Geographic coverage: USSR
Scale: 1:16,000,000
Projection: Conical equidistant (main parallels 52o57'52"N
and 63o56'42"N)
Date of publication: 1990; digitised in 1995
General content and compilation method: The map shows 20
zones (mostly latitudinal orientation) defined on the basis of
dominant vegetation. Some zones are further divided into up to
3 sub-zones. Map digitised with A3-size KD-5000 and Calcomp digitisers
using EPPL7 software, and then converted into ARC/Info format.
To create topology, the dangle tolerance 800 m and fuzzy tolerance
200 m were used. The reported RMS error was below 0.4 mm. The
difference in the coastline, borders and hydrography between this
map and the DCW is reported to be within 10 km (with average 4-6
km); deviations in hydrography are systematic.
Principal sources: The map is an inset to the Forests of
the USSR map, 1:2,500,000, Moscow (see A15). Existing maps
of vegetation, forests and physico-geographical regionalisation
of the USSR were used for the source compilation. Coastline and
border digitised from 1:4,000,000 base-map of the USSR.
Legend and classification system: the digital legend contains
2 subject fields (see Appendix 3) as follows:
| ZONE | Forest-vegetation zone |
| SUBZONE | Forest-vegetation sub-zone |
Compiled by: Source map compiled by Research and Surveying
Institute 'SoyuzGiproLesKhoz' of the USSR State Committee for
Forests. Edited by. A.S. Isaev. Thematic information by S.F. Kurnaev.
Digitised at the Centre for Agroecological Problems, V.V. Dokuchaev
Soil Institute, Russian Academy of Agriculture.
Copyright: Directorate-General for Geodesy and Cartography,
USSR Council of Ministers (source); V.V. Dokuchaev Soil Institute,
Russian Academy of Agriculture
ARC/Info coverage name: SPP
Geographic coverage: Russia
Scale: 1:15,000,000
Projection: Conical equidistant (main parallels 52o57'52"N
and 63o56'42"N)
Date of publication: 1987; digitised in 1995
General content and compilation method: The map contains
information on the categories of soil cover spatial structure.
The source map is digitised with A3-size KD-5000 and Calcomp digitisers
using EPPL7 software, and then converted into ARC/Info format.
To create topology, the dangle tolerance 800 m and fuzzy tolerance
200 m were used. The reported RMS error was below 0.4 mm. The
difference in the coastline, borders and hydrography between this
map and the DCW is reported to be within 10 km (with average 4-6
km); deviations in hydrography are systematic.
Principal sources: Agricultural Usage and the Structure
of Soil Cover, an inset to the 1:2,500,000 soil map, Moscow, 1987.
Coastline and border digitised from 1:4,000,000 base-map of the
USSR.
Legend and classification system: the legend (see Appendix
3) contains the following subject fields:
| TYPE | General type of soil cover spatial structure |
| STRUCT | Class of soil cover spatial structure |
Compiled by: Source thematic information by N.N. Rozov,
V.M. Fridland, E.N. Rudneva (V.V. Dokuchaev Soil Institute, USSR
Academy of Agriculture); digitised at the Centre for Agroecological
Problems, V.V. Dokuchaev Soil Institute, Russian Academy of Agriculture.
Copyright: Directorate-General for Geodesy and Cartography,
USSR Council of Ministers (source); V.V. Dokuchaev Soil Institute,
Russian Academy of Agriculture
ARC/Info coverage name: SER
Geographic coverage: Russia
Scale: 1:15,000,000
Projection: Conical equidistant (main parallels 52o57'52"N
and 63o56'42"N)
Date of publication: 1987; digitised in 1995
General content and compilation method: The map presents
the soil regionalisation of the USSR into 67 classes. In addition
it contains quantitative information on multi-year average atmospheric
(climatic) parameters and the parameters of thermal and water
regime of soils for each class. The map is digitised with A3-size
KD-5000 and Calcomp digitisers using EPPL7 software, and then
converted into ARC/Info format. To create topology, the dangle
tolerance 800 m and fuzzy tolerance 200 m were used. The reported
RMS error was below 0.4 mm. The difference in the coastline, borders
and hydrography between this map and the DCW is reported to be
within 10 km (with average 4-6 km); deviations in hydrography
are systematic.
