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SALISNSW Soil and Land Information System

An Introduction

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What is SALIS?• NSW Government’s database of soil and land

information, currently under the custodianship of OEH

• Maintained under Soil Conservation Act 1938, also supports other legislation, e.g., Mining SEPP

• Centralised corporate database (Oracle 10) and management system (Unify TD 6.0)

• Working towards a ‘single point of truth’ for soil and land information in NSW

• Two key datasets:

- NSW Soil Profiles

- NSW Soil Mapping (Soil Landscapes)

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NSW Soil Profiles – Status

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NSW Soil Profiles – Coverage

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NSW Soil Profiles - Description

• Hundreds of Government and non-Government sources

• Density, quantity and quality of data depending on purpose of collection, etc.

• Usually collected using scannable Soil Data Cards

• Backed by State and National standards for data collection

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NSW Soil Profiles – Accessibility • Now:

- SPADE (http://spade.environment.nsw.gov.au) for map-based access to reports on individual profiles

- Contact soils@environment.nsw.gov.au for outputs like spreadsheets, multiple reports, shapefiles, etc.

• Coming:

- Spatial viewer access to entire Public dataset on fixed and mobile devices

- In-field digital data capture on laptops and mobile devices, replacing Soil Data Cards

• Future:

- Web access to SALIS for data suppliers, owners and users

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NSW Soil Mapping

• Developed from amalgamation of 68 individual soil map datasets across NSW, including:

- Soil Landscapes

- Soil and Land Resources (including Murray)

- Land Systems

• Progressively updated as new or improved mapping made available

• Seamless(ish) foundation for Statewide maps of soil and land features, such as...

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Land and Soil Capability (LSC)

• “Inherent physical capacity of the land to sustain a range of land uses… without degradation to soil, land, air and water resources.”

• 8-class system building on Rural Land Capability (RLC) scheme

• Uses biophysical features of land and soil, e.g., water and wind erosion, soil structure decline, soil acidification, salinity, waterlogging, shallow soils, mass movement

• All mapped units in NSW have an LSC classification

• Progressive release of priority areas (SRLUP)

• Download at http://mapdata.environment.nsw.gov.au

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LSC map of NSW

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Soil Type maps

• Uses dominant soil types captured through Land and Soil Capability classification process

• Two versions:

- Australian Soil Classification (ASC) at Order level

- modified Great Soil Groups (GSG)

• All mapped units in NSW have a dominant soil type

• Statewide coverages as ESRI shapefiles, PDFs coming

• Download at http://mapdata.environment.nsw.gov.au

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Soil Type maps of NSW

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Estimated Inherent Soil Fertility

• 5-class system based on fertility ratings of Great Soil Groups from Charman (1978)

• All mapped units in NSW have a fertility rating

• Progressive release of priority areas (SRLUP)

• Download at http://mapdata.environment.nsw.gov.au

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Soil Fertility map of NSW

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Biophysical Strategic Agricultural Land (BSAL)• “Highly productive land that has both unique natural resource

characteristics (such as soil and water resources) as well as socio-economic value…”

• Criteria:

- LSC classes 1, 2 or 3 with Soil Fertility classes 4 or 5, OR LSC classes 1 or 2 with Soil Fertility classes 3, 4 or 5

- Reliable water supply of suitable quality for agriculture

- Minimum area of 20 ha

• BSAL merits greater levels of protection against mining and coal seam gas development

• BSAL mapping produced by Department of Planning and Infrastructure and released as part of Strategic Regional Land Use Plans for Upper Hunter and New England-North West areas; others to be released later

• More information and ESRI shapefiles of BSAL available from http://planning.nsw.gov.au

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BSAL Maps

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BSAL Maps

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NSW soil mapping – availability

• Now:- Shapefiles at http://mapdata.environment.nsw.gov.au

- Interactive DVDs and CDs of Soil Landscapes and Soil and Land Resources products, available via http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/soils/soilmaps.htm

- Hard-copy Soil Landscape reports and maps• Coming:

- Online spatial viewer access to Statewide soil mapping and map unit descriptions on fixed and mobile platforms

- Downloadable Soil Landscape reports as PDFs

- Downloadable Soil Landscape maps as PDF

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Any questions?

humphrey.milford@environment.nsw.gov.au

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