Soil classification

Also termed soil taxonomy, is the scientific discipline dealing with grouping of soils into soil morphological units or soil types, according to similar or comparable soil forming properties. Many countries in the world have national soil classification systems but those of FAO, WRB and USDA are used internationally. For transnational comparisons, an international soil classification system, into which the majority of national systems can be translated, is needed. In future, this will be the WRB.