Principal sources: Soil-Ecological Regionalisation map,
an inset to the 1:2,500,000 soil map, Moscow, 1987; Quantitative
thematic data by N.A. Dimo and D.I. Shashko. Coastline and border
digitised from 1:4,000,000 base-map of the USSR.
Legend and classification system: the legend (see Appendix
3) contains the following subject fields:
General Description:
| ZONE | Soil-ecological zone name |
| PROVINCE | Soil-ecological province name |
Atmospheric Parameters:
| JULY_T | Mean July temperature (for mountain provinces -- lower limit) |
| JULY_T_M | Non-empty only for mountain provinces. Upper limit of July temperature |
| SUM_T10 | Sum of to >10oC (for mountain provinces -- lower limit) |
| SUM_T10_M | Non-empty only for mountain provinces. Upper limit of sum of to >10oC |
| LEN_T10 | Length of period with to >10oC. For mountains -- empty |
| LEN_T0 | Length of period with to > 0oC. For mountains -- empty |
| JAN_T | Mean January temperature |
| PRECIP | Annual precipitation. (for mountain provinces -- lower limit) |
| L | Non-empty only for mountain provinces. Upper limit of annual precipitation. |
| K_HUM_FRO | Lower limit of G.N. Vysotskiy-N.N. Ivanov humidity coefficient (if empty, then defined as "less than") |
| K_HUM_TO | Upper limit of humidity coefficient |
| P_DRY_FRO | Probability of dry years -- lower limit. For mountains -- empty |
| P_DRY_TO | Probability of dry years -- upper limit. For mountains -- empty |
Soil Parameters:
| SUM_T10_S | Sum of to >10oC in the soil at 20 cm depth. For mountains --empty |
| DEP_T10_S | Depth of penetration of to >10oC into soil, cm |
| LEN_VEG_S | Length of vegetational period in soil at depth 20 cm in months |
| SUM_TNEG | Sum of to < 0oC at depth 20 cm |
| DEP_TNEG_ | Depth of penetration of negative temperatures, cm |
| DEP_ISO_F | Depth of isothermal layer, m, lower limit |
| DEP_ISO_T | Depth of isothermal layer, m, upper limit |
| T_ISO_FR | Temperature of isothermal layer, lower limit |
| T_ISO_TO | Temperature of isothermal layer, upper limit |
| REGIME | Type of soil water regime |
Compiled by: Source map by N.N. Rozov, V.A. Nosin, E.N.
Rudneva (V.V. Dokuchaev Soil Institute, USSR Academy of Agriculture);
digitised at the Centre for Agroecological Problems, V.V. Dokuchaev
Soil Institute, Russian Academy of Agriculture.
Copyright: Directorate-General for Geodesy and Cartography,
USSR Council of Ministers (source); V.V. Dokuchaev Soil Institute,
Russian Academy of Agriculture
ARC/Info coverage name: SGR, SGR2, SGR3
Geographic coverage: USSR
Scale: 1:8,000,000
Projection: Conical equidistant (main parallels 52o57'52"N
and 63o56'42"N)
Date of publication: 1982; digitised in 1995
General content and compilation method: The map contains
information on 325 soil-geographic provinces homogeneous in edaphic
terms (factors of soil formation, soil properties and regime,
potential agricultural utilisation), providing for each of them
data on zonal soils (22 classes), type of terrain (26 classes)
and the altitude (3 classes). The map is digitised with A3-size
KD-5000 and Calcomp digitisers using EPPL7 software, and then
converted into ARC/Info format. To create topology, the dangle
tolerance 800 m and fuzzy tolerance 200 m were used. The reported
RMS error was below 0.4 mm. The difference in the coastline, borders
and hydrography between this map and the DCW is reported to be
within 10 km (with average 4-6 km); deviations in hydrography
are systematic.
Principal sources: Soil-Geographic Regionalisation map,
based on published sources and archives. Coastline and border
digitised from 1:4,000,000 base-map of the USSR.
Legend and classification system: The map is digitised
in 3 layers (see also Appendix 3).
