Unsaturated Soil Hydraulic Database of Hungary: HUNSODA

Abstract

Databases with information on soils often constitute a basic source of information for studies in production agriculture, environmental engineering, and remote sensing. A new, searchable, relational database of soil physical and hydrophysical properties has been developed for Hungarian soils. The database is stored in MS-Access format. The database is compatible with most of the popular software and can be run on a personal computer as well as on computer networks. It currently stores data of 840 soil horizons, 576 having soil hydraulic data, measured using nationally and internationally accepted standard methodology. An outline of the structure and the contents of HUNSODA, as well as a basic guide to its operation has been given. Developing this database may enhance the ability of Hungarian soil scientists to address many more environmental issues of concern, however, further expansion of the database is recommended. Additional data can easily be included in the database. Expansion of the database may help in making it more widely applicable.