Identification

Title

Map of subsoil compaction risk (partial cover)

Alternative title(s)

Abstract

The map shows the vulnerability of subsoils to compaction by traffic. It covers most of Scotland’s cultivated agricultural land area. The subsoil compaction risk gives information on the likelihood of the subsoil becoming compacted due to heavy machinery in four classes (Extremely vulnerable, Very vulnerable, Moderately vulnerable or Not particularly vulnerable) based on the soil texture and the amount of water left in the soil after any excess has drained away (known as field capacity).

Resource type

dataset

Resource locator

https://www.hutton.ac.uk/learning/natural-resource-datasets/soilshutton/soils-maps-scotland/download

Unique resource identifier

code

None

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

authority code

code identifying the spatial reference system

urn:ogc:def:crs:EPSG:27700

Additional information source

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

farming

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

soil compaction

soil

compaction

subsoil

Keyword set

keyword value

Soil

originating controlled vocabulary

title

GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2008-06-01

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

-5.31

East bounding longitude

-1.29

North bounding latitude

58.75

South bounding latitude

54.60

Extent

Extent group

authority code

code identifying the extent

Vertical extent information

Minimum value

-100000.00

Maximum value

900719825474.10

Coordinate reference system

authority code

code identifying the coordinate reference system

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

2018-04-19

End position

2018-04-19

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2018-04-19

date type

creation

effective date

2018-04-19

date type

revision

effective date

2018-04-19

Frequency of update

notPlanned

Quality and validity

Lineage

The subsoil compaction risk was determined from the soil texture, bulk density and the number of days in a year that the soil would be at its field capacity (that is, the amount of water left in the soil around 2 days after being saturated by rainfall). Each of the soils in the Soil Map of Scotland (partial cover) dataset was assessed in terms of its soil texture and the predicted dry bulk density of the soil (see Jones et al., 2003). The soil texture and density were then combined to produce a susceptibility to subsoil compaction. As the strength of a soil also depends on its degree of wetness, the susceptibility assessment was combined with the number of days a soil is likely to be at field capacity (taken from Bibby et al., 1982) to give an overall vulnerability value. The vulnerability values were then assigned to one of four classes: Extremely vulnerable, Very vulnerable, Moderately vulnerable or Not particularly vulnerable. Where the soils were described as complexes (that is, more than one soil type is found in the area), the precautionary principle was applied and the soil at most risk of subsoil compaction was used to describe the whole map unit. Bibby, J.S., Douglas, H.A., Thomasson, A.J. and Robertson, J.S. 1982. Land capability classification for agriculture. Soil Survey of Scotland Monograph. The Macaulay Institute for Soil Research. Aberdeen. Jones, R. J. A., Spoor, G. & Thomasson, A. J. 2003. Vulnerability of subsoils in Europe to compaction: a preliminary analysis. Soil and Tillage Research, 73: 131-143.

Conformity

Data format

name of format

Esri shapefile

version of format

10

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

Copyright

Constraint set

Limitations on public access

No limitations on public access

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

contact position

Principal Soil Scientist

organisation name

The James Hutton Institute

full postal address

Craigiebuckler

Aberdeen

email address

soils@hutton.ac.uk

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact

contact position

Principal Soil Scientist

organisation name

The James Hutton Institute

full postal address

Craigiebuckler

Aberdeen

email address

soils@hutton.ac.uk

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata date

2022-03-23

Metadata language

eng