The 1-st layer (SGR) contains the following subject fields:
| BELT | Climatic belt name (defined by solar radiation and temperature) |
| CLIM_REGIO | Climatic region (defined by humidity vs. continentality) |
| ZONE | Soil-geographic zone (defined by soil type). For mountain provinces -- list of typical soils |
| PHACIE | Phacie -- indicates soil temperature regime. For mountain provinces contain only the words "Mountain province" |
| PROVINCE | Soil province (defined by humidity vs continentality) |
The 2-nd layer (SGR2) contains the following subject fields:
| SOIL | Zonal soil types |
| RELIEF | Type of terrain |
The 3-d layer (SGR3) contains the following subject field:
| LEVEL | Altitude (Low plains -- below 200 meters, High plains -- above 200 meters, Mountains) |
Compiled by: Source map by G.V. Dobrovolskiy, I.S. Urusevskaya,
N.N. Rozov (Faculty of Soil Science, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State
University); digitised at the Centre for Agroecological Problems,
V.V. Dokuchaev Soil Institute, Russian Academy of Agriculture.
Copyright: Directorate-General for Geodesy and Cartography,
USSR Council of Ministers (source); V.V. Dokuchaev Soil Institute,
Russian Academy of Agriculture
ARC/Info coverage name: BAZIL
Geographic coverage: USSR
Scale: 1:8,000,000
Projection: Conical equidistant (main parallels 52o57'52"N
and 63o56'42"N)
Date of publication: 1964, updated in 1990 (unpublished);
digitised in 1995
General content and compilation method: The map contains
descriptive information on vegetation formations and quantitative
data on the resources of vegetation living biomass, mortmass,
and primary production. The map is digitised with A3-size KD-5000
and Calcomp digitisers using EPPL7 software, and then converted
into ARC/Info format. To create topology, the dangle tolerance
800 m and fuzzy tolerance 200 m were used. The reported RMS error
was below 0.4 mm.
Principal sources: Vegetation of the USSR map (A.N. Lukicheva,
ed. V.B. Sochava), Moscow, 1964; quantitative information by N.I.
Bazilevich.
Legend and classification system: the legend (see Appendix
3) contains the following subject fields:
| TYPE | Vegetation type |
| FORMATION | Class of formation |
| VEGETATIO | Vegetation description (with Latin species names) |
| PHYT_FROM | Living phytomass above surface. lower limit, t/ha |
| PHYT_TO | Living phytomass above surface. upper limit t/ha |
| PROD_FROM | Annual production, lower limit, t/ha/year |
| PROD_TO | Annual production, upper limit, t/ha/year |
| MORT_FROM | Mortmass, lower limit, t/ha |
| MORT_TO | Mortmass, upper limit, t/ha |
If one of limits is empty, than resources or production were defined
as "less than" or "greater than".
Compiled by: Source map by A.N. Lukicheva (ed. V.B. Sochava),
N.I. Bazilevich; digitised at the Centre for Agroecological Problems,
V.V. Dokuchaev Soil Institute, Russian Academy of Agriculture.
Copyright: Directorate-General for Geodesy and Cartography,
USSR Council of Ministers; N.I. Bazilevich (source); V.V. Dokuchaev
Soil Institute, Russian Academy of Agriculture
ARC/Info coverage name: SOIL
Geographic coverage: USSR
Scale: 1:4,000,000
Projection: Conical equidistant (main parallels 50o02'23"N
and 67o18'23"N)
Date of publication: 1995 (compiled in 1993); digitised
in 1995
General content and compilation method: The map contains
soil information, providing for each polygon the data on primary
soils (158 classes, and 3 more classes for complexes, hard rocks
and glaciers), satellite (secondary) soils, underlying rocks (10
classes), altitudinal differentiation for mountain soils (3 classes),
and the presence of stones (debris) in the soil (see also A12).
The map is partly digitised with A3-size KD-5000 and Calcomp digitisers
using EPPL7 software and partly scanned (with resolution 500 dpi),
and then converted into ARC/Info format. To create topology, the
dangle tolerance 800 m and fuzzy tolerance 200 m were used.
Principal sources: Soils of Russia and Adjacent Countries
map (see A12).
