National Soils Inventory - NSI
NSI Topsoil Information - NSI Topsoil
The National Soil Inventory (NSI) topsoil data is a spatial, point dataset with 6,127 points, located in a 5km grid across England and Wales. The NSI Topsoil data are available for two time periods, 1983 and 1995.
NSI topsoil contains a comprehensive record of many of the important elemental abundances in the soils of the UK. See below for a complete list.
This dataset can be used to highlight areas of element abundance, and the links between these and some soil properties. It also provides a pH reading of the soil at that point, which can be used to plot the areas more suitable for the growth of acidic soil loving plants.
Amongst other projects, NSI topsoil data has been used as the basis of soil quality indicators employed by DETR/EPSIM, the Environment Agency, the Countryside Agency and certain local authorities.
How much does this product cost?
- £1,200 for each individual property across England and Wales;
- £30 per point, all data for that point (discounted for more than 50 points);
- £12,300 for the whole dataset.
For detailed pricing information, use our Quotation Advisor utility.
NSI Topsoil (1983 values) data and description
The table below describes the various properties within this data product. Each point contains the information outlined below.
| Property | Example from data | Description |
|---|---|---|
| EAST_NSI | 466000 | National Grid reference easting at 5km resolution with 1km offset from true grid |
| NORTH_NSI | 316000 | National Grid reference northing at 5km resolution with 1km offset from true grid |
| PH | 6.4 | pH of soil measure after shaking 10ml of soil for 15 minutes with 25ml of water |
| CARBON | 1.6 | Organic Carbon (% by wt) measured either by loss-on-ignition for soils estimated to contain more than about 20% organic carbon or by dichromate digestion. |
| AL_ACID | 16836 | Total Aluminium concentration (mg/kg) determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectrometry (ICP) in an aqua regia digest |
| AS_ACID | 4 | Total Arsenic concentration (mg/kg) determined by Hydride Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS), extracted into hydrochloric acid after digestion with nitric acid and ashing with magnesium nitrate |
| BA_ACID | 89 | Total Barium concentration (mg/kg) determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectrometry (ICP) in an aqua regia digest |
| CA_ACID | 2541 | Total Calcium concentration (mg/kg) determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectrometry (ICP) in an aqua regia digest |
| CD_ACID | 0.6 | Total Cadmium concentration (mg/kg) determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectrometry (ICP) in an aqua regia digest |
| CD_EDTA | 0.2 | Extractable Cadmium concentration (mg/l) determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectrometry (ICP) after shaking 10ml of soil with 50ml of 0.05M EDTA at pH 7.0 for 1h at 20 deg. C and then filtering |
| CO_ACID | 6.2 | Total Cobalt concentration (mg/kg) determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectrometry (ICP) in an aqua regia digest |
| CO_EDTA | 0.3 | Extractable Cobalt concentration (mg/l) determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectrometry (ICP) after shaking 10ml of soil with 50ml of 0.05M EDTA at pH 7.0 for 1h at 20 deg. C and then filtering |
| CR_ACID | 27.3 | Total Chromium concentration (mg/kg) determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectrometry (ICP) in an aqua regia digest |
| CU_ACID | 20.3 | Total Copper concentration (mg/kg) determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectrometry (ICP) in an aqua regia digest |
| CU_EDTA | 8.3 | Extractable Copper concentration (mg/l) determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectrometry (ICP) after shaking 10ml of soil with 50ml of 0.05M EDTA at pH 7.0 for 1h at 20 deg. C and then filtering |
| F_ACID | 44.46 | Flouride extracted with 1mol / l sulphuric acid and determined by Ion Selective Electrode (ISE) |
| FE_ACID | 31096 | Total Iron concentration (mg/kg) determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectrometry (ICP) in an aqua regia digest |
| HG_ACID | Total Mercury concentration (mg/kg) determined by Hydride Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS), digested in a nitric/sulphuric acid mixture | |
| K_ACID | 2210 | Total Potassium concentration (mg/kg) determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectrometry (ICP) in an aqua regia digest |
