Many areas of the world including Iran lack completed or updated soil survey. There is an increasing need for the collection and interpretation of soil information in ecological and environmental assessment. Air photos are being used in both digital soil mapping and traditional soil survey. Soil surveyors require detailed air photos to prepare geomorphic map with physiographic approach. Since our access to update air photos is limited and soils of large areas in Iran have not yet been mapped, it is necessary to find an appropriate substitute for air photos. The objectives of this investigation were to evaluate the capability of Google Earth (GE) images to create a geomorphology map and differentiate variability of soil 0.01) in mean values for all surface soil properties in soil mapping units. R- square showed that map units accounted for more than 50% of the total variance for some surface soil properties including, gravel, gypsum, SAR, carbonates, EC e , organic matter and sand (except pH, silt, clay and soluble potassium). Free and easily accessible Google Earth images with high spatial resolution could reasonably well present the reality of soil variability and these images are useful for soil survey. In conclusion, medium to small scale soil maps at subgroup level (ST system) could be prepared with relatively low cost and time by interpreting Google Earth images.