Legend and classification system: Due to long descriptive
text of most items, informational fields in the SOIL.PAT contain
numeric codes, and the description of these codes is provided
in separate files (see Appendix 3). Information about satellite
soil is also provided in separate file, since most polygons have
no satellite soils while some polygons have several of them.
The following items are included into the SOIL.PAT table:
| POLYGON | Unique polygon ID. Used to link satellite soil information. |
| SOIL | Code of primary soil (for polygons without soil cover, such as inland water and bare rocks, this field contains code which identifies type of non-soil cover). Explanation of codes is in the INFO file SOIL.SOILNAME. |
| PARENT | Code of parent/underlying rock (0 for non-soil and organic soil). Description of the codes is in the INFO file SOIL.ROCKS |
| DIFFER | Code of altitude differentiation (0 if no differentiation). Description is in the INFO file SOIL.DIFFER. |
| STONES | Logical field, indicates presence of stones. |
The table SOIL.SATELLIT describes satellite soils. It contain
two items:
| POLYGON | Polygon code, same as in POLYGON field in the SOIL.PAT. |
| SOIL | Soil code. Refer to the file SOIL.SOILNAME for explanation. |
Publications: Glazovskaya M.A., Gavrilova I.P., Gerasimova
M.I., Kulbatskaya I.Yu. Geograficheskie Printsipy... (Geographical
principles of soil mapping for the USSR and the world.) In: Novye
Karty dlya Vysshey Shkoly... (New maps for higher schools: system
geographical mapping of the USSR and the world.) Ed. by K.A. Salishchev.
M: Moscow State University. 1987. 202 p. (in Russian)
Compiled by: Source map by the Research Laboratory of
Complex Mapping and Atlases of the Faculty of Geography, M.V.
Lomonosov Moscow State University. Special content is elaborated
by a group of specialists of the Department of Landscape Geochemistry
and Soil Geography of the Faculty of Geography, Moscow State University
(I.P. Gavrilova, M.I. Gerasimova, M.D. Bogdanova, N.P. Lebedev).
Scientific advisor -- M.A. Glazovskaya Editor-in-Chief I.Yu. Kulbatskaya.
Digitised at the Centre for Agroecological Problems, V.V. Dokuchaev
Soil Institute, Russian Academy of Agriculture.
Copyright: Federal Agency of Russia for Geodesy and Cartography;
group of authors from the Faculty of Geography, M.V. Lomonosov
Moscow State University (source); V.V. Dokuchaev Soil Institute,
Russian Academy of Agriculture
ARC/Info coverage name: VEGET
Geographic coverage: USSR
Scale: 1:4,000,000
Projection: Conical equidistant (main parallels 52o57'52"N
and 63o56'42"N)
Date of publication: 1989; digitised in 1995
General content and compilation method: The map contains
information on vegetation at the several levels of geobotanical
classification (see also A13). The source map is digitised
with A3-size KD-5000 and Calcomp digitisers using EPPL7 software,
and then converted into ARC/Info format. To create topology, the
dangle tolerance 800 m and fuzzy tolerance 200 m were used. The
reported RMS error was below 0.4 mm. Special manual processing
has been undertaken to improve the match of the map with the DCW
in terms of the coastline, political boundaries and the hydrography.
Principal sources: vegetation of the USSR map, Moscow,
1989 (see A13).
Legend and classification system: the legend (see Appendix
3; see also A13 in Appendix 2) contains the following subject
fields:
| ZONE | Vegetation zone name |
| SUBZONE | Sub-zone name |
| TYPE | Vegetation type |
| SUBTYPE | Vegetation subtype |
| VEGETATION | Vegetation formation (with Latin species names) |
Publications: Poyasnitel'naya Zapiska i Legenda... (An
explanatory note and the legend of the map "Vegetation of
the USSR" for higher schools.). Moscow. 1990 (in Russian)
Compiled by: Source map by a group of leading specialists
in botanical geography (A.V. Belov, I.I. Buks, S.A. Gribova T.I.
