Digital Soil Mapping and Land-Use Planning

Dear Colleagues,

As global demands for food production, environmental protection, and climate resilience continue to rise, the integration of digital soil information into land-use decision-making has become increasingly important. The transition toward sustainable agriculture and the implementation of emerging policies highlight the urgent need for reliable, high-resolution knowledge of soil resources. In recent years, soil science has evolved into a data-driven discipline, enabling researchers to generate detailed, spatially explicit predictions of soil properties even where field measurements are limited. Digital Soil Mapping (DSM) has emerged as a powerful approach within this transformation, leveraging remote sensing, machine learning, and big data integration to support soil information systems. DSM provides valuable insights for land-use management by allowing stakeholders to assess soil fertility, carbon storage, erosion risks, land suitability, and the long-term impacts of management decisions. When aligned with planning frameworks, DSM facilitates evidence-based decisions for policy implementation and sustainable land management. However, challenges remain, particularly in harmonizing diverse datasets, managing uncertainty, and translating digital soil outputs into operational tools for practitioners. Strengthening the link between DSM products, soil health monitoring, and land-use planning frameworks is essential to ensure that soil information becomes not only scientifically robust but also practical, accessible, and actionable for real-world decision-making.

Application of DSM products to support land-use planning, soil health assessment, regulatory frameworks, and the implementation of soil protection laws and sustainability strategies at local to continental scales.

• DSM for sustainable land-use management and policy support;
• DSM applications for soil health assessment and regulatory frameworks;
• Linking DSM outputs with climate adaptation and ecosystem services;
• Integration of multi-source datasets for prediction and monitoring of soil properties;
• Case studies on land management, conservation, and restoration;
• Development of decision-support systems and digital platforms for end-users.

Submissions may include empirical studies, methodological advances, case studies, or conceptual/theoretical works that highlight the integration of digital soil information into planning, governance, and resource management.

Dr. Marmar Sabetizade
Dr. Robert Milewski
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• land-use planning
• soil health assessment
• remote sensing and geospatial modeling
• soil carbon and climate mitigation
• decision-support systems
• ecosystem services
• sustainable land management
• data integration