Environment Data

NOTE: There has been a change in the way the S-map is being made available to users. The S-map primary map layer of soil classes (i.e. delineated areas that are labelled with the soil family name) is no longer freely available to commercial users. Access to this data and associated soil attribute data for commercial use is by negotiation - contact Graeme Anderson (andersong@landcareresearch.co.nz).

ACCESS to publically available S-map data is now at

S-map Soil Depth

S-map Soil Drainage

S-map Soil Texture

S-map NZ Soil Classification

S-map's primary map layer is soil classes, i.e. delineated areas that are labelled with the soil family name. Each soil family is defined as a unique combination of attributes (NZSC classification, parent material, rock type, dominant texture and permeability class). Soil classes are further characterised as siblings according to their depth to rock class, stoniness, land type, drainage, texture (more detailed), functional horizons and miscellaneous variant information. The uncertainty of each of these family and sibling attribute classes is specified. Associated with the soil class layer will be additional map layers of fundamental and derived soil properties. The fundamental soil properties are depth (diggability), depth to slowly permeable layer, rooting depth, rooting barrier, horizon thickness, stoniness, clay and sand content. They are developed from sample information and expert knowledge. The derived soil layers are each based on a model (or pedo-transfer function). Some models are simple lookup tables that depend only on the soil class. Others combine various soil, land use, vegetation, climate or topographic attributes in a mathematical formula. Derived layers will include available water (mm), macroporosity, water retention, bulk density, total carbon, total nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium, cation exchange capacity, pH, and phosphorus retention.

There has been a change in the way the S-map is being made available to users. The S-map primary map layer ofsoil classes (i.e. delineated areas that are labelled with the soil family name) is no longer freely available to commercial users. Access to this data and associated soil attribute data for commercial use is by negotiation - please contact Graeme Anderson. This layer is a "dissolved" representation of the NZSC soil orderfor S-map previously available as a lookup table.It is available for non-commercial use under a creative commons licence (CC-BY-NC-ND).The New Zealand Soil Classification is described in Hewitt (2010) - Landcare Research Science Series No. 1.

There has been a change in the way the S-map is being made available to users. The S-map primary map layer ofsoil classes (i.e. delineated areas that are labelled with the soil family name) is no longer freely available to commercial users. Access to this data and associated soil attribute data for commercial use is by negotiation - please contact Graeme Anderson. This layer is a "dissolved" representation of the soil textureattribute for S-map previously available as a lookup table. It is available for non-commercial use under a creative commons licence (CC-BY-NC-ND).Soil texture profile is defined in Webb and Lilburne (2011). Texture can be specified as either a single texture or a compound texture profile.clayskeletalloamsandy loamloamy peatpeatsandy peatsilty loamWebb TH, Lilburne LR 2011. Criteria for defining the soil family and soil sibling: The fourth and fifth categories of the New Zealand Soil Classification. 2nd ed. Lincoln, Canterbury, New Zealand, Manaaki Whenua Press. 38 p.

There has been a change in the way the S-map is being made available to users. The S-map primary map layer ofsoil classes (i.e. delineated areas that are labelled with the soil family name) is no longer freely available to commercial users. Access to this data and associated soil attribute data for commercial use is by negotiation - please contact Graeme Anderson. This layer is a "dissolved" representation of the soil depth attribute for S-map soilspreviously available as a lookup table.It is available for non-commercial use under a creative commons licence (CC-BY-NC-ND).Soil depth (Webb & Lilburne 2011) is defined according to a traditional agronomic concept of soil depth (Taylor & Pohlen 1970). In a practical sense, it can be thought of as the depth to a layer that makes augering or digging difficult. Soil depth is identified as the depth to:· A very stony horizon (more than 35% stones by volume)· A soft or hard rock surface· Shattered rock· A pan, as defined in Hewitt (2010)· Firm consistence, together with massive or gross structure. Note that while the layer defining soil depth may cause some restriction in root penetration, it does not necessarily define the base of the potential rooting depth.The dominant depth classes aredefined as:Deep(> 100 cm)Moderately Deep(45 cm - 100 cm)Shallow(20 cm - 45 cm)Very Shallow(

There has been a change in the way the S-map is being made available to users. The S-map primary map layer ofsoil classes (i.e. delineated areas that are labelled with the soil family name) is no longer freely available to commercial users. Access to this data and associated soil attribute data for commercial use is by negotiation - please contact Graeme Anderson. This layer is a "dissolved" representation of the soil drainageattribute for S-map previously available as a lookup table.It is available for non-commercial use under a creative commons licence (CC-BY-NC-ND).Soil drainage is a relatively simple classification of the soil profile that describes the likelihood of seasonal wetness. It is based on the occurrence within specific depths of redox segregation and low chroma colours indicative of waterlogging and reduction (Webb and Lilburne, 2011).Very poorly drainedPoorly drainedImperfectly drainedModerately well drainedWell drainedWebb TH, Lilburne LR 2011. Criteria for defining the soil family and soil sibling: The fourth and fifth categories of the New Zealand Soil Classification. 2nd ed. Lincoln, Canterbury, New Zealand, Manaaki Whenua Press. 38 p.