Isachenko, N.M. Kalibernova, Z.V. Karamysheva, G.D. Katenina,
G.M. Ladygina, V.V. Lipatova, N.P. Litvinova, N.I. Nikolskaya,
E.I. Rachkovskaya, I.N. Safronova, V.N. Khramtzov, T.K. Yurkovskaya
I.S. Ilyina, Yu.S. Prozorov) form the Laboratory of Vegetation
Geography and Mapping (Botanical Institute, Russian Academy of
Sciences), the Laboratory of Biogeography (Institute of Geography,
Siberian Division, Russian Academy of Sciences), Research Institute
of Geography (Leningrad State University), the Research Laboratory
of Complex Mapping and Atlases (Faculty of Geography, Moscow State
University). Edited by A.V. Belov, S.A. Gribova, Z.V. Karamysheva,
T.V. Kotova. Digitised at the Centre for Agroecological Problems,
V.V. Dokuchaev Soil Institute, Russian Academy of Agriculture.
Copyright: Directorate-General for Geodesy and Cartography,
USSR Council of Ministers (source); V.V. Dokuchaev Soil Institute,
Russian Academy of Agriculture
ARC/Info coverage name: POLARUSE
Geographic coverage: Circumpolar Arctic
Scale: 1:15,000,000
Projection: geographic co-ordinates
Date of publication: 1986 and 1990 (compiled in 1985);
date of digitising unknown.
General content and compilation method: The map presents
the distribution of land uses of the world such as arable lands,
perennial crops, pastures, forests and woodlands, as well as their
territorial combinations (see also A19). Digitising process
unknown. Additional processing has been done at UNEP/GRID-Arendal.
This included limiting the extent of the map to areas North of
50oN, and creating the English descriptive legend.
During processing several problems have been found, such as small
unattributed polygons and polygons with undefined attributes (coded
with the 999 index), or several-to-one match of digital to paper-map
class indices.
Principal sources: Land Use Map of the World (see A19).
Legend and classification system: the legend contains the
following subject fields:
| LUSE | Code of a land-use class |
| SCRIPT | Superscript of a land-use class |
| ECODE | Integrated code (with superscript) of a land use class |
The description of the land-uses (see A19 in Appendix 2)
is contained in the INFO file LUSE.LUT which can be related to
the coverage via the ECODE field.
Publications: Narskikh R.S., Ozerova G.N., Yanvareva L.F.
Karta Zemel'nykh Ugodiy... (World map of land use types for higher
schools.) In: Vestnik Leningradskogo Universiteta. Ser. Geol.-Geogr,
1982 (1): 97-99 (in Russian); Yanvareva L.F. Sistemnoye Kartografirovaniye...
(System mapping of agriculture for the USSR territory and the
world as a whole.) In: Novye Karty dlya Vysshey Shkoly... (New
maps for higher schools: system geographical mapping of the USSR
and the world.) Moscow: Moscow State University. 1987 (in Russian)
Compiled by: Source map by the Research Laboratory of Complex
Mapping and Atlases of the Faculty of Geography, Moscow State
University, with the assistance of specialists from other organisations
(Institute of Geography of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Leningrad
State University, Research Institute of Geodesy and Cartography).
Editor-in-Chief L.F. Yanvareva. Place of digitising (in Russia)
unknown. Received from UNEP/GRID-Nairobi. Processed by UNEP/GRID-Arendal
(D. Henry, N.B. Denisov).
Copyright: M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
ARC/Info coverage name: NAR
Geographic coverage: USSR
Scale: 1:8,000,000
Projection: Conical equidistant (main parallels 52o57'52"N
and 63o56'42"N)
Date of publication: 1984; digitised in 1995
General content and compilation method: The digitised map
contains 80 polygons (provinces and sub-provinces), of which 14
units are located above 60oN. For each polygon a set
of data (primarily on the climate) is provided. The source map
is digitised with A3-size KD-5000 and Calcomp digitisers using
EPPL7 software, and then converted into ARC/Info format. To create
topology, the dangle tolerance 800 m and fuzzy tolerance 200 m
were used. The reported RMS error was below 0.4 mm. The difference
in the coastline, borders and hydrography between this map and
the DCW is reported to be within 10 km (with average 4-6 km);
deviations in hydrography are systematic.
