Soil Site Reporter

Auger Bores

Auger Bore Information

Interactive Auger Bore Map

Soil Series Horizon Hydraulic Data
Auger Bore survey card example - version 2

The Soil Survey of England and Wales surveyed many sites during its active years between 1939 and 1987. Much of the legacy of this work can be found electronically in LandIS and also in the original records, publications and maps in the soil survey archive at Cranfield University.

During the National Soil mapping programme a large number of auger borings were taken and a standardised form was devised to capture this information. The field description cards (Ragg User Friendly Forms, or RUFFs) were designed to cater for semi-detailed, detailed and ad hoc surveys.

The RUFF form was updated after the National Map programme and subsequent mapping was carried out using the new form. The ID number of the records indicates which card was used (A1 or A2 respectively).

LandIS contains more than 150,000 auger bores (representing >450,000 horizons) made during various mapping projects.

Instructions for filling in the Auger cards (known as 'RUFFS' cards) are available online here

The information derived from the auger bores was used by soil surveyors in the field to validate their conceptual model of how the soils varied in the landscape during the various mapping projects.

Auger Bore Site Data
Attributes Description
AUGERID Identification code created to uniquely identify auger bores: Ax-SQen/eeennn-yy where x = 1 for auger bores collected as part of the National Map and x=2 for auger bores collected on the revised form. 'yy' is a number added to uniquely identify auger bores collected within 10m of each other

EASTING National Grid reference easting (metres)
NORTHING National Grid reference northing (metres)
SURVEY_DAT Date of auger bore was sampled
SERIES_NAME The name of the soil series, the basic unit of soil taxonomic classification, named after the place where they were first described
VARIANT Code to indicate that the profile is a variation of the defined soil series classification
SUBGROUP Number used to define a subgroup incorporating the major group, group and subgroup i.e.3.11, being the third level of soil taxonomic classification based on features which further define the inherent characteristics of the soil material
LANDUSE Classification of Land use in to 17 classes
SLOPE Slope in degrees
SLOPE_FORM Slope form along the direction of the true slope (concave, straight or convex)
EROSION Classification of surface features formed by erosion of soil material
DEPOSITION Classification of surface features formed by the accumulation of soil material
ROCKTYPE Classification of rock based on recent Geological Survey and other modern publications
Auger Bore Horizon Data
Attributes Description
AUGERID Identification code created to uniquely identify auger bores: Ax-SQen/eeennn-yy where x = 1 for auger bores collected as part of the National Map and x=2 for auger bores collected on the revised form. 'yy' is a number added to uniquely identify auger bores collected within 10m of each other
EASTING National Grid reference easting
NORTHING National Grid reference northing
UPPER_DEPT Horizon upper depth in cm (<0 indicated litter layer)
LOWER_DEPT Horizon lower depth in cm (999 implies depth below bottom of profile)
TEXTURE Horizon Designation - At a basic level A (Topsoil) B (subsoil) C (Parent Material) E (Elluvial) O (Organic)
VON_POST Modified version of the Von Post scale for assessing the degree of decomposition of peat
MATRIX_COL Colour of soil matrix following the Munsell colour notation
MOTTLE_ABU Abundance code for mottles ranging from none to very many
MOTTLE_COL Colour of mottles following the Munsell colour notation
SUB_MOTTLE Abundance code for subsidiary mottles ranging from none to very many
SUB_MOTT_1 Colour of subsidiary mottles following the Munsell colour notation
STONE_ABUN Abundance code for stones
STONE_SIZE Size classification for stones
STONE_TYPE Classification of stone based on recent Geological Survey and other modern publications
CARBONATE Calcium Carbonate level of soil estimated in the field by observing when a few drops of 10 per cent hydrochloric acid are applied
TOP_BOTTOM Indicator of whether an horizon is either the Top (T) or Bottom (B) horizon



About Us

LandIS, or the Land Information System is one of the offerings of the Soil and Agrifood Institute. Incorporating the National Soil Resources Institute, Cranfield Environment Centre (CEC) is the largest UK national and international centre for research and development, consultancy and training in soils and their interaction with the atmosphere, land use, geology and water resources.

Cranfield Environment Centre
Cranfield University
Bullock Building (B53)
Cranfield campus
Cranfield
MK43 0AL
(01234) 752992

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