Founded in 1835, BGS advises the British government on all aspects of geoscience, covering many disciplines dealing with the physical structure of the Earth and the processes that act on it.   BGS data is used by many industries to inform site selection, acquisition and development.

BGS Geology 50k

BGS Geology 1:50 000 Scale is the definitive geology ‘map’ providing details about the composition and structure of the Earth in Great Britain. Geological areas in England, Wales and Scotland are described in four theme and labelled/attributed with a name based on their lithostratographical, chronostratographical or lithodemic nomenclature and their composition (rock type or lithology):

• • Bedrock
• • Superficial deposits/’drift’
• • Mass movement
• • Artificial ground

The product has GB-wide coverage and is the basis for other types of earth science-related mapping. In combination with other BGS datasets, typical uses cases include identifying natural resources (energy; water; minerals), construction conditions (excavations; foundations), soils and landscapes (peatlands; uplands), and hazards (flooding; landslides; contamination).

Buy BGS Geology 50K

BGS Geology 10k

Provides information for geological areas for around half of England, Wales and Scotland mapped at 1:10 000 scale.  The content is the same as the 50k product and work continues to upgrade these and to extend the coverage.

Buy BGS Geology 10K

BGS Geology 250k

Generalised digital geological map data with GB coverage at 1:250 000 scale, published between 1977 and 1993.

Buy BGS Geology 250K

BGS Geology 625k

Generalised digital geological map data with GB coverage at 1:625 000 scale, based on BGS’s published poster maps of the UK.

Contact us

Technical Details

Supplier

Emapsite

Update Cycle

Quarterly

Coverage

GB

Scale

1:50 000

Formats Available

SHP, TAB, DWG, DXF

Stated Accuracy

Stated Accuracy

Stated Accuracy

Licence Options

Annual

Delivery Timescale

Within 24 hours

Related Products

Ordnance Survey Base Maps at appropriate scale.

OS Mastermap Imagery Layer.

Download Samples

Cranfield Natural Perils Directory (NPD 2024) comprises a number of specific geohazard assessments for Great Britain.  It indicates the likelihood of ground movement at and around foundation depth affecting shallow-founded structures, buried infrastructure networks and rail/roadways.  NPD2024 also indicates areas where deeper subsurface activity has occurred (related to mining and/or brine extraction) and includes flooding extent vulnerability assessment based on the spatial distribution of waterborne sediment from historical flooding.

• • Clays – shrinkage and swelling of clays; 
• • Sands - sandy soils susceptible to sub-surface erosion;
• • Silts - silty soils associated with heave under frosty conditions;
• • Soft soils - soft (alluvial and peat) soils being compressible;
• • Peats - peat, which shrinks considerably on drying causing;
• • Coal Mining Areas data is provided by the Coal Authority;
• • Cheshire Brine Extraction data  is provided by the Cheshire Brine Subsidence Compensation Board.

NPD is a highly customisable dataset with 75 climate change models intended to help customers consider risk management decisions relating to multi-hazard subsidence (different soil series/types). Climate projections are provided in the form of Potential Soil Moisture Deficit (the depth to which soil dries out in summer).  This is modelled with an observed 1km dataset (1961-1990), a 5km probabilistic dataset using UKCP09 (for 1961-1990, 2030s and 2070s) and 1km regional projections based on UKCP18 for four Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) for the period 1980-2080 in five-year time periods.

The data can be provided in two spatial formats (polygon based, point-based postcode units) and all map layers are projected to EPSG:27700 (British National Grid).

Cranfield Natural Perils Directory (NPD 2024) will be particularly useful for water utility companies with buried infrastructure, financial institutions governed by Bank of England regulations and for those responsible for ensuring ground movement mitigations are required for their projects (e.g.  road instablity, embankment instability, landslides etc).

Buy Cranfield NPD 

Technical Details

Supplier

Emapsite

Update Cycle

Quarterly

Coverage

GB

Scale

Formats Available

CSV

Stated Accuracy

Stated Accuracy

Stated Accuracy

Sub-metre

Licence Options

Annual

Delivery Timescale

Within minutes

Related Products

1:50 000 Scale Colour Raster

OS VectorMap District

Aerial photography products from Ordnance Survey, Getmapping and Bluesky.

Download Samples

GeoClimate 18 uses Met Office UK Climate Prediction UKCP18 climate data (high-emissions scenario; RCP8.5) to indicate the likelihood that foundations will be affected by wetter, average and drier conditions centred on 2030 (2025-2035) and 2070 (2065-2075).

The product provides a ‘hot spot’ map of susceptible areas in order to:

• • Aid risk reduction​​​​
• • Save time associated with manual site visits
• • Inform future requirements for changes in the design of foundations
• • Minimise potential losses from rebuild and disruption
• • Prioritise works and remedial action
• • Inform mitigation strategies

BGS GeoClimate UKCP18 Premium indicates potential change in subsidence due to changes in climate for Great Britain.  The product considers climate projections and the associated changes in soil moisture in clay soils, alongside the geotechnical properties of the ground to provide long term, modelled analysis for resilience assessments.  

