A global data set of soil types is available at 1-degree latitude by 1-degree longitude resolution. There are 26 soil units based on Zobler s assessment of FAO Soil Units (Zobler, 1986). The data set was compiled as part of an effort to improve modeling of the hydrologic cycle portion of global climate models. A more extensive version of these data, including 106 soil units as well as soil texture and slope, is available from NCAR, Scientific Computing Division, Data Support Section; the more extensive data set is entitled "Staub and Rosenweig's GISS Soil & Sfc Slope, 1-Deg" [http://www.dss.ucar.edu/datasets/ds770.0/]. A help file prepared by Matthews and Fung (1987) (soil1x1.help) is provided as a companion file. Image of 26 soil types available at 1-degree by 1-degree resolution. Additional documentation from Zobler s assessment of FAO soil units is available from the NASA Center for Scientific Information