Farewell, Timothy S.

Keay, C. A.

Rayner, A. P.

English

Keay, Caroline A.

Rayner, Andrew P.

CERES Research Repository (Cranfield Univ.)

Quarterly Progress Report1st Apr – 30th Jun 2009Report Prepared for the Department forEnvironment, Food and Rural AffairsReport of Activity for LandISSupport1Report of Activity for LandIS SupportFor the Department for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsbyCaroline Keay, Timothy Farewell, Andrew RaynerQuarterly Progress Report1st Apr – 30th Jun 2009DEFRA Contract No. SP0901NSRI Contract No. WN32150NRESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS DOCUMENTPlease contact:Caroline KeayNational Soil Resource Institute, Cranfield UniversityEmail: c.keay@cranfield.ac.ukTel: 01234 750111 ext 2771CHANGE HISTORYVersion Date Summary of change1.0 02/07/2009 First IssueReviewer: Dr Stephen HallettReference to this report should be made as follows:KEAY, C.A.; FAREWELL, T.S.; RAYNER, A.P.; (2009). Report of Activity for LandISSupport for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Quarterly ProgressReport Apr – Jun, 2009, NSRI research report number WN32150N for DEFRA, 15pp.National Soil Resource InstituteCranfield University, Bedford, MK43 0AL, UKTel: 01234 750111 ext 2771E-mail: nsri@cranfield.ac.uk Web: http://www.cranfield.ac.uk/nsri/2Progress with the LandIS Support ContractReporting Period: 1 Apr, 2009 – 30 Jun, 2009Database MaintenanceNo specific maintenance issues have been experienced this period. The new virtual server iscontinuing to provide good service. The service team in the Cranfield University ITcomputing group provides a high standard of maintenance care and support.Soil Site ReportsThe Soil Site Reporter (http://www.landis.org.uk/reports/) continues to be used extensively.In the current period there have been 37 new companies and 215 new users registered.Importantly, and following our recent promotional campaign, this now includes 22 newUniversities who have registered to take advantage of our initiative to provide free soil sitereports as a general educational resource to all UK University Undergraduate students.The following figures illustrate the level of response and use of the reporter to-date (figures1-2):Figure 1 Summary of Soil Site Reporter uptake by user group3Figure 2 Summary of report types served by Soil Site ReporterINSPIRE ComplianceThe paper written for last years INSPIRE Conference in Slovenia, entitled “Moving theNational Soil Database for England and Wales (LandIS) towards INSPIRE Compliance”, hasnow been published.Keay, C.A. & Hallett, S.H. & Farewell, T.S. & Rayner, A.P. & Jones, R.J.A. (2009) "Movingthe National Soil Database for England and Wales (LandIS) towards INSPIRE Compliance",International Journal Of Spatial Data Infrastructures Research, 134-155.The paper can be accessed at http://ijsdir.jrc.ec.europa.eu/.4Soils Site Reporter UpgradeWork is underway for the second version of the popular soils site reporter. Key additions willinclude clearer mapping as well as user-specified mapping extents. This will be achieved byallowing users to uploading GIS shapefiles, or to draw areas of interest directly on-screen ona map (see figure 3). Both these additions are in response to user requests.Site reporter version 2.0 is due to be released in January 2010.Figure 3 Sample of user-specified mapping extents in the Soil Site Reporter4New WebsiteA new look LandIS website has now been launched (http://www.landis.org.uk). This nowprovides a more contemporary, standards-compliant format, improves the experience userswill have and hopefully make it easier for our users to learn more about LandIS and itscapabilities. Web-statistics will also be captured and reported on with the new site in a waythat will assist us to understand how users use the site and so to guide future improvements.Figure 4 New look LandIS website5Improved Data DescriptionsA suite of new data descriptions are being created to enable better understanding of thedatasets on offer. These will include descriptive text, maps and illustrative photographs.Together these new documents, which will be both downloadable and viewable on the web,will help users more successfully identify the most appropriate datasets for their needs, andrecognise the great deal of influence