A map from the Government Digital Service shows the risk of water erosion on bare soil under intense rainfall. It primarily covers cultivated land in Scotland, classifying soils with mineral topsoils and organic (peaty) surfaces separately into High, Moderate, and Low risk classes. Each main class is further subdivided to indicate higher risk due to factors like steeper slopes or coarser soil textures.
Use Cases
- Prioritizing land conservation efforts based on the High, Moderate, and Low erosion risk classes.
- Modeling agricultural runoff potential based on soil texture and slope factors described.
- Assessing regional soil health by comparing risk classifications for mineral versus organic topsoils.
- Informing land-use policy by identifying areas with the highest erosion risk (e.g., H1-3 classes).
Strengths
- Provides a detailed classification scheme with 3 main risk classes and multiple subclasses for nuanced analysis.
- Distinguishes between soils with mineral topsoils and organic (peaty) surface layers for targeted assessment.
Limitations
- Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
- Row count and file formats are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
- The map is described as having partial cover, indicating incomplete geographic coverage.
Provenance
- Source
- Government Digital Service
- Collection Method
- Likely derived from soil surveys and topographic analysis.
- Time Range
- null
- Freshness
- Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.
- Geography
- Primarily covers cultivated land in Scotland.