Natural Resource Management in NSW

Soil Survey in NSW

Soil Landscapes of NSW

Find soil landscape maps by catchment management area

Soil Landscape Mapping Publication Status

Soil Landscape Derivative Maps

Terminology and Definitions

Qualities and Limitations

Laboratory Test Procedures

Guide to the Use of Tests

Soil Survey Site Index

 

Soil Landscape Mapping Program

Soil landscape mapping is the preferred method of collecting resource information applicable to the management of the State’s soil resources. It is a style of mapping suited to the broad scale necessary to cover an area as large as NSW. It allows for soils information to be incorporated in greater detail than for other styles of mapping at the same scale.

Sandstone Pagodas, Mt. Sinai Soil Landscape, Katoomba 1:100,000 Sheet

Soil landscapes recognise that soils are naturally occurring entities. They can be used to distinguish mappable areas of soils because the formation of landscapes and soils is interrelated - both have been subject to the same processes and influences over time.

The soil landscape concept merges soil and landscape qualities into a single mapping unit recognising that land management constraints relate to both land and soil limitations. Soil landscapes are also the key to understanding catchment processes and can help predict how ecosystem components will react if an aspect of the catchment is altered.

Soil landscape reports include information for each soil landscape on:

• geology/rock types
• regolith
• landforms and slopes
• native vegetation distribution
• current and historical land use
• severity and types of land degradation
• detailed soil descriptions and locations where typical soils can be seen
• diagrams of soil occurrence patterns
• soil and landscape properties which can affect development
• soil fertility assessments and tables of soil test results and interpretations
• soil erodibility and erosion hazards
• urban capability
• rural capability

SOILS SITE MAP