Development of a harmonized map of soils and soil hydraulic properties for the Po Plain- Northern Italy

Study region: Po Plain, Northern Italy Study focus: Accurate soil hydraulic parameters are essential for the implementation of hydrological models to support water resources planning and management. The availability of spatially extensive and consistent soil hydrological data is important in areas like Po Plain, where intensive irrigation practices and complex hydrological dynamics require reliable data for effective water resource management. Currently, there is no comprehensive, harmonised pedological and hydrogeological database covering the entire Po Plain, while there are independently managed databases at Regional level, often structured differently, which significantly limits their use on a large scale. This study addresses this gap by harmonizing and integrating scattered soil information into a unified and standardized spatial dataset of soil physical and hydraulic properties for the entire Po Plain. New hydrological insight for the region: The newly developed soil map represents a major advance in spatial resolution, consistency, and regional coverage for the Po Plain. It provides, for the first time, a harmonized and spatially continuous representation of soil types and hydraulic properties across the entire Po Plain. Overall, the map establishes a foundational framework for integrated, evidence-based water resource planning in one of Italy’s most hydrologically critical regions. Furthermore, the developed map preserves a comprehensive set of physical and chemical soil attributes, allowing future implementation of alternative Pedotransfer Functions and ensuring flexibility across different research objectives.