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Scotland’s Soils Website

Scotland’s Soils Website . Willie Towers, Xingyu Xiao, Stuart Sneddon and many many others . Aim and Objectives. To develop and test a pilot Scottish s oils w ebsite (SSDW) with a small group of public bodies in Scotland. T he project had several steps:

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Scotland’s Soils Website

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  1. Scotland’s Soils Website Willie Towers, Xingyu Xiao, Stuart Sneddon and many many others

  2. Aim and Objectives • To develop and test a pilot Scottish soils website (SSDW) with a small group of public bodies in Scotland. • The project had several steps: • Design a pilot website and populate with a small number of datasets • Hold a stakeholder workshop, analyse the feedback and upgrade site accordingly (within reason….) • Establish a User Group to test upgraded version of the site • Convene a User Group meeting, share experiences and prioritise upgrades (within reason….) • Produce enhanced website

  3. Groups involved in the project Steering Group: Scottish Government, SEPA, SNH, Forestry Commission Scotland, Ricardo-AEA and Macaulay Scientific Consulting Editorial Group: Representatives from SEPA, SNH, Macaulay Scientific Consulting and Ricardo-AEA User Group: Range of Stakeholders representing regulators, industry, consultancy, academia, government and NGOs Discussions were also held with various potential data providers

  4. Website: First draft • Two datasets agreed with Steering Group: • 1:250,000 national scale soil map • Underpinned by the Scottish Soils Knowledge and Information Base (SSKIB) • National Soils Inventory • A grid based point sample across Scotland, a key component of the full Scottish Soil Database

  5. Information (median or mean etc) Knowledge 1:250 000 Soil map Soil map legend mssg Association • For both cultivated and • semi-natural soils • ≈2500 horizons • ≈ 530 soil Series • Statistical summaries • Use of analogues where • data missing

  6. Scottish soil database: Profile name: Grid reference: Surveyor: Sample date: Altitude: Slope description: Aspect & bearing: Rocks and boulders: Vegetation: Flushing: Site drainage: Soil drainage: Erosion: Association/ Series: Parent material: Major soil subgroup: Rock type: Climate: Land Capability Agriculture Base of pit: Bulk samples: Each soil profile has up to 100 attributes LABNO SYMBOL LOSS ON IGNITION CALCIUM MAGNESIUM SODIUM POTASSIUM HYDROGEN SUM SATN pH CARBON NITROGEN OM TOTP ACET_P TOP BOTTOM SAND SILT CLAY SYMBOL DEPTH COLOUR MOTTLES TEXTURE STRUCTURE MOISTURE CONSISTENCE ROOTS STONES BOUNDARY Ap Bs C

  7. Stakeholder workshop – February 2013 • Objectives: • Introduction to the website • Identify potential user expectations • Identify potential additional datasets. • Around 40 delegates from various constituencies • A number of presentations including three from potential/actual users with varying levels of background knowledge in soils and uses of the data • Consultancy • Local Authority • Central Scotland Forest Trust • 4 breakout groups and a structured questionnaire for completion later

  8. Stakeholder workshop – February 2013 • Key themes • Different users preferred different scales of data dependent on need • Many users preferred themed or derived maps, not raw data • Range of functions requested; download, options for searching….

  9. Stakeholder workshop – February 2013 • Need for information about the data at different levels; metadata, descriptions, glossary • Structure straightforward and easy to navigate • Contextual information • Site not just about data • How much do people want to know about soil? • Varied across different types of user

  10. Next phase of development – our Response • Additional datasets prioritised by Steering Group and added • a. Topsoil Organic Carbon Content • b. Available Water Capacity • c. Land Capability for Agriculture (1:250,000) • d. Soil Texture (for differentiating within NVZs) • e. World Reference Base (WRB) classification • f. Soil carbon richness map (from SNH) • Additional functions added • Search by National Grid Reference or Postcode • Use OS backdrop rather than Bing • Contextual data radically restructured around State of Soil reporting • We tried to tell a more coherent ‘story’ • Glossary, FAQs and Library populated with examples to prompt reaction • User Group established