that soil has on a number of environmental factors.As a proof of concept we will be generating a small subset of these new descriptions for ourSoilscapes product (including habitats, fertility, simple texture, drainage and landcover)which are planned to be online by January 2010.Figure 5 Sample of new data descriptionsEnquiry deskThe LandIS enquiry desk continues to advise users as to usage of of the raw and interpretedsoils data and as to the best products for their purposes. This is handled in three ways: by e-mail, by telephone and now via a new frequently asked questions ‘FAQ’ section on the new-look LandIS website (http://www.landis.org.uk/faq).New Soil Structure MapsFollowing an enquiry from a client who requested a digital version of the Stability of TopsoilStructure map, we undertook an investigation into the original models used to derive thismap so we could reproduce it in the contemporary information system. The original map wasgenerated for a Defra project “SP0305: “A National soil vulnerability-based framework for6provision of farm-specific guidance on the management of soil structure” following thisproject a NSRI did a project with Birds Eye to further improve the models. The improvedmodels are driven by the soil topsoil texture, calcareous status, organic matter levels andwetness class. The first stage of this map regeneration was therefore to check theclassification of the soil series for these properties. As a result we have also created a newSoil Topsoil Texture product (see Figure 6). The new models provide maps showing:Susceptibility to topsoil slaking, susceptibility to compaction, potential for naturalregeneration following compaction and the potential for successfull mechanical rectificationof compaction (see Figures 7-10). The work was funded by the client as part of thepreparation fee for their licence of the data but new datasets and functions were derivedwhich we consider could be part of LandIS and made available to Defra. Although thepreliminary investigation of this work has now been done, it will be necessary to properlyassess the results before the data can be made generally available. We would appreciateguidance from Defra on whether these products are of interest to them.Unfortunately while doing this exercise it was noticed that the map on page 5 of “A Guide toBetter Soil Stucture” which shows the ability to recover from structural damage has a printingerror and the Very slow and Rapid classes have been transposed. As this publication is apopular and well used document it may be necessary for Defra to consider republishing thedocument, either by: producing a single page addendum; fixing the online PDF version only;republishing the printed document or just making sure Defra consultants are aware of themistake and give advice accordingly. If Defra are interested it could be possible to revisitthese maps in the light of the Birds Eye project and to produce new revised maps for asecond edition of the publication.7Figure 6 Dominant Topsoil Texture8Figure 7: Susceptibility to topsoil Slaking Figure 8: Susceptibility to Compaction9Figure 9: Natural Regeneration Figure 10: Mechanical Rectification10LandIS PERSONNEL/TIMETime put down to the LandIS project for the period Apr 09 to Jun 09 with budgeted days forYear 3 (Apr 09 to Mar 10) in brackets:Caroline Keay 13.6 (58) daysTimothy Farewell 10.9 (50) daysStephen Hallett 5.4 (20) daysAndrew Rayner 22.1 (50) daysDefra budget used between 1st April 2009 and 30th June 2009£3,050 was spent from a budget of £5,800 for 10 Defra projects.The 6 data leases marked with a * were deferred from last years budget until the beginningof April 2009.To enable the continuation of free, on-demand access to the soils data by Defra and itscontractors, we suggest that if the spend reaches £5,000, and there is more than twomonths remaining in the funded period (i.e. prior to 31st March 2010) we arrange an invoicefor an additional £2000 to cover any additional requests. We would appreciate your view onthis suggestion.11NEW DATA LEASES FOR THE YEAR TO DATEOrganisation Abstract Purpose of Use Start Date End Date P&A UnchargedRoyaltyData Lease funded by DEFRA via the LandIS fundNERC / CEH* 1km resolution soil carbon database forEngland and Wales, giving the soil series