Lack of spatial soil data in digital form has been a primary obstacle in establishing European policies on land use and environmental protection. Abundant data on soil characteristics exist in Finland but have been scattered among various sources, making it difficult for authorities to make country-wide presentations and predictions.The objective of the project was to create georeferenced soil map and database according to the instructions of the European Soil Bureau using data from existing databases and collecting some new data. The basis of the work was a geological map of quaternary deposits, which describes the soil at a depth of 1 metrem (parent material) according to the Finnish classification based on the concentration of organic matter and the texture of mineral material. Primary research topics included generalization methodology of soil polygons with GIS technology, calculation of soil characteristics needed in the database and computerizing the existing non-digital soil information. It was proved that aerial geophysics can be used for separation of shallow peats from deep peat soils and muddy soils and other wet areas can be identified. Soil names according to the FAO/Unesco system and the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB-2014) were derived from the soil names of the Finnish soil classification system and geophysical data. Soilscape (Soil Mapping Units) of Finland with WRB-2014 soil classification, intented to be used in European scale e.g to delineate risk areas mentioned in soil framework directive proposal.

The Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) has carried out systematic aerogeophysical low-altitude surveys during the period 1972-2007. The flight altitude (main terrain clearance) has been 30-40 m with a nominal flight line spacing of 200 m. The standard flight lines chosen run North-South and East-West and follow the main geological trends. The distance between the measuring points along the survey lines has been 6-50 m. The geophysical parameters measured include Earth's magnetic field, the electromagnetic field and natural gamma radiation. Magnetic measurements determine the Earth's magnetic field strength (magnetic flux density), and the parameter obtained is the total magnetic intensity. The measurements have been made with one to three proton magnetometers until 1991 and thereafter with one or two cesium magnetometers. Most of the land area has been flown using two magnetometers.

Grid net for statistics 1 km x 1 km covers whole of Finland. The grid net includes all grid cells in Finland. The location reference of a grid cell is the coordinates of the bottom left corner of each grid cell. An identifier in accordance with national conventions (consecutive numbering) has also been produced for each grid cell. The Grid net for statistics 1 km x 1 km is the area division used in the production of statistics by 1 km x 1 km grid cells. For utilizing grid data auxiliary table of regional classifications are available: https://www.stat.fi/org/avoindata/paikkatietoaineistot/tilastoruudukko_1km_en.html. The general Terms of Use must be observed when using the data: https://tilastokeskus.fi/org/lainsaadanto/copyright_en.html. In addition to the national version, an INSPIRE information product is also available from the data.

The GTK’s Mineral Deposit database contains all mineral deposits, occurrences and prospects in Finland. Structure of the new database was created in 2012 and it is based on global geostan-dards (GeoSciML and EarthResourceML) and classifications related to them. The database is in Oracle, data products are extracted from the primary database. During 2013 GTK’s separate mineral deposit databases (Au, Zn, Ni, PGE, U, Cu, Industrial minerals, FODD, old ore deposit database) were combined into a single entity. New database contains extensive amount of information about mineral occurrence feature along with its associated commodities, exploration activities, holding history, mineral resource and re-serve estimates, mining activity, production and geology (genetic type, host and wall rocks, min-erals, metamorphism, alteration, age, texture, structure etc.) Database will be updated whenever new data (e.g. resource estimate) is available or new deposit is found. Entries contain references to all published literature and other primary sources of data. Also figures (maps, cross sections, photographs etc.) can be linked to mineral deposit data. Data is based on all public information on the deposits available including published literature, archive reports, press releases, companies’ web pages, and interviews of exploration geologists. Database contains 33 linked tables with 216 data fields. Detailed description of the tables and fields can be found in separate document. (http://tupa/metaviite/MDD_FieldDescription.pdf) The data products extracted from the database are available on Mineral Deposits and Exploration map service (http://gtkdata.gtk.fi/MDaE/index.html) and from Hakku -service (http://hakku.gtk.fi).

Number of population by 1 km x 1 km grids. The number of population on the last day of the reference year (31 December) by age group. Data includes only inhabited grids. The statistical variables of the data are: Total population (vaesto), number of men (miehet) and women (naiset), under 15 year olds (ika_0_14), 15-64 year olds (ika_15_64), and aged over 65 (ika_65_). Only the number of population is reported for grids of under 10 inhabitants. A grid identifier is expressed using a national identification code derived from the coordinates (idD_nro (num)) and INSPIRE's standard identification code (grd_id (char)). The data also contains the coordinates of the lower left-hand corner of a grid (xkoord, ykoord (num)). The data describes the population distribution independent of administrative areas (such as municipal borders). The data is suitable for examination of population distribution and making various spatial analysis. Data is available as polygons and as centroids of grid cells. The general Terms of Use must be observed when using the data: https://tilastokeskus.fi/org/lainsaadanto/copyright_en.html. In addition to the national version, an INSPIRE information product is also available from the data.

Bedrock of Finland 1:200 000 is a unified bedrock map dataset covering the whole Finland. It has been compiled by generalising the scale-free bedrock map feature dataset. The dataset consists of a lithological/stratigraphic geological unit polygon layer and linear layers, in which faults, diverse overprinting lines and dykes are represented. The dataset also includes an origin of the data and a quality estimation of the data polygon layers. The stratigraphic geological unit polygon layer includes lithological coding, geological time period and hierarchical lithostratigraphical or lithodemic classification as attributes in accordance with the Finnish database for stratigrafic geological units (Finstrati). The line layers have their own hierarchical classification. The data are at 1:200 000 scale, which indicates that the main part of the scale-free data have been generalised to correspond to a product at a scale of 1:200 000. Those areas where the source data is coarser than 1:200 000 have not been generalised. Coordinate reference system of the dataset was transformed in March 2013. The transformation from Finnish National Grid Coordinate System (Kartastokoordinaattijärjestelmä, KKJ) Uniform Coordinate Frame to ETRS-TM35FIN projection was done by using the three-dimensional transformation in accordance with the recommendations for the public administration JHS154.