve the information on existing maps, which underpin the fast-developing thematic mapping strategies to support soil protection, the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission (Italy) and ISRIC – World Soil Information initiated the European Digital Archive of Soil Maps (EuDASM). The objective is to transfer soil information into digital format, with the maximum resolution possible and to preserve the information of paper maps that are vulnerable to deterioration. |