  11. Status of Scotland’s soil • Key facts • Soil functions • Soils and ecosystems • Soil protection and policy What are the issues? • Threats to soils • Pressures on soil • Prospects for Scotland’s soil

  12. Website User Group Established based on volunteers from workshop questionnaire and tapping into networks Good cross-section from across potential user groups Tested site over summer 2013 and Group met in late August

  13. User group – examples of feedback and actions taken So the site had developed considerably since conception to birth, and like all websites, is a work in progress

  14. Web design and structure So over to Stuart….. • A daughter website to Scotland’s environment • So required a similar feel to it • Style Guide provided by Scotland’s environment development team

  15. Environmental data management solution • Information analysis of user groups and stakeholders of the website and their needs • Website design to meet the needs • Development of the future proof IT solution of environmental data management system

  16. User groups of the soil website and their needs The soils of Scotland are an important national resource and the properties and distribution of different soil types across the country provides essential information to a wide range of stakeholders

  17. Information about soil • Reports • Relevant resources • What public could be involved • Soil types • Soil physical and chemical properties • Soil organic matter • Links to information about soil in rest of world • trends, spatial information • Etc….. Needs for information from user groups • Data • Of a location, area • Data in different format: • in tables • csv, • shape files, • web feature services • Maps • Interactive soil maps • Images • Web map services

  18. Needs of data by remote system • The website is a daughter website of SEWeb • The data needs to be managed locally and accessible remotely by other system. • The service of the data needs to be standard compliant.

  19. Data providers • Enable user to access and use the data in a scientific manner Academic/Educational users • Carry out the study and publish their research findings Scientific community • Access the information and identify potential new data source Environmental portal designers(SEWEB) • Interoperability between the database component of Scotland’s Soils Website and SEWEB Stakeholder of the website and their needs • Scottish Government • Support all the stake holders • Evidence based policy making • Information transparency policy

  20. System architecture – hybrid of portal data and distributed management system Interactive with SEWeb via simplified WMS Store Key data sets in SS database WSM/WFS The data sets in Type 2 can be moved to Type 1 either loaded to the SSDW database or made it accessible for SSDW in WMS/WFS in the future Type 2: User access data from source website Type 1: User access data via SSDW

  21. Illustration of the database structure of the Scottish Soil website and codes lists

  22. System design

  23. Workflow of data download for data type 1 Workflow of data download for data type 2

  24. http://www.soils-scotland.gov.uk/ Website front end design • Structure the website according to most user’s needs • The summary information available at top level, detailed and deeper information available as links • User data visualisation whenever it is possible • Offer different data access options

  25. Site launched December 10th 2013 • A larger and more coherent website • A more logical and clearer tab structure • More internal and external links • But we want it to be used and we welcome feedback

  26. Potential future developments? • Additional datasets • site was designed around three basic types of data: soil maps, point data and derived data so that additions could be made • 1:25,000 scale soil maps • Forestry Commission 1:10,000 scale map • National Soils Inventory_2 (2007-2009) • Peat survey data • BGS urban (Glasgow) and stream sediment data • Trend data e.g. Countryside Survey or Trends in Pollution in Scottish Soils (TIPPS) • Derived data • Soil leaching potential • Groundwater vulnerability • Nitrous oxide emissions from soils • Metal binding capacity….. • Contextual information needs periodic review and updating.

  27. With thanks to: I hope the website makes you think about land in a different way and provides the stimulus for you to visit soils in the field. Scottish Government for funding Steering Group, Editorial Group and User Group for their support Colleagues at the James Hutton Institute Colleagues at Ricardo-AEA

  28. Mr Willie Towers Macaulay Scientific Consulting Ltd Dr Xingyu Xiao, Dr Stuart Sneddon Ricardo-AEA Ltd +44 (0)870 190 6631 Xingyu.xiao@ricardo-aea.com, willlie.towers@hutton.ac.uk www.ricardo-aea.comwww.hutton.ac.uk

  29. Back our bid!

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