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Rapid Carbon Assessment (RaCA)

dataset
posted on 2023-11-30, 08:12 authored by USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

The Rapid Carbon Assessment (RaCA) was initiated by the USDA-NRCS Soil Science Division in 2010 with the following objectives:

  • To develop statistically reliable quantitative estimates of amounts and distribution of carbon stocks for U.S. soils under various land covers and to the extent possible, differing agricultural management.
  • To provide data to support model simulations of soil carbon change related to land use change, agricultural management, conservation practices, and climate change.
  • To provide a scientifically and statistically defensible inventory of soil carbon stocks for the U.S.

To accomplish these objectives, 144,833 samples were collected from the upper 1 meter of 32,084 soil profiles at 6,017 randomly selected locations for measurement of organic and inorganic carbon by visible and near infrared (VNIR) spectroscopy and bulk density by traditional methods. NRI sites were used as the basis for random selection of sample sites stratified by soil group within RaCA Region and land use/land cover (LULC) within soil group. Soil morphology and landscape characteristics were described at each site and limited vegetation and agricultural management information was collected from each location. Sample collection and analysis involved more than 300 soil scientists and assistance from 24 universities.

Dowloadable Data Tables:

  • RaCA samples (CSV; 41.1 MB)
  • RaCA general location (CSV; 145 KB)
  • RaCA SOC pedons (CSV; 796 KB)
  • RaCA data columns (CSV; 7 KB)
  • RaCA download (ZIP; 336 MB)

Maps - Soil Organic Carbon Stocks:

  • Rapid Carbon Assessment Values Using SSURGO and NLCD Grids (PDF; 7.72 MB)
  • Geometric Means for Each RaCA Region (PDF; 2.82 MB)
  • Values for Each RaCA Site (PDF; 5.11 MB)


    Resources in this dataset:

Funding

Natural Resources Conservation Service

History

Data contact name

Soils Hotline

Data contact email

soilshotline@usda.gov

Publisher

United States Department of Agriculture

Intended use

To develop statistically reliable quantitative estimates of amounts and distribution of carbon stocks for U.S. soils under various land covers and to the extent possible, differing agricultural management. To provide data to support model simulations of soil carbon change related to land use change, agricultural management, conservation practices, and climate change. To provide a scientifically and statistically defensible inventory of soil carbon stocks for the U.S.

Use limitations

Locations of each site have been degraded due to confidentiality and only reflect the general position of each site.

Temporal Extent Start Date

2010-01-01

Temporal Extent End Date

2013-12-31

Theme

  • Not specified

Geographic Coverage

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Geographic location - description

United States

ISO Topic Category

  • climatologyMeteorologyAtmosphere
  • environment
  • farming
  • geoscientificInformation
  • imageryBaseMapsEarthCover

National Agricultural Library Thesaurus terms

land use; soil surveys; carbon; Natural Resources Conservation Service; carbon sinks; United States; soil; agricultural management; simulation models; land use change; conservation practices; climate change; inventories; soil profiles; spectroscopy; bulk density; land cover; soil morphology; landscapes; vegetation; scientists; universities; soil organic carbon; geometry

OMB Bureau Code

  • 005:53 - Natural Resources Conservation Service

OMB Program Code

  • 005:027 - Conservation Operations

Pending citation

  • No

Public Access Level

  • Public

Preferred dataset citation

Soil Survey Staff. Rapid Carbon Assessment (RaCA) project. United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service. Available online. June 1, 2013 (FY2013 official release).