Access WoSIS latest from QGIS using WFS
There are two options for accessing ‘wosis_latest’, the dynamic version of standardised soil data served from WoSIS (World Soil Information Service): a) Using GraphQL API (Calisto 2023). b) Using WFS
This tutorial covers the WFS option from QGIS; it has been adapted from Ribeiro et al. (2018, Appendix A). It explains how a WFS connection can be created, and how specific data layers can be selected. Subsequently, options for selecting point data for a defined area are illustrated, and how the results can be saved for further processing using auxiliary software such as R. In the conclusion, users are recommended to regularly check the WFS as ‘wosis_latest’ is a dynamic data set (see Batjes et al. 2019).
The procedure for adding WFS in ArcGIS can be found here.
More details about WoSIS can be found via the following FAQ page.
Creating a WFS connection
To load WoSIS points in QGIS, you will first need to create a WFS connection. To do this press the ‘Add WFS layer’ button, then press ‘New’, give the connection a name, for example ‘WoSIS Latest’.
In the URL field paste the wosis latest WFS link: http://maps.isric.org/mapserv?map=/map/wosis_latest.map.
No authentication is needed, so the boxes for ‘Username’ and ‘Password’ boxes can be left blank.
Press the OK button.
Press ‘Connect’, and all available layers will appear on screen (Figure 1).
Selecting specific data layers
Next, select the layer of interest listed under ‘Title’ and press ‘Add’ button (Figure 2). Note that it may take some time until the system fetches all points for the global coverage. Be aware that you are working online and that some layers have over a million records.
Selecting point data for a specific area
A more efficient approach to accessing the data would be to request only the points for a specific area. In this case, first zoom to the area of interest and then tick on ‘Only request features overlapping the current view extent’.
Another option, when adding the layer, is to click on the ‘Build query’ button and, for example, in the SQL statement box add the following ‘WHERE’ clause, like this: WHERE country name=’Brazil’. Note that the example in Figure 3 considers the layer for pHaq (i.e., pH measured in water or ‘wosis_latest_phaq’).
The complete SQL statement should look like this: SELECT * FROM wosis_latest_phaq WHERE country name=’Brazil’
Saving your results
After loading the desired data selection, you can save it as a shape file (or other format) on your local machine for further offline use, for example processing the data using R.
Concluding remarks
Regularly check for updates when using the WFS option because ‘wosis_latest’ is a dynamic dataset (see FAQ – WoSIS). Contents are prone to change when new profiles have been added or some corrections were made.
References
Batjes NH, Ribeiro E and van Oostrum AJM 2019. Standardised soil profile data for the world (WoSIS snapshot - September 2019). ISRIC WDC-Soils https://dx.doi.org/10.17027/isric-wdcsoils.20190901
Calisto L 2023. ISRIC GraphQL web services for WoSIS and ISIS data access, ISRIC - World Soil Information. https://graphql.isric.org/
Ribeiro E, Batjes NH and Van Oostrum AJM 2018. World Soil Information Service (WoSIS) - Towards the standardization and harmonization of world soil data. Procedures Manual 2018. ISRIC Report 2018/01, ISRIC - World Soil Information, Wageningen, 166 p. http://dx.doi.org/10.17027/isric-wdcsoils.20180001
Author: Niels Batjes 10/2023 (former ISRIC staff) Updated: 09/2025, Betony Colman (ISRIC staff)
Last updated on 2025-10-16