log in

Useful Links



The following section provides links to certain soil-related websites operated by Cranfield University, as well as others that may prove of wider interest to readers of Soil-Net.

Visit http://www.landis.org.uk Welcome to LandIS
LandIS is maintained by Cranfield University's Soils and Agrifood Institute, UK, the leading Institution of soil science and soil-related research in England and Wales.

If you are interested about finding out more about the soils of England and Wales, or obtaining digital datasets, maps, books and publications about soils, then visit http://www.landis.org.uk.
LandIS is operated by Cranfield University, UK and is a central repository and information bank about a huge range of soil and soil-related datasets and information; the largest of its kind in Europe. LandIS has three particular services which may be of interest to you:
Soilscapes Viewer is a free web-based mapping system that allows you to enter a location by Postcode or map grid reference to produce a summary of the soils for that area.
Soil Site Reporter provides a comprehensive environmental report covering a wide range of soil-related maps, facts and illustrations for a given map location or Postcode for a small fee, payable by credit card.
You can also lease GIS and tabular datasets on soils and soil properties from Cranfield's Land Information System (LandIS) team.

A key resource related to Soil-Net is the World Soil Survey Archive and Catalogue, or WOSSAC. The WOSSAC project revolves around a concern apparent for many years that the huge wealth of information and literature collected over the previous 50-60 years by soil scientists around the world is in great danger of being lost and dispersed and sadly even destroyed as companies and governments change and as individuals retire. The archive and catalogue was therefore established by Cranfield University, together with the initial help of the British Society of Soil Science, to draw together all these materials. We are now holding many thousands of maps, reports, books, field books, survey reports, land assessments, satellite imagery, GIS datasets, photographs (the SoilPIC collection) etc. in the carefully managed storage facility. The initial goal (with advice from the British Library and Cranfield's own University library) has been to create a catalogue of these items according to international standards (MARC21, Dublin Core, ISO19115) and to make this catalogue available over the Internet - a significant task. Have a look!

Related to WOSSAC and Soil-Net is the new 'SoilsWorldwide' soils-related educational resource www.soilsworldwide.net. SoilsWorldwide sets out to provide more detailed soils related information than Soil-Net, and importantly is also the home for the Soils Photographic Image Catalogue (SoilPIC), an online resource of thousands of soil and landscape-related photographs from around our planet representing the astonishing variety of world soil types.

Here's a fantastic resource you can enjoy
concerning the importance of soil!

Other useful links

Listed below are a range of other useful soil-related links on the Internet. These sites are external to Soil-Net and are not the responsibility of Soil-Net.