BGS GeoClimate UKCP18 Premium is quasi-1:50 000-scale, vector polygon data (due to the variable scales of input datasets).  It provides a historical period (1990 (1985–1995) and two projected periods centred on 2030 (2025-2035) and 2070 (2065-205),  is based on UK Climate Projections 2018 (UKCP18) high emissions scenario (RCP8.5), and indicates projections for average, wetter and drier climate conditions.  The ‘extreme’ case projections convey the variation and uncertainty within the scenario modelling and allow customers to consider the best-case and worst-case scenario for shrink-swell susceptibility.  For each scenario it describes five categories of projected susceptibility, from highly unlikely to extremely likely for each 2km pixel.  

Shrink-swell is recognised as the costliest geohazard across Great Britain.  Identifying areas of potential increased risk will be useful for architects and surveyors, planners, developers, consulting engineers, builders, construction companies, utility companies, loss adjusters, the insurance industry and those with responsibilities for road/rail infrastructure.  Anyone who may have to develop mitigation strategies to prioritise works and minimise risk.

Buy BGS Geoclimate 

Technical Details

Supplier

British Geological Society

Update Cycle

Annually

Coverage

GB

Scale

Quasi-1:50 000

Formats Available

SHP, GDB

Stated Accuracy

Stated Accuracy

Stated Accuracy

Licence Options

Annual

Delivery Timescale

Within 24 hours

Related Products

OS 1:50 000 Raster

Aerial Imagery products

OS Terrain 50 Digital Terrain Model

Download Samples

BGS Geosure

BGS GeoSure provides geological information about potential ground movement in Great Britain. These are presented as polygon (area) layers and described using a simple potential hazard classification (A = Low, E = High).

Includes indicators for the following hazards and a debris flow susceptibility model (available separately):

• • Collapsible deposits (volume reduction under load);
• • Compressible ground (as water is squeezed out from peat, clay);
• • Landslides (potential slope instability);
• • Running sand (fluidised by water);
• • Shrink swell (a major hazard in clay soils);
• • Soluble rocks (rock-salt, gypsum and limestone, including chalk).

Some of these materials change in volume through seasonal wetting and drying whilst others undergo a rapid reduction in volume and can even collapse when a load is placed on them (such as a building) and/or when they become saturated with water. Volume reductions may happen uniformly or unevenly causing different hazards for developers, lenders, building owners and insurers alike.

Buy BGS Geoclimate 

BGS Geosure Debris Flow Susceptibility Model (DFSM)

BGS GeoSure DFSM provides information on the potential of the ground to form a debris flow (i.e. rapid, downslope flow of poorly sorted debris mixed with water). It is a 1:50 000 scale raster dataset of Great Britain providing 50m ground resolution information indicating the susceptibility/spatial likelihood, at a given location, to initiate a debris flow.

Debris flows are most commonly found in upland Scotland and occur in parts of Wales and the Lake District in GB. They are distinct from other types of landslides as they can occur periodically on established paths, gullies and drainage channels. Debris flows are potentially very destructive and can very quickly block infrastructure routes such as roads and railway lines. The dataset is primarily concerned with potential ground stability related to natural geological conditions (rather than human-induced conditions).

BGS GeoSure DFSM is available as a separate dataset or provided as an add-on to the BGS GeoSure Landslides dataset.

Buy BGS Geosure DFSM

Geosure Insurance Product

The BGS GeoSure insurance product gives an index-level assessment of the potential for a geological deposit to create financial insurance loss due to natural ground movement in Great Britain.  It incorporates the combined effects of the six BGS GeoSure hazards on (low-rise) buildings and links these to a postcode database (the derived postcode database).

• • Collapsible deposits (volume reduction under load);
• • Compressible ground (as water is squeezed out from peat, clay);
• • Landslides (potential slope instability);
• • Running sand (fluidised by water);
• • Shrink swell (a major hazard in clay soils);
• • Soluble rocks (rock-salt, gypsum and limestone, including chalk).

This database contains a normalised hazard rating for each of the six BGS GeoSure theme hazards (i.e. each BGS GeoSure theme has been balanced against each other) and a combined unified hazard rating for each postcode in Great Britain.

Note:  Available for customers in Insurance and Lending businesses only.

Contact us

Technical Details

Supplier

Emapsite

Update Cycle

Annually

Coverage

GB

Scale

1:50 000

Formats Available

SHP, TAB, GBD (NewGIP: CSV)

Stated Accuracy

50 m ground resolution

Stated Accuracy

Stated Accuracy

Licence Options

Annual

Delivery Timescale

Within 24 hours

Related Products

Download Samples

The National Soil Resources Institute (NSRI) at Cranfield University is the Government-appointed National Reference Centre for Soil.  NSRI is the official body responsible for collecting and evaluating information about soils, their distribution, properties, behaviour, quality and use in England and Wales.

Emapsite licenses the following Cranfield datasets:

Cranfield NATMAP vector

NATMAP Vector is the principle soil data product held at Cranfield University.  It indicates nearly 300 distinct groups of soil types that typically occur together in the landscape ('soil associations') mapped across England and Wales at 1:250 000 scale, with linework registered to OS 1:50,000 basemap. Each soil association map unit polygon is described in terms of area, perimeter, national soil map type characteristics and descriptions, unit reference and identifiers.

