Soil Site Reporter

National Soil Map of England and Wales - NATMAP

NATMAP Vector

National Soil Map - Vector Data Version

NATMAP Vector is the principle soil data product held at Cranfield University. It is a 1:250,000 scale map of England and Wales, showing the locations of the 297 distinct soil associations wherever they occur within the countries. Within each of the soil associations are multiple soil series. This hierarchical data structure allows for easy integration with the the series-based, non-spatial SOILSERIES data, pulling this tabular data also in the the spatial framework.

Key Facts and Statistics about NATMAP vector

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NATMAP Vector data and description

The table below describes the various properties within this data product. Each polygon contains the information outlined below.

Property Example from data Description
LANDIS_NAT 1266991.75 Area of Polygon in square metres
PERIMETER 4785.984 Perimeter of Polygon
NATMAP_ 4 NATMAP ID number for Shapefile purposes
NATMAP_ID 3 NATMAP ID number for Shapefile purposes
MAP_SYMBOL 541r Map Symbol displayed on the map - combination of the unsurveyed flag with the map unit
MAP_UNIT 0541r National Soil Map Unit, Regional Bulletins and National Soil Map Legend.
UNSURVEYED Unsurveyed if the area is urban, and the map unit has been derived external sources and expert udgement
SHAPE 2 Feature ID code which links with the spatial description of the data within a geodatabase

Additional NATMAP Datasets

The following two tables are provided FREE on leasing NATMAP Vector.

NATMAP Legend data (*FREE with NATMAP vector)

Property Example from data Description
MAP_UNIT 0311a National Soil Map Unit, Regional Bulletins and National Soil Map Legend
MAP_UNIT_NAME REVIDGE Soil association name, named after the dominant soil series of which the association is comprised
SIMPLE_DESCRIPTION shallow peat over sandstone A simplified description of the soil association
SITE_GEOLOGY Palaeozoic gritstone and sandstone The geological parent material on which soil associations commonly occur
DOMINANT_SOIL Very shallow very acid peaty upland soils over rock. Text description of dominant soil type in soil association
ASSOCIATED_SOIL Some thick peat. Soil characteristics of associated soil
SITE_CHARACTERISTICS Steep craggy ground with extensive bare rock and scree. Text description of site characteristics of a soil association
CROP_LANDUSE Stock rearing on wet moorland habitats of poor grazing value in the uplands. recreation Text description of cropping and land use practices associated with a soil association
RED 245 RGB value for colour display (RED)
GREEN 238 RGB value for colour display (GREEN)
BLUE 126 RGB value for colour display (BLUE)



NATMAP associations data (*FREE with NATMAP vector)

Property Example from data Description
MAP_UNIT 1024c National Soil Map Unit, Regional Bulletins and National Soil Map Legend
DOMINANCE 4 Position of dominance of this soil series within this soil association (Map Unit)
SERIES 2273 Soil series code
SERIES_NAME WITTERING Soil series name
SERIES_PC 10 Percentage of this soil series in the soil association (Map Unit)



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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