  • ADAS - A governmental advisory service for agriculture and horticulture.
  • AFES - Association Francaise pour l'etude du sol; The French Soil Society
  • AHDB - cereals and oilseeds. The recognised centre of excellence and leader in delivering a co-ordinated range of focused services which are essential to the profitability of the cereals and oilseeds industries.
  • AIP - Associazione Italiana Pedologi, the Italian association of pedology (in Italian).
  • Amazing Environmental Organisation Webdirectory
  • ASRIS - Australian Soil Resource Information System
  • The Australian Natural Resources Atlas
  • BGS - British Geological Survey
  • Breaking Ground - a great educational soils summary
  • BRGM - French Geological Survey
  • BSSS - British Soil Science Society
  • CanSIS - the Canadian Soil Information System
  • CEH - Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
  • CheTerraPesti - a great source of soil educational material (in Italian), from the team at Regione Emilia-Romagna in Italy.
  • Compendium of On-Line Soil Survey Information - compiled by David Rossiter (rather an old listing now).
  • Cool it Schools - calling young people worldwide to do something positive about climate change
  • CPRE - Campaign to Protect Rural England
  • Cranfield University, UK
  • Danish soil profiles - Danish soil profiles for 68 well-described soiltype profiles
  • DEFRA - UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, home page
  • EA - Environment Agency for England and Wales. Responsible for the excellent thinksoils resource, a practical guide to soil assessment (thinksoils)
  • Earth Science Education - The Earth Science Education Unit, based in the School of Public Policy and Professional Practice at Keele University. ESEU provides school-based INSET of a practical nature, for the cost of travel of the facilitator, but with NO fee. The website contains many taster activities for KS2, KS3 and KS4 Earth science workshops (full documents are given out on a free CD ROM when CPD is delivered).
  • EEA - European Environment Agency
  • European Soil Portal - Part of the EU's Joint Research Centre, and an excellent source of soil-related materials
  • Explore Highlights - view the British Museum's online collections
  • Farming futures - tomorrow's climate today's challenge. How will climate change affect farming?
  • Forestry Commission - aiming to protect and expand Britain's forests and woodlands and increase their value to society and the environment
  • Geological Terms dictionary
  • Geology Samples.com - geological samples for education
  • Geoscience Australia
  • Globe Programe - connecting the next generation of scientists
  • How to Turn Your Garden Building Into a Wildlife Watching Room - well spotted Noah!, this website has a series of interesting articles and 'How-To's' on garden projects such as encouraging and watching wildlife, and starting a worm compost heap - vermicomposting (our favourite)
  • ISRIC - the World Data Center for Soils. Responsible for collecting, archiving, and distributing data and research information.
  • ITC - International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation
  • IUSS - International Union of Soil Sciences
  • The James Hutton Institute, our sister organisation in Scotland
  • Meteorological Office - UK Meteorological Office
  • National Association For Environmental Education - professionally concerned with any aspect of education and the environment. Loads of great environmental advice and links.
  • The National Trust - for places of historic interest or natural beauty in England, Wales and Northern Ireland
  • Natural England - for people, for places for nature
  • NFU - National Farmers Union
  • NRCS - Natural Resources Conservation Service, US Federal Agency. Formerly the US Soil Conservation Service (SCS) http://soils.usda.gov/education/
  • NRCS - Natural Resources Conservation Service, Soils Education pages
  • NRW - Natural Resources Wales
  • OS - Ordnance Survey, the UK national mapping agency
  • Plant Care Guides - Plant guides from the National Gardening Association
  • Royal Society - Founded in 1660, the Royal Society is the independent scientific academy of the UK, dedicated to promoting excellence in science
  • RSPB - Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, working for a healthy environment rich in birds and wildlife
  • SAPS - Science and Plants for Schools. An excellent educational science website
  • SciberMonkey - an excellent KS3 science website
  • Science Project Ideas - a great reference point for ideas and advice for science projects
  • SEPA - Scottish Environment Protection Agency
  • Soil Erosion Site - a specialist site concerning soil erosion and the threat it poses.
  • Soil Science Collections - Soils at the University of Alberta, USA
  • SSSA - Soil Science Society of America
  • Staffordshire Teachers of Geography - Internet resources
  • Triangle Community Garden - a fantastic example of a community garden in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, UK.
  • TAA - Tropical Agriculture Association
  • Top GCSE Revision Tips for Students and Parents - a guide to GCSE revision, designed to be helpful to parents and students alike.
  • UK Safari - an excellent website for anyone interested in the wildlife and countryside of Britain.
  • Underground Adventure - a fascinating website from the FieldMuseum.org. There's more to soil than meets the eye. The world of soil is a rich habitat for many amazing creatures. What do you think life would be like if you lived underground? Go to Underground Adventure to find out!
  • United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
  • United States Consortium of Soil Science Associations - A great set of resources for learning more about soil.
  • USGS - United States Geological Survey

No responsibility is accepted or assumed for the content or accuracy of the non-Cranfield University websites featured above, all information is provided in good faith. Please let us know if you want your site featured or the entry removed or edited

We are not responsible for the content of external Internet sites, and do not endorse their content. We have provided these links to these pages because they contain information that may be of interest to our readers. Throughout the site, all links to pages outside Soil-Net are marked as 'External page links'.

soil-net mailing list | about soil-net | donate