| K_NITRATE | 101 | Extractable Potassium concentration (mg/l) determined by shaking 10ml of air dry soil with 50ml of 1.0M ammonium nitrate for 30mins, filtering and then measuring the concentration by flame photometry |
| MG_ACID | 1703 | Total Magnesium concentration (mg/kg) determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectrometry (ICP) in an aqua regia digest |
| MG_NITRATE | 55 | Extractable Magnesium concentration (mg/l) determined by shaking 10ml of air dry soil with 50ml of 1.0M ammonium nitrate for 30mins, filtering and then measuring the concentration by flame photometry |
| MN_ACID | 297 | Total Manganese concentration (mg/kg) determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectrometry (ICP) in an aqua regia digest |
| MN_EDTA | 27 | Extractable Manganese concentration (mg/l) determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectrometry (ICP) after shaking 10ml of soil with 50ml of 0.05M EDTA at pH 7.0 for 1h at 20 deg. C and then filtering |
| MO_ACID | 0.67 | Total Molybdenum concentration (mg/kg) determined by Atomic Adsorption Spectrometyr (AAS) in an aqua regia digest |
| NA_ACID | 147 | Total Sodium concentration (mg/kg) determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectrometry (ICP) in an aqua regia digest |
| NI_ACID | 18.9 | Total Nickel concentration (mg/kg) determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectrometry (ICP) in an aqua regia digest |
| NI_EDTA | 1 | Extractable Nickel concentration (mg/l) determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectrometry (ICP) after shaking 10ml of soil with 50ml of 0.05M EDTA at pH 7.0 for 1h at 20 deg. C and then filtering |
| P_ACID | 885 | Total Phosphorus concentration (mg/kg) determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectrometry (ICP) in an aqua regia digest |
| P_OLSON | 15 | Extractable Phosphorus concentration (mg/l) determined by shaking 5ml of air dry soil with 100ml of 0.5M sodium bicarbonate for 30mins at 20 deg.C, filtering and then measuring the absorbance at 880 nm colorimetrically with acid ammonium molybdate solution |
| PB_ACID | 36 | Total Lead concentration (mg/kg) determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectrometry (ICP) in an aqua regia digest |
| PB_EDTA | 13.8 | Extractable Lead concentration (mg/l) determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectrometry (ICP) after shaking 10ml of soil with 50ml of 0.05M EDTA at pH 7.0 for 1h at 20 deg. C and then filtering |
| SE_ACID | 0.24 | Total Selenium concentration (mg/kg) determined by Hydride Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS), extracted into hydrochloric acid after digestion with nitric acid and ashing with magnesium nitrate |
| SR_ACID | 25 | Total Strontium concentration (mg/kg) determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectrometry (ICP) in an aqua regia digest |
| V_ACID | 38.34 | Total Vanadium concentration (mg/kg) determined by Atomic Adsorption Spectrometyr (AAS) in an aqua regia digest |
| ZN_ACID | 72 | Total Zinc concentration (mg/kg) determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectrometry (ICP) in an aqua regia digest |
| ZN_EDTA | 3.1 | Extractable Zinc concentration (mg/l) determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectrometry (ICP) after shaking 10ml of soil with 50ml of 0.05M EDTA at pH 7.0 for 1h at 20 deg. C and then filtering |
NSI Topsoil (1995 values) data and description
The National Soil Inventory (NSI) topsoil data was partially resampled (about a third of the points)in the mid 1990s. These points match with the original survey, and are located on the same 5km grid across England and Wales.
NSI topsoil contains a comprehensive record of many of the important elemental abundances in the soils of the UK. See below for a complete list.
This dataset can be used to highlight areas of element abundance, and the links between these and some soil properties. It also provides a pH reading of the soil at that point, which can be used to plot the areas more suitable for the growth of acidic soil loving plants.
Amongst other projects, NSI topsoil data has been used to set the standards outlined in the DEFRA Sludge to Land report.
How much does this product cost?
- Prices are available upon request - there is no-standard data product for NSI Topsoil 95
NSI Topsoil (1995 values) data and description
The table above, in NSI topsoil (1983 values), describes the various properties within this data product. Each point contains the information as outlined. For clarity, the two datasets are identical.
