- UK soils store around 10 billion tonnes of carbon and are critical for climate regulation
- New open access database has information from over 30,000 soil samples
- Crucial data now freely available, helping to safeguard future
Cranfield University has launched a new soil and environmental online database and mapping tool, opening up detailed information about land in England and Wales. In collaboration with Defra, Cranfield’s Land Information System (LandISPortal) - which includes the National Soil Map of England and Wales (NATMAP) - is now on a new platform and open access, free and available for everyone to use. The initiative delivers the commitment in the government’s Land Use Framework to make this soils data open access.
Nature Minister, Mary Creagh, said: “Soils are a Cinderella ecosystem but healthy soils are the foundation of our food security, our landscapes and tackling climate change. Opening up Cranfield’s LandISPortal means that farmers, planners, government bodies, researchers and communities now have free access to powerful soils and land data – which will protect our soils for the future.”
Definitive source of soils information
LandISPortal contains soil and soil-related information for England and Wales. It is one of the largest systems of its kind in Europe and is recognised as the definitive source of national soils information in the UK. It has information from over 30,000 soil samples and over 250,000 soil observations and contains data on water catchment areas, subsidence and tree conditions information.
Information from the system has been used for sustainable agriculture development, to examine the long-term impacts of landfill waste sites, and for studying soil erosion. LandISPortal data is used by water companies, government bodies, universities, planners and consultants.
Data is crucial to protecting soil
Soil is a vital natural asset that is under significant pressure from erosion, compaction, loss of organic matter and contamination. In the government’s 25 Year Environment Plan there are ambitions to reverse soil degradation and restore fertility, and to develop better information on soil health.
Cranfield University has been collecting data on soil since the 1970s and has world-leading research expertise in soil quality, crop growth, environmental informatics and ecosystems in the Cranfield Environment Centre.
“Soil is a key element of our natural capital and it is something that can’t be replaced. I can’t emphasise enough how vital soil health and sustainable management of our soils is to food security, our environment, our health and our way of life,” said Ron Corstanje, Professor of Environmental Data Science and Head of Cranfield Environment Centre.
“Opening up access to this data will help monitor soil health and the wider ecosystems at both local and national levels – this is crucial to protecting and safeguarding our future.”
Professor Dame Karen Holford DBE FREng, Chief Executive and Vice-Chancellor of Cranfield University added: “By making decades of soil and environmental data available to everyone, we’re helping support better decision-making, more sustainable land use and a healthier environment for future generations. It is great to see the knowledge we generate at Cranfield being made more accessible to everyone.”
