Unfortunately, most of the SOPs issued by authoritative bodies are not available for free and can be very expensive. This seriously can hamper the possibility of many laboratories, particularly those from developing countries, to produce reliable data and to emerge at the international level. Still, it is important to remember that decision making, including the reporting on the Sustainable Development Goals and other international commitments, relies on the availability of consistent interoperable data.

To assist in overcoming these obstacles and promote the harmonization of global soil laboratory data, GLOSOLAN is producing harmonized SOPs, which are compiled in the GLOSOLAN’s Best practice manual. The manual is the result of a joint effort between the Global Soil Partnership, FAO and laboratories registered in GLOSOLAN. Routine procedures shared by laboratories with GLOSOLAN are harmonized and published online for free. All GLOSOLAN partners and laboratories are given the opportunity to take a leading role in the production of the SOPs and manual.

Attention! Freely available material does not mean low quality material. The quality of a standard depends on the number of people that participated in its preparation (baseline data) and the number of its final users. GLOSOLAN standards rely on information submitted by laboratories from all around the world. A download tracking system helps the network monitoring the number of users of each GLOSOLAN document.

The SOPs to harmonize are decided upon the number of countries and laboratories using a specific method. Priority is given to the methods most commonly used worldwide.

At its 2nd meeting in 2018 (see report), GLOSOLAN agreed on a 10 years’ work plan on the SOPs to harmonize that is currently used as a baseline for decision making. In this regard, every year, registered laboratories in GLOSOLAN discuss the SOPs to harmonize at their Regional Soil Laboratory Network meetings. Ultimately, regional positions are discussed at the GLOSOLAN meeting (every year in October/November) where the final decision on the SOPs to harmonize is made.

Once GLOSOLAN agree on the SOPs to harmonize, regional leaders are identified. Regional leaders are experts on specific methods that are tasked to:

• Prepare the matrix for collecting information on the procedure used by each laboratory;
• Harmonize the information received at the regional level first and at the global level later;
• Draft the SOPs as per the Template for reporting GLOSOLAN SOPs (EN | ES);

Per each SOP a global leader is also identified: this is the expert that takes overall responsibility over the harmonization of the SOP.

Based on the decisions made at the 4th GLOSOLAN meeting (see report), the review and endorsement of GLOSOLAN SOPs is done by a Review Panel. The global working group leader is automatically a member of the Review Panel with the tasks to (1) answer the questions of the Review Panel on the harmonization work done by the working group, and (2) rebut and implement the changes suggested by the Review Panel.

The whole process is facilitated by the GLOSOLAN coordinator that:

• Coordinate the establishment of the working groups and the Review Panels;
• Ensures that the work of each working group proceed smoothly;
• Ensure that deadlines are respected;
• Distribute the harmonization matrix among registered laboratories in GLOSOLAN;
• Collect and compile the information submitted by laboratories through the matrixes and make them anonymous before sending them to the working group;
• Coordinate the SOPs revision and endorsement processes;
• Coordinate the translation of the SOPs in different languages.

GLOSOLAN SOPs will be revised on a regular basis or whenever necessary.

All laboratories registered in GLOSOLAN have the opportunity to contribute to the preparation of the GLOSOLAN SOPs. Not a member yet? See How can I register my laboratory in GLOSOLAN.

GLOSOLAN is harmonizing a large number of methods to analyze soil parameters. It is therefore important to support laboratories in making sound decisions on which method to use and to promote the transition to more sustainable methods.

In order to do so, the following information are provided per each SOP:

• Risk to human health (related to the use of chemicals and the overall implementation of the procedure by staff)
• Environmental risk (related to waste disposal)
• Level of technology required to perform the analysis
• Average duration of the test

Details on the classes associated with the level of risk and technology are presented below:

• Level of risk 
  • Low: the risk related to the use of objects and actions involved in the process is negligible
  • Medium: the process involves a major risk, which could easily be tackled with the right precaution
  • High: the objects and actions involved in the process imply a serious risk. Maximum attention should be paid to
• Level of technology required 
  • Low: The equipment used for the test is quite basic and the necessary consumables are fairly easy to find/handle
  • Medium: the analysis requires specific equipment that can be easily obtained and handled with basic knowledge.
  • High: the analysis can only be conducted using specific equipment that requires specialized staff, and/or consumables that are rather difficult to find.

The sustainability of the methods was discussed at the 4th GLOSOLAN meeting (November 2020) and the classes for the newly-harmonized SOPs are defined on an annual basis.

The use of GLOSOLAN SOPs is encouraged but not compulsory. Countries that cannot implement GLOSOLAN SOPs are kindly invited to develop transfer functions to use when submitting data to the UN or exchange information with other countries.

Volume 2.1 pH

Volume 2.2  Carbon

Volume 2.3 Phosphorus

Volume 2.4 Potassium (soon available)

Volume 2.5 Nitrogen

Volume 2.6 Exchangeable cations and CEC 

Volume 2.7 Extractable microelements

Volume 2.8 Quasi total elements in soil by acid digestion, including heavy metals

Volume 2.9 Gypsum (soon available)

Volume 2.10 Electrical conductivity and total soluble salt content

Volume 2.11 Soluble sulfate and chloride analysis (soon available)

Volume 2.12 Special analysis for peats, mineral and organic soils, agriculture and forest (soon available)