ineach 1km square together with particle size,bulk density and carbon content for layers 0-30cm and 30-100cmTo be used by CEH (Edinburgh) for DEFRA Projecton Preparation of Annual Greenhouse Gas Inventoryfor LUCF in the UK01-JUN-08 31-MAY-10 £200 £50,000Forestry Commission* NSI data points - DEFRA contract SP0521. Forestry Commission research project EH66600E 'Carbon dynamics in forests'.11-OCT-08 10-OCT-09 £200 £97,000University of Stirling* NATMAP vector, NSI topsoil, SOILSERIEShydrology, SOILSERIES pesticides.Defra project: FC1177 "Development of a riskevaluation system for the establishment ofGyrodactylus salaris in English and Welsh riversystems."Data to be used by David Morris.23-FEB-09 22-FEB-10 £375 £112,000Forestry Commission* NATMAP vector - Breckland Forest area Data to identify heathland areas and for use inforestry planning25-FEB-09 21-FEB-14 £375 £3,000Maslen Environmental* Soilscapes for England and Wales. Defra R&D project SP0573: Basis of the UK BAPtarget for the reduction in use of peat in horticultureDevelopment of a map showing lowland raised peatbogs where the peat deposits have historically or arecurrently being extracted.02-FEB-09 01-FEB-10 £375 £38,525Environment Agency* NSI Carbon/texture data Soil C (%) DEFRA project SP0562 - 'Co-ordinate an expertgroup to assemble UK-wide data on soil carbon (andgreenhouse gas fluxes) in the context of landmanagement).19-JAN-09 18-JAN-10 £375 £2,400NERC / CEH NATMAP1000 1 km digital raster version of theNational Soil Map for England and Wales, (Ref:DD7017V/033, ID210)to update critical loads maps for DEFRA/NERCcontract EPG1/3/185: National Critical LoadsMapping Programme - Phase IV (CEH project - CPEA1917-SEP-07 16-SEP-10 £200 £14,12812Organisation Abstract Purpose of Use Start Date End Date P&A UnchargedRoyaltyPeak Districk National Park Authority NATMAP, SOILSERIES hydrology, agronomy,pesticides, info, HORIZON fundamentals,hydraulics.DEFRA research project SP0572 - EcosystemServices of Peat.2-5 users.23-MAR-09 22-MAR-10 £375 £5,801BBSRC County-level soil property data defining, for the3 most common soil types present:maximumorganic carbon content(%); minimum soilorganic carbon content (%); clay content (%);pH; bulk density (g/cm3); total soil porosity (%volume); water content at field capacity (1/3bar tension) as a % of total water content atwilting point (15 bar tension) as a % of totalporosity, of the topsoil layer; together with soiltexture class and Hydrology Of Soil Types(HOST) grouping.For use solely as input data to any version of theUK-DNDC model for the purpose of derivingemission factors for the UK N20 inventory asrequired by the Department of the Environment,Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Ref: DEFRA projectcode: CC0266.2008 - same project but code changed to AC0101.2009 - DEFRA AC0112: Inventories of ammonia andgreenhouse gases from UK agriculture01-APR-09 31-MAR-10 £200 £66,029DEFRA Soilscapes data. DEFRA project ref: IF0128.The potential impact of Climate change on diseasesinfluencing the UK strawberry industry.19-MAY-09 30-APR-11 £375 £24,078TOTAL(DefraCharges)£3,050 £412,96113Organisation Abstract Purpose of Use Start Date End Date P&A UnchargedRoyaltyBona Fide ResearchUniversity of Brighton National Soil Map soil associations for the SouthEast of England with text legend file2/4/09 - Additional data supplied.MUSID - horizon and agronomy propertiessummarisedFor a research and development project on HabitatSuitability Modelling on the South Downs23-MAR-09 22-MAR-10 £375 £4,993University of East Anglia Digital version of the 'stability of topsoil structure'map.Research project - RELU Biomass project team -increased biomass crop planting.2-5 users.15-JUN-09 14-JUN-11 £600 £24,000University of Sheffield NATMAP vector, SOILSERIES hydrology &agronomy, HORIZON fundamentals &hydraulics.Non- commercial use. For Bona-fide researchpurposes.Project: 'Impact of catchment landscape structure onwater quality variability' funded by Marie Curie fund.Small multi-user - 2-5 people.25-MAY-09 24-MAY-12 £375 £87,697TOTAL(Bona fideResearch)£1,350 £116,690

Report of Activity for LandIS Support Quarterly Progress Report 1st Apr - 30th Jun 2009

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

CERES Research Repository (Cranfield Univ.)