What is SOCKG?

The Soil Organic Carbon Knowledge Graph (SOCKG) enhances robust soil carbon modeling, which is crucial for voluntary carbon markets. These markets create incentives for climate-friendly practices by encouraging the retention of carbon in soil, reducing atmospheric carbon levels. Industry sectors, like energy and transportation, purchase carbon credits to offset unavoidable emissions, while farmers and land managers are rewarded for adopting practices that increase soil organic carbon (SOC). For these markets to function effectively, it is essential to have advanced soil carbon modeling technologies that accurately measure SOC content, predict changes, and link those changes to specific agricultural practices. High-quality data is central to this process. By integrating siloed data into a cohesive knowledge graph, linking it to broader datasets, and establishing infrastructure for its sustainability, SOCKG can play a transformative role in enabling and accelerating the growth of this emerging market.

What’s inside SOCKG: The subplot

Treatments are applied here, observations are recorded here.

Subplotthe finest thing measured4,220subplots in the graphsockg:ExperimentalUnitTreatmentthe agricultural practice assigned to this subplotrotationcontinuous corncorn/soybean (2-yr)crops used, and the length of the cyclenitrogen0lowhighthe rate behind each label depends on the cropcorn or sorghumlow 33 kg N/hahigh 67 kg N/hasoybean or oat+cloverlow 90 kg N/hahigh 180 kg N/haSoil samplesone, two or three types may be taken from a given samplePhysical37,214Chemical77,167Biological19,572upper and lower depth0 – 10 cm10 – 15 cm15 – 30 cmpartitions vary between subplotsRecorded eventsdated records of things that happened on the subplotplantingpesticide applicationeach carries a date, so events can be plotted over time

A treatment is the standing condition assigned to the subplot. An event is a dated thing that happened on it. They’re separate.

What’s inside SOCKG: Three sample types

Soil from one depth range, read three ways.

Physical

sockg:SoilPhysicalSample
bulk density
37,214
samples

Chemical

sockg:SoilChemicalSample
pHorganic matter
77,167
samples

Biological

sockg:SoilBiologicalSample
microbial activity
19,572
samples

One sample, up to three records

AgCROS doesn’t record whether the three measurements came from the same soil — so the graph keeps them separate.

IN THE FIELDone soil sampleIN THE GRAPHSoilPhysicalSampleSoilChemicalSampleSoilBiologicalSample1–3records

Share of all samples

133,953 total.

37,214
77,167
19,572
PhysicalChemicalBiological

What’s inside SOCKG: The dataset

Agricultural Collaborative Research Outcomes System — USDA.

45
years spanned
58
fields
33
cities
20
states
4,220
subplots

How a field is divided

Each field splits into blocks, blocks into plots, plots into subplots. On the map, a field is what the dashboard calls a plot.

ONE FIELDBLOCKBLOCKPLOTPLOTPLOTPLOTTHE CHAINField58 in the datasetBlocka field is divided into blocksPlotblocks are divided into plotsSubplot4,220 in the datasetEverything is recorded at the subplotTreatments are applied here.Observations are recorded here.Block and plot counts aren’t published in the source dataset.
Source: AgCROS, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Who uses it?

SOCKG provides policymakers, land administrators, environmental NGOs, advocacy groups, educators, and real estate professionals with accurate data and insights on soil carbon stocks, fluxes, and dynamics. This empowers them to make informed decisions in climate change mitigation, policy development, land use planning, educational programs, and real estate projects. By integrating and standardizing diverse data sources, SOCKG enables large-scale research and the development of more effective carbon sequestration strategies. Leveraging advanced querying techniques and machine learning models, SOCKG offers substantial support to soil carbon researchers, helping them predict soil carbon stocks and reduce uncertainties in studies related to soil organic carbon.

Some tools we develop for SOCKG