fada8b3f-e509-6298-e053-0937940a8488 English dataset British Geological Survey +44 115 936 3100 Environmental Science Centre,Keyworth NOTTINGHAM NOTTINGHAMSHIRE NG12 5GG United Kingdom enquiries@bgs.ac.uk pointOfContact 2026-04-07 UK GEMINI 2.3 http://data.bgs.ac.uk/id/dataHolding/13608069 OSGB 1936 / British National Grid (EPSG::27700) WGS 84 (EPSG::4326) UK Compiled Topsoil (UKTS) raster dataset 2023-03-20 creation http://data.bgs.ac.uk/id/dataHolding/13608069 The UK Compiled Topsoil Dataset (UKTS) is the most extensive topsoil geochemistry dataset for the UK available at the time of release (August 2024). The dataset consists of 82 georeferenced TIFF raster images (GeoTIFF format) with a cell size of 500 x 500 m, displaying the predicted concentrations for 41 chemical elements in UK topsoil and their respective standard error. The dataset is based on the geochemical analyses of 57,966 topsoil samples collected between 1978 and 2014 and analysed by X-Ray Fluorescence spectrometry (XRF). The UKTS was brought together by combining data from the following sources: i. the British Geological Survey’s (BGS) Geochemical Baseline Survey of the Environment (G-BASE) rural and urban topsoil dataset (which accounts for 76.4% of the topsoil samples included in the UKTS) ii. the Geological Survey of Northern Ireland (GSNI) TellusNI rural and urban topsoil geochemical survey dataset (13.8% of the UKTS samples) iii. the BGS-Rothamsted Research X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (XRF) rural soil dataset (RR-BGS XRF), based on sub-samples held at Rothamsted Research from the National Soil Inventory (NSI) of England and Wales sample archive, National Soil Resources Institute, Cranfield University (9.8% of the UKTS samples). An atlas of the compiled topsoil concentrations for the UK is available to download (https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/535963) and all maps are available to view within the UK Soil Observatory website (https://www.ukso.org). The dataset covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and the Clyde Basin in Scotland. The GeoTIFF raster image maps were produced from the interpolation by ordinary kriging of the concentration values in the source data points, using the geostatistical wizard in the geostatistical analyst toolbox of ESRI ArcGIS 10.8. Enquiries British Geological Survey 0115 936 3142 0115 936 3276 The Lyell Centre, Research Avenue South EDINBURGH LOTHIAN EH14 4AP United Kingdom enquiries@bgs.ac.uk distributor Enquiries British Geological Survey 0115 936 3142 0115 936 3276 The Lyell Centre, Research Avenue South EDINBURGH LOTHIAN EH14 4AP United Kingdom enquiries@bgs.ac.uk originator Enquiries British Geological Survey 0115 936 3143 0115 936 3276 Environmental Science Centre, Nicker Hill, Keyworth NOTTINGHAM NOTTINGHAMSHIRE NG12 5GG United Kingdom enquiries@bgs.ac.uk distributor Enquiries British Geological Survey 0115 936 3143 0115 936 3276 Environmental Science Centre, Nicker Hill, Keyworth NOTTINGHAM NOTTINGHAMSHIRE NG12 5GG United Kingdom enquiries@bgs.ac.uk originator Enquiries British Geological Survey 0115 936 3143 0115 936 3276 Environmental Science Centre, Nicker Hill, Keyworth NOTTINGHAM NOTTINGHAMSHIRE NG12 5GG United Kingdom enquiries@bgs.ac.uk principalInvestigator Enquiries British Geological Survey United Kingdom not available distributor Enquiries British Geological Survey United Kingdom not available pointOfContact notPlanned https://resources.bgs.ac.uk/images/geonetworkThumbs/fada8b3f-e509-6298-e053-0937940a8488.png Geology GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0 2008-06-01 publication Geochemical data X ray fluorescence spectroscopy Geochemistry Spatial data Kriging Variograms Top soil BGS Thesaurus of Geosciences 2022 revision Citable Data UK Location (INSPIRE) dataCentre NERC_DDC otherRestrictions no limitations The dataset is made freely available for access, e.g. via the Internet. Either no third party data / information is contained in the dataset or BGS has secured written permission from the owner(s) of any third party data / information contained in the dataset to make the dataset freely accessible. otherRestrictions The copyright of materials derived from the British Geological Survey's work is vested in the Natural Environment Research Council [NERC]. