LAND CLASSIFICATION/SOIL SURVEY

A CENTER FOR LAND AND SOIL RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT WILL BE ESTABLISHED WITHIN THE DIRECTORATE OF SOILS. THE CENTER WILL CONSIST OF A REMOTE SENSING ANALYSIS/INTERPRETATION UNIT, A SOILS ANALYSIS LABORATORY, AND A CARTOGRAPHIC AND MAP PUBLICATION SECTION. A COMPREHENSIVE AND ACCELERATED PROGRAM OF LAND CLASSIFICATION AND SOIL SURVEY WILL ALSO BE DEVELOPED AND IMPLEMENTED. IN ADDITION, THE FOLLOWING LAND/SOIL RESOURCE CLASSIFICATION MAPS WILL BE GENERATED: 1) GENERAL SOILS MAP OF SYRIA AT A SCALE OF 1:500,000; 2) LAND-USE MAP OF SYRIA AT A SCALE OF 1:500,000; 3) A LAND-USE MAP OF SYRIA AT A SCALE OF 1:250,000; 4) GENERAL SOILS MAPS -- FIRST SETTLEMENT ZONES IN ALEPPO AND HASSAKEH MOHAFAZATS AT A SCALE OF 1:100,000; AND 5) SEMI-DETAILED SOIL MAPS OF ALL ARABLE LAND IN THESE AREAS AT A SCALE OF 1:25,000. A LAND/SOILS RESOURCES INFORMATION-DELIVERY SYSTEM WILL BE ESTABLISHED CONSISTING OF BOTH THE DATA AND INFORMATIONAL ELEMENTS, AS WELL AS THE MECHANISM BY WHICH THESE ELEMENTS ARE ASSEMBLED, PROCESSED, STORED, RETRIEVED, AND DISSEMINATED TO THE SYSTEM"S VARIOUS USERS. ON-THE-JOB AND FORMAL TRAINING WILL BE PROVIDED TO GOVT STAFF TO ENABLE THEM TO OPERATE THE CENTER FOR LAND/SOIL RESOURCES AND CARRY OUT OTHER PROJECT ACTIVITIES.