ISO 28258:2013

Overview - ISO 28258:2013 (Soil quality - Digital exchange of soil-related data)

ISO 28258:2013 defines a standardized, XML-based approach for the digital exchange of soil-related data. Its goal is to enable producers, holders and users of soil data to find, transfer and interpret soil information in an unambiguous, retrievable way. The standard specifies a feature-based information model, encoding rules, parameter specifications and metadata conventions that support explicit geo-referencing and integration with geographic information systems (GIS).

Key technical topics and requirements

• Scope and purpose: Provides a general procedure for recording and exchanging soil data across systems without prescribing a single software platform.
• Information model: Defines a soil features model and application schema built on the ISO/TC 190 conceptual framework and the ISO 19100 family.
• Observations & measurements: Implements provisions of ISO 19156 (Observations and Measurements, OM) for soil science to ensure consistent observation semantics.
• XML / GML encoding: Recommends an XML-based format, with guidance for GML (ISO 19136) implementation to support geographic encoding and GIS interoperability.
• Submodels and packages: Describes modular submodels such as project, spatial relation, site, plot, soil mapping, soil observation, soil sampling and profile description, enabling flexible data representation.
• Metadata and code lists: Emphasizes metadata, code lists and clear definitions of features and attributes; does not impose a fixed attribute catalogue, allowing diverse vocabularies to be encoded consistently.
• Validation and control: Includes guidance on validating software, software keys and control tools to ensure data quality and retrievability.
• Annex materials: Informative annexes provide attribute examples, code list examples (from ISO 25177) and XML construction guidance.

Practical applications and typical users

ISO 28258:2013 is intended for any organization or individual involved in soil data lifecycle management, including:

• Environmental agencies and public authorities publishing soil datasets
• GIS specialists and spatial data integrators combining soil data with land-use and environmental layers
• Soil scientists, research institutes and laboratories exchanging observations, analyses and profiles
• Consultants, land developers and remediation teams needing interoperable soil information
• Data managers and software vendors implementing soil data exchange, validation and web services

Practical uses include online data publication, cross-system data sharing, integration of soil observations into GIS workflows, project-level sampling records, and consistent archival of soil profiles and analytical results.

Related standards (normative references)

Key related ISO standards referenced by ISO 28258:2013:

• ISO 11074 (Soil vocabulary)
• ISO 15903 (Recording soil and site information)
• ISO 19109, ISO 19118, ISO 19136 (GML / encoding and application schema rules)
• ISO 19156:2011 (Observations and measurements)
• ISO 25177:2008 (Field soil description)

By aligning with these standards, ISO 28258 supports interoperable, future-proof exchange of soil quality data across disciplines and systems.