The Soil
History of soil classification.
Soil formation factors.
Parent materials, climate, topography, organisms (plants and living organisms), time, with particular reference to Sardinia.
Master soil horizons and layers: use of capital letters, suffis symbols. Munsell soil color charts. Texture and structure.
Soil Classification.
USDA Soil Taxonomy: criteria, hierarchical categories, diagnostic horizons.
World Reference Base for Soil Resources. criteria, reference soil groups and second level units. Soil classification in Sardinia.
Soil water balance.
General principles and methods of calculation. Soil moisture and soil temperature regimes in Sardinia. Use of water soil balance for irrigation practices
Soil profile description.
Information on the site sampled (location, elevation, parent material, drainage, evidence of erosion, surface stones and rock outcrop, etc.)
Description of soil horizons (symbol, colour, mottling, texture, structure, cutans, pores, etc.).
Elements of cartography.
IGM maps basic elements. Aerial images, orthophotos and stereophotos. GPS uses in land survey. Soil Maps in Sardinia.

Land Evaluation
The definition of land.
Methods of land evaluation.
Agricultural Land Evaluation, hierarchical levels and modifications for use in Sardinia.
Land Suitability FAO, hierarchical levels
Irrigation Land Suitability, hierarchical levels and Piano Acque Sardegna
Land Evaluation for improved grazing and Vocazione colturale specifica for agricultural crops and forestal uses in Sardinia
Desertification risks
Land degradation causes. Methods for desertification evaluate risk.
Land evaluation, land-use planning and resource inventories
Use of parametric models in land evaluation. Computer processing data for land evaluation.