Tectology of soil megasystems: Universal principles of organization and analysis of data

General concepts of tectology—the universal organization science—are discussed. It is shown that some of them can be applied for the formal analysis of visual images of soil systems obtained at different levels of their organization—from photos of thin sections to soil maps—and the corresponding attribute data. The structure of visual and attribute data at the level of thin sections and the methods of their analysis do not differ from those applied upon the analysis of soil cartographic materials. In particular, this concerns the procedures for data classification—the universal tool to analyze empirical data and to generate various hypotheses. These procedures include the methods of multivariate statistics and data convolution, the development of systems of information indices, the development of hierarchical and/or ordinate structures of soil objects, etc. Modern information technologies, including data bases and geographic information systems with solid mathematical support, make it possible to advance the ideas of tectology with the aim to improve the efficiency of theoretical and applied studies in soil science.