Soil and Land Management Survey of 1800 Thames Catchment Locations

Soil near-surface properties, vegetation observations, and land management data were collected for 1836 location points across 164 fields in the Thames catchment, UK. The dataset represents four land use classes and five soil/geology classes, sampled once between 2018 and 2021. It includes quantitative soil measurements, vegetation height, qualitative soil tests, and extensive contextual land management questionnaire responses.

Use Cases

• Model the impact of land use classes and tillage practices on soil dry bulk density and organic matter content.
• Analyze relationships between soil texture classification, aggregate stability test results, and observed surface water conditions.
• Predict Visual Evaluation of Soil Structure (VESS) scores using particle size distribution and land management variables like crop rotation.
• Associate vegetation type and maximum height measurements with land management factors such as grazing weeks per year and stocking density.
• Correlate soil surface condition observations (e.g., slaked, capped) with field slope gradient and historical flooding data.

Strengths

• Covers 1836 sampling locations across 164 fields, providing a substantial spatial sample.
• Systematically represents 20 combinations of four land use classes and five soil/geology classes.
• Includes both quantitative measurements (e.g., volumetric water content) and extensive qualitative observations and questionnaire data.

Limitations

• Single sampling event between 2018-2021, lacking temporal depth or repeated measures for change analysis.
• Focus is restricted to the Thames catchment in the UK, limiting geographic generalizability.
• Relies on land owner/manager questionnaire responses for contextual data, which may introduce self-reporting bias.

Provenance

Source

Environmental Information Data Centre, collected for the 'Landwise' project's Broad-scale field survey.

Collection Method

Field and laboratory measurements at sampled points, supplemented by land owner/manager questionnaires.

Time Range

2018-2021

Freshness

Data collection concluded in 2021; metadata updated March 2026.

Geography

Thames catchment, United Kingdom (counties include Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire).