The Soil Quality Measurement Network (RMQS) is a national long-term soil quality assessment and monitoring program. This network is based on the monitoring of 2240 sites representative of French soils and their occupations, distributed throughout the French territory (metropole and overseas) according to a systematic grid of 16 km side. The sites cover various occupations (large crops, permanent meadows, forests, vineyards and orchards, low-anthropised environments, urban parks). The physical, chemical and biological properties of soils are measured at each site with a periodicity of about fifteen years. These analyses are associated with the investigation of factors explaining the spatial and temporal variability of soil properties (biophysical variables, sources of contamination, history of occupation and site management practices). The first tax year in metropolitan France took place from 2000 to 2009. This campaign, focused on soil contamination, made it possible to map the main soil parameters (28 variables) as well as the contents of 12 metal trace elements (ETMs) in total or partial extraction and 70 persistent organic pollutants. All the sampling protocols, measurements and observations made on each site during this campaign are detailed in the 2006 Soil Quality Measurement Network Manual. Obtaining the values: The cartograms produced are based on the results of analyses of 2146 metropolis sites, spread over 2146 cells, implemented during the first RMQS campaign (2000-2009). The analyses were carried out on composite samples taken from the tarere using 2 layers of sampling (0-30 cm or thickness of the layer worked in cultured soil called surface composite or composite 1 and the underlying layer up to 50 cm, called sub-surface composite or composite 2). Each composite sample was made from a mixture of 25 individual samples taken from a 400 m² sampling area according to a stratified random sampling plan (see description in the RMQS Manual, 2006). A third layer of sampling from composite samples could be formed in forest or grassland from the holorganic horizons (corresponding to the soil horizons OF and OH) when these horizons were sufficiently thick (at least 1 cm) and continuous on the sampling surface. The cartograms are a geographical representation of the actual contents (concentration in unit of measurement per mass of air dried soil) measured for the parameter quoted, at each point of the Network of Soil Quality Measurements (RMQS), during the first campaign (2000-2009). The soil analyses were carried out by the Laboratory for Soil Analysis of the INRA in Arras during the campaign, from 2002 to 2011, as the network was deployed, and for certain parameters, a posteriori, on the samples stored at the European Conservatory of Soils. The cartograms have not been created with the actual coordinates of the sampling devices, in accordance with the legal framework currently in force and to meet our commitment to anonymisation of data. The dataset provided together with these cartograms will include the coordinates of the center of the mesh, called centroid coordinates or theoretical coordinates. A metadata table associated with the dataset (accessible via the links below) details for each parameter represented, the method of analysis, the unit, the detection threshold and the analytical uncertainty associated with the analysis provided by the LAS.

The Soil Quality Measurement Network (RMQS) is a national long-term soil quality assessment and monitoring program. This network is based on the monitoring of 2240 sites representative of French soils and their occupations, distributed throughout the French territory (metropole and overseas) according to a systematic grid of 16 km side. The sites cover various occupations (large crops, permanent meadows, forests, vineyards and orchards, low-anthropised environments, urban parks). The physical, chemical and biological properties of soils are measured at each site with a periodicity of about fifteen years. These analyses are associated with the investigation of factors explaining the spatial and temporal variability of soil properties (biophysical variables, sources of contamination, history of occupation and site management practices). The first tax year in metropolitan France took place from 2000 to 2009. This campaign, focused on soil contamination, made it possible to map the main soil parameters (28 variables) as well as the contents of 12 metal trace elements (ETMs) in total or partial extraction and 70 persistent organic pollutants. All the sampling protocols, measurements and observations made on each site during this campaign are detailed in the 2006 Soil Quality Measurement Network Manual. Obtaining the values: The cartograms produced are based on the results of analyses of 2146 metropolis sites, spread over 2146 cells, implemented during the first RMQS campaign (2000-2009). The analyses were carried out on composite samples taken from the tarere using 2 layers of sampling (0-30 cm or thickness of the layer worked in cultured soil called surface composite or composite 1 and the underlying layer up to 50 cm, called sub-surface composite or composite 2). Each composite sample was made from a mixture of 25 individual samples taken from a 400 m² sampling area according to a stratified random sampling plan (see description in the RMQS Manual, 2006). A third layer of sampling from composite samples could be formed in forest or grassland from the holorganic horizons (corresponding to the soil horizons OF and OH) when these horizons were sufficiently thick (at least 1 cm) and continuous on the sampling surface. The cartograms are a geographical representation of the actual contents (concentration in unit of measurement per mass of air dried soil) measured for the parameter quoted, at each point of the Network of Soil Quality Measurements (RMQS), during the first campaign (2000-2009). The soil analyses were carried out by the Laboratory for Soil Analysis of the INRA in Arras during the campaign, from 2002 to 2011, as the network was deployed, and for certain parameters, a posteriori, on the samples stored at the European Conservatory of Soils. The cartograms have not been created with the actual coordinates of the sampling devices, in accordance with the legal framework currently in force and to meet our commitment to anonymisation of data. The dataset provided together with these cartograms will include the coordinates of the center of the mesh, called centroid coordinates or theoretical coordinates. A metadata table associated with the dataset (accessible via the links below) details for each parameter represented, the method of analysis, the unit, the detection threshold and the analytical uncertainty associated with the analysis provided by the LAS.