Research Team

Case Study Area

Model Evaluation Work

Related Publications

Research Team

The Jordanian case study is being run by the Jordan Badia Research and Development Centre (BRDC).  The Principal Investigator for the case study is Dr Zahir Rawajfih. Mr Mohammed Shahbaz (The BDRP Director) is the financial co-ordinator and Dr Rida Al-Adamat (shown in photo) the project post-doctoral research fellow.  Dr Rawajfih is based at Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Mr Shahbaz at The BRDP head quarters in Amman and Dr Al-Adamat at Safawi Centre, Mafraq.

Case Study Area

The case study encompasses the entire area of The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, which covers 89,206 km² and has a population of ~ 6.3 million most of which (90%) are concentrated around the Jordan Valley (Times Atlas 2003). 

TERRAIN    Jordan is home to one of the lowest points on earth, with alititude at The Dead Sea being -392 m. The highest point in Jordan is 1754 m (Jabal Rum) in the south. The country can be divided into six areas 1) The rift (Wadi al Araba, Dead Sea and Jordan Valley); 2) Mountain Ridge and Northern Highlands east of the Rift; 3) Southern Mountainous Desert; 4) Central Plateau; 5) Azraq - Wadi Sirhan Depression; 6)The North-eastern desert, which includes the Basalt Plateau (Sunna 1984)

CLIMATE    Although Jordan is a small country it covers a range of climates from sub-humid (annual rainfall ~ 600 mm) to hyper-arid (annual rainfall < 50 mm). Sub-humid regions are found mainly in the northwest of the country and hyper-arid in the east. Most of the country (80% of the total land area) has annual rainfall < 200 mm and is therefore classed as desert (or Badia).

GEOLOGY    Geology in Jordan includes basalt, sandstone, limestone, chalk, marl and chert and various Pleistocene and Holocene deposits of alluvial and aeolian origin (Bender 1964-1974).

SOILS   The major soil orders in Jordan are Inceptisols, Vertisols, Aridisols and Entisols

Model Evaluation Work

Long-term experimental data sets which have measured SOC are lacking in Jordan. Therefore, a different approach has had to be taken in order to evaluate the two SOM models for Jordanian conditions. This has involved using data from neighbouring countries with similar soil types and climatic conditions. 

Al-Adamat, R., Rawajfih, Z., Easter, M., Paustian, K., Coleman, K., Milne, E., Falloon, P., Powlson, D.S., Batjes, N.H., 2007. ‘Predicted soil organic carbon stocks and changes in Jordan between 2000 and 2030 made using the GEFSOC Modelling System’. In: Milne, E., Powlson, D.S., Cerri, C.E.P. (Eds.), Soil carbon stocks at regional scales. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ., (available on-line).

Rawajfih, Z., Khresat, S.A., Buck, B. and Moger, H.C. 2002. Management of arid soils of the Badia region of Northeastern Jordan for sustainable agriculture. In: Proceedings of the 17th World Congress of Soil Science, Bangkok (CD-ROM)

Khresat, S.A., Z. Rawajfih, and M. Mohammad. 1998a. Morphological, physical and chemical properties of selected soils in the arid and semi-arid region in north-western Jordan. Journal of Arid Environments 40:15-25.

Khresat, S.A., Z. Rawajfih, and M. Mohammad. 1998b. Land degradation in north-western Jordan: causes and processes. Journal of Arid Environments 39:623-629.