Soil maps
To view a wide range of soil and land capability maps online please visit Scotland’s Soils website or the National Library of Scotland where you can view a selection of the published 1:63,360 (1 inch to the mile) scale maps. A number of soil datasets can be downloaded from our website including:
- 1:25,000 Soil Map (partial cover)
- 1:250,000 National Soil Map
- National Soils Inventory for Scotland
- Soil Thematic Maps
- Land Capability Maps
Soil maps
Soil maps display the distribution of different soil types across the land based on what you can see in the field. The amount of detail shown on a map depends on its scale. For example, smaller scale maps (e.g. 1:250,000) will show less detail than larger scale maps (e.g. 1:25,000). Below you can access the data from two small-scale national maps – the 1:250,000 National Soil Map of Scotland and Scotland’s soils classified according to the World Reference Base (WRB). More detailed 1:25,000 maps are also available for much of Scotland’s cultivated agricultural soils and the adjacent uplands and only provide partial cover of Scotland. The data is made available under a licence that freely grants non-commercial use and is available from here. If you wish to include our data in a product that you intend to sell then please contact us. Our email contact is at Soil Survey Scotland.
| Data set | Shape file | Associated data | Metadata |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soil Map (partial cover) Version 10. Released 27th July 2022. The dataset should be cited as: Soil Survey of Scotland Staff (1970-1987). Soil maps of Scotland (partial coverage). Digital version 10 release. James Hutton Institute, Aberdeen. DOI 10.5281/zenodo. 6908156. | zipped shapefile | Metadata | |
| 1:250,000 Soil Map (National Soil Map) Version 1.3/1.4 The dataset should be cited as: Soil Survey of Scotland Staff (1981). Soil maps of Scotland at a scale of 1:250 000. Macaulay Institute for Soil Research, Aberdeen. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4646891. SSKIB should be cited as: Soil Survey of Scotland Staff (2018). Scottish Soils Knowledge and Information Base (SSKIB). Version 1.1. 10.5281/zenodo.5566700. | zipped shapefile | Soil map unit proportions.xls SSKIB.xlsx | Metadata |
| World Reference Base (WRB) Map | zipped shapefile | Metadata |
National Soils Inventory for Scotland – Point data
The National Soil Inventory of Scotland (NSIS 1978-88) dataset was collected at sampling points arranged on a 10 km grid across the country. Each sampling point is described and a wide range of soil properties are measured and analysed. These range from contextual information describing the surrounding landscape (such as slope and vegetation), down to detailed chemical analyses of each horizon within the soil profile. There are 721 sites in total. This dataset should be cited as: ‘Lilly, A., Bell, J.S., Hudson, G., Nolan, A.J. & Towers. W. (Compilers) (2010). National soil inventory of Scotland (NSIS_1); site location, sampling and profile description protocols. (1978-1988). Technical Bulletin. Macaulay Institute, Aberdeen. DOI:10.5281/zenodo.4650230.
| Data set | Shape file | Metadata |
|---|---|---|
| National Soils Inventory for Scotland (NSIS1) | zipped shapefile | Included in download |
| Parent material | zipped shapefile | Included in download |
| Topsoil lead concentration | zipped shapefile | Included in download |
| Topsoil zinc concentration | zipped shapefile | Included in download |
Thematic Maps and Capability maps
Thematic maps show the distribution of a specific soil property or theme, such as topsoil organic carbon content or soil texture.
Capability maps use soil data along with information on other properties, such as climate or landscape, to classify the land for a specific purpose such as the Land Capability for Agriculture Classification (LCA) – an assessment of the capacity of land to produce food. We strongly recommend that the 1:50,000 Land Capability for Agriculture is used in preference to 1:250,000. Where it exists (predominantly in the agricultural lowlands of the south and east of the country) the 1:50,000 scale map information is seen as the definitive mapped assessment. For a more site-specific query or to resolve a planning issue, we recommend that a further and very detailed site inspection is carried out. A scan of the printed handbook “Land Capability Classification for Agriculture” (Bibby, J. S., Douglas, H. A., Thomasson, A. J., Robertson, J. S. (1991). Land Capability for Agriculture, Aberdeen: Macaulay Land Use Research Institute) may be downloaded by clicking here.
| Data set | Shape file | Metadata |
|---|---|---|
| Topsoil Organic Carbon Content (TOC) Map | zipped shapefile | Metadata |
| Topsoil pH Map (median) | zipped shapefile | Included in download |
| Available Water Capacity (AWC) (2019 version) (Note: This dataset differs significantly to the version published in 2012. The difference results from the use of different regression equations to predict available water capacities (Hollis et al.) and bulk densities. In addition, the data values shown are weighted averages by polygon rather than the AWC of the dominant soil type in the polygon) | zipped shapefile | Metadata |
| Available Water Capacity (AWC) (2012 version) | zipped shapefile | Included in download |
| NVZ Soil Texture | zipped shapefile | Metadata |
| National Soil Texture | zipped shapefile | |
| Peatland (filtered from 1:250,000 soils data for SRDP) | zipped shapefile | Included in download |
| Land Capability for Agriculture national cover (1:250,000) The dataset should be cited as: Soil Survey of Scotland Staff (1981). Land Capability for Agriculture maps of Scotland at a scale of 1:250 000. Macaulay Institute for Soil Research, Aberdeen. 10.5281/zenodo.6322683 Where it exists (predominantly in the agricultural lowlands of the south and east of the country) the 1:50,000 scale map information is seen as the definitive mapped assessment. | zipped shapefile | Metadata |
| Land Capability for Agriculture partial cover (1:50,000) The dataset should be cited as: Soil Survey of Scotland Staff (1984-87). Land Capability for Agriculture maps of Scotland at a scale of 1:50 000. Macaulay Institute for Soil Research, Aberdeen. 10.5281/zenodo.6322760 | zipped shapefile | Metadata |
| Land Capability for Forestry national cover (1:250,000) The dataset should be cited as: Soil Survey of Scotland Staff. (1988). Land Capability for Forestry of Scotland at a scale of 1:250 000. Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, Aberdeen. 10.5281/zenodo.6322608 | zipped shapefile | Metadata |
| Soil Phosphorus Sorption Capacity | zipped shapefile | Included in download |
Risk Maps
The Risk maps show a series of simple indicators of the role of soils in determining risks to water quality. These indicators include the risk of soil erosion, leaching from soils, runoff and both the risk of topsoil and subsoil compaction occuring.
| Data set | Shape file | Metadata |
|---|---|---|
| Map of topsoil compaction risk (partial cover) | zipped shapefile | Metadata |
| Map of subsoil compaction risk (partial cover) | zipped shapefile | Metadata |
| Map of runoff risk (partial cover) | zipped shapefile | Metadata |
| Map of soil leaching potential (partial cover) | zipped shapefile | Metadata |
| Map of soil erosion risk (partial cover) (updated with look up table 8th Oct ’18) | zipped TIFF and LUT | Metadata |
