Hydrologic Soil Groups of New South Wales, Australia

A 2021 map layer estimates Hydrologic Soil Groups across New South Wales, Australia, using a four-class system (A-D). It was produced by the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment by linking soil types to hydrologic classes based on the U.S. National Engineering Handbook system. The data can be viewed via online spatial viewers like eSPADE and SEED Map.

Use Cases

• Model surface water runoff potential based on soil infiltration rates.
• Assess flood risk for land development based on soil water transmission characteristics.
• Plan agricultural irrigation and drainage systems based on soil hydrologic groups.
• Inform urban planning and stormwater management strategies using soil permeability estimates.

Strengths

• Based on the established four-class Hydrologic Soil Group system (A-D) from the U.S. National Engineering Handbook.
• Derived from the best available soils mapping coverage for NSW and links soil types to hydrologic classes.
• Available in multiple geospatial formats (KML, WMS, ESRI REST) and through interactive online viewers.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment

Collection Method

Derived from a lookup table system linking Hydrologic Group classes to soil types using the Great Soil Group classification.

Time Range

Version 4.5 published in 2021.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-12 23:39:19.077285; freshness should be verified.

Geography

New South Wales, Australia