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the prior permission of the copyright holder, via the BGS Intellectual Property Rights Manager. Use by customers of information provided by the BGS, is at the customer's own risk. In view of the disparate sources of information at BGS's disposal, including such material donated to BGS, that BGS accepts in good faith as being accurate, the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) gives no warranty, expressed or implied, as to the quality or accuracy of the information supplied, or to the information's suitability for any use. NERC/BGS accepts no liability whatever in respect of loss, damage, injury or other occurence however caused. Available under the Open Government Licence subject to the following acknowledgement accompanying the reproduced NERC materials "Contains NERC materials ©NERC [year]" grid 1000000 2500000 English geoscientificInformation ISO 3166_1 alpha-3 2009 revision GB British Geological Survey Gazetteer: Geographical hierarchy from Geosaurus 1979 creation UK [id=139300] ISO 3166_2 2009 revision UKM -7.5564 3.5055 49.7662 60.7326 1978 2023-03 Image (GeoTIFF) Enquiries British Geological Survey 0115 936 3142 0115 936 3276 The Lyell Centre, Research Avenue South EDINBURGH LOTHIAN EH14 4AP United Kingdom enquiries@bgs.ac.uk distributor Enquiries British Geological Survey 0115 936 3143 0115 936 3276 Environmental Science Centre, Nicker Hill, Keyworth NOTTINGHAM NOTTINGHAMSHIRE NG12 5GG United Kingdom enquiries@bgs.ac.uk distributor Enquiries British Geological Survey United Kingdom not available distributor https://www.ukso.org/ WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link UKSO - UK Soil Observatory Homepage information https://doi.org/10.5285/76b69adf-699b-4032-a751-2db0991d55f6 WWW:LINK-1.0-http--related Citation Information - Digital Object Identifier (DOI) British Geological Survey. (2024). UK Compiled Topsoil raster dataset (UKTSraster). British Geological Survey. (Dataset). https://doi.org/10.5285/76b69adf-699b-4032-a751-2db0991d55f6 information https://www.bgs.ac.uk/geological-data/opengeoscience/map-data-downloads/ WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link Map data downloads A number of our datasets are available for you to download onto your system for your own use. This will enable you to work offline to develop your own systems and methodologies using BGS data. The datasets available to download include many of BGS’s baseline products including geological, hydrogeological, geophysical, and chemical data. Many of these datasets are also being made available for download as INSPIRE pre-defined download services (Atom feeds). download dataset dataset INSPIRE Implementing rules laying down technical arrangements for the interoperability and harmonisation of Geology 2011 publication See the referenced specification false Commission Regulation (EU) No 1089/2010 of 23 November 2010 implementing Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards interoperability of spatial data sets and services 2010-12-08 publication See http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2010:323:0011:0102:EN:PDF false The 57,966 topsoil data points of the source data are a combination of data from three main sources, namely the BGS G-BASE rural and urban topsoil data, the GSNI TellusNI rural and urban topsoil data and the RR-BGS XRF, accounting for 76.4%, 13.8% and 9.8% of the source data points respectively. Source data points are unevenly distributed, varying from 1 sample per 25 km2 in the RR-BGS XRF to 4 samples per 1 km2 in urban centres sampled by the G-BASE and TellusNI projects. The predicted concentration maps reflect this uneven sampling density with less 'smooth' geochemical features in areas of the map where sampling density is higher, given the options made during the ordinary kriging.