Principal sources: Natural-Agricultural Regionalisation
of Land Resources of the USSR map. Coastline and border digitised
from 1:4,000,000 base-map of the USSR.
Legend and classification system: the legend (see Appendix
3) contains the following subject fields:
| CODE | Index of province/sub-province |
| ZONE | Natural-agricultural zone |
| PROVINCE | Natural-agricultural province |
| SUBPROVINC | Natural-agricultural sub-province (may be empty, if a current map unit is province) |
| KK | N.N. Ivanov coefficient of climate continentality |
| ST_FROM | Sum of air temperatures above 10 oC, lower limit |
| ST_TO | Sum of air temperatures above 10 oC, upper limit |
| KY_FROM | Annual humidity coefficient (ratio of precipitation to evaporation), lower limit |
| KY_TO | Annual humidity coefficient (ratio of precipitation to evaporation), upper limit |
| BK | Climatic index of bioproductivity (in grades, compared with mean productivity) |
Compiled by: Thematic information of the source map by
D.I. Shashko, S.I. Nosov, P.F. Loyko, Yu.V. Fedorin, O.K. Zamkov,
B.P. Sotnikov, N.P. Bondarchuk, Yu.A. Gazizov, M.I. Glushkova,
V.M. Zhukov, F.N. Kamenetzekaya, V.N. Kolosovskaya, N.D. Pokrovskaya,
E.M. Yampolskaya, V.I. Abrosimova, Z.G. Aristova, E.I. Gaydamaka,
T.A. Friev, A.N. Kashtanov, N.N. Rozov, N.N. Vadkovskaya, G.V.
Dobrovolsky, I.S. Urusevskaya (State Research Institute of Land
Resources of the USSR Ministry of Agriculture, V.V. Dokuchaev
Soil Institute of the USSR Academy of Agriculture, M.V. Lomonosov
Moscow State University). Edited by F.N. Kamenetzkaya. Digitised
at the Centre for Agroecological Problems, V.V. Dokuchaev Soil
Institute, Russian Academy of Agriculture.
Copyright: Directorate-General for Geodesy and Cartography,
USSR Council of Ministers (source); V.V. Dokuchaev Soil Institute,
Russian Academy of Agriculture
ARC/Info coverage name: AGROREG
Geographic coverage: USSR
Scale: 1:4,000,000
Projection: Conical equidistant (main parallels 50o10'29"N
and 67o12'48"N)
Date of publication: 1989 (compiled in 1985); digitised
in 1995
General content and compilation method: The map shows the
distribution of the types of agricultural regions. Current forms
of agriculture are represented as complex polystructural territorial
systems of different hierarchical levels (see also A21).
The map is digitised with A3-size KD-5000 and Calcomp digitisers
using EPPL7 software, and then converted into ARC/Info format.
To create topology, the dangle tolerance 800 m and fuzzy tolerance
200 m were used. The reported RMS error was below 0.4 mm.
Principal sources: Agricultural Regionalisation of the
USSR map (see A21).
Legend and classification system: Legend for this map is
supplied in the text file (AGROREG.DOC) and not in informational
fields of the AGROREG.PAT, because map unit descriptions are too
long to fit in the dBase string field. Each map unit in this text
file is described in a separate paragraph marked by a decimal
number at the start of a line. Roman numbers are the original
numbers of agricultural zones. There are two layers of information:
zone (two highest digits in user_ID) and land-use type (two lowest
digits within zone). Several zones have descriptions that apply
to all types within zone. They are placed in the text file in
front of the types' descriptions for each zone and marked only
by Roman numbers. See A21 in Appendix 2.
Publications: Selskokhozyaystvennoye Rayonirovaniye SSSR.
(Agricultural Regions of the USSR.) Explanatory note for the map.
Moscow. 1989 (in Russian)
Compiled by: Source map by the Research Laboratory of
Complex Mapping and Atlases of the Faculty of Geography, Moscow
State University. Special content elaborated by a large group
of authors from different research institutions. Edited by A.N.
Rakitnikov Editor-in-Chief L.F. Yanvareva.
Copyright: Directorate-General for Geodesy and Cartography, USSR Council of Ministers (source); V.V. Dokuchaev Soil Institute, Russian Academy of Agriculture