This flagship dataset was created to provide an understanding of soil-related, environmental risks and resources.  It is used by water companies, environmental consultants and public sector bodies for site and regional assessments.  NATMAP vector, can be customised with non-spatial, soil property datasets from the SOILSERIES range - such as SOILSERIES LEACS described below - for computer modelling and decision making.

Contact us

NATMAP Soilscapes

NATMAP Soilscapes is a simplified version of the full National Soil Map (NATMAP Vector).  It provides general understanding of the variations which occur between soil types and is useful for simpler, descriptive overviews of the soil landscapes of England and Wales, as well as the relationship between soil and the environment.

NATMAP Soilscapes is a 1:250,000 scale, simplified soils dataset with 30 soil classes and an easy-to-understand map legend. Each soil polygon describes the soil, its texture, drainage characteristics, land cover and habitat (e.g  shallow acid peaty soil over rock with variable drainage, open moor, rugged wet heather and grass moor with bare rock, and bog vegetation in hollows).  Unlike NATMAP Vector, NATMAP soilscapes cannot be customised with non-spatial data such as SOILSERIES.

Contact us

Cranfield SOILSERIES LEACS

Cranfield SOILSERIES LEACS (Leakage Assessment due to Corrosivity and Shrinkage) provides information on the shrink-swell and corrosivity properties of soil to Iron and Zinc used in underground assets such as pipes, cables and fittings.  It is tabular data intended for use in conjunction with NATMAP Vector (but not NATMAP Soilscapes).

Cranfield SOILSERIES LEACS is used widely by utility companies (particularly water companies) to predict which underground assets are at risk of corrosion and to guide pipe replacement programmes in their asset management plans. The dataset also provides a risk index, identifying regions where highly sandy soils are prone to be washed away by a pipe burst, which can also lead to structural damage.

Contact us

Technical Details

Supplier

Emapsite

Update Cycle

Quarterly

Coverage

England, Wales

Scale

1:250 000

Formats Available

SHP, CSV (others on request)

Stated Accuracy

Stated Accuracy

Stated Accuracy

Licence Options

Annual

Delivery Timescale

Within 24 hours

Related Products

OS 1:50 000 Scale Colour Raster

Aerial imagery products from Ordnance Survey, Getmapping and Bluesky.

Download Samples

BGS Aquifer Designations (England & Wales)

The 1:50,000 scale maps display the principal, secondary and unproductive aquifers in two different types of aquifer designations (i.e. superficial and bedrock) in England & Wales.  Designations reflect the importance of aquifers as a source of drinking water and their role in supporting surface water flows and wetland ecosystems. Groundwater protection policy in England and Wales uses aquifer designations that are consistent with the Water Framework Directive.

Buy BGS Aquifer Designations (England)

Buy BGS Aquifer Designations (Wales)

BGS Groundwater Vulnerability (England & Wales)

Maps the vulnerability of groundwater to a pollutant discharged at the ground surface at 1:50 000 scale in England & Wales.  The maps provide a separate assessment of the vulnerability of groundwater in overlying superficial rocks and those that comprise the underlying bedrock.Groundwater vulnerability for each aquifer type is expressed from high (where pollutants can easily be transmitted to groundwater) to unproductive (negligible significance for water supply or baseflow to rivers, lakes and wetlands).

Buy BGS Groundwater Vulnerability (England)

Buy BGS Groundwater Vulnerability (Wales)

BGS HydroScotland

The 1:100,000 scale maps display the principal, secondary and unproductive aquifers in two different types of aquifer designations (i.e. superficial and bedrock) in Scotland.

• Aquifer Productivity describes the potential of bedrock and superficial deposit aquifers to sustain various levels of borehole water supply, plus the dominant groundwater flow type in each aquifer.
• Groundwater Vulnerability provides an assessment of the vulnerability of groundwater in the uppermost water table to a pollutant discharged at the ground surface.

The dataset helps characterise groundwater bodies as required by the Water Framework Directive and are useful in policy development (e.g. in prioritising water supply and site investigations, informing planning decisions) and improving awareness of groundwater in general.

Contact us

Technical Details

Supplier

BGS - British Geological Society

Update Cycle

Periodically

Coverage

England & Wales / Scotland

Scale

England & Wales 1:50 000 / Scotland 1:100,000

Formats Available

SHP

Stated Accuracy

Stated Accuracy

Stated Accuracy

Licence Options

Annual

Delivery Timescale

Within 24 hours

Related Products

OS 1:50 000 Scale Colour Raster

Download Samples

BGS Electrical Resistivity

Electrical resistivity of natural geological materials in Great Britain where earthing characteristics of the ground are required.

BGS Resistivity classifies resistivity of the ground using modelled values of electrical resistivity using data from BGS Soil Parent Material Model, National Geotechnical Property Database and Geophysical Laboratories Database.

The near surface electrical resistivity of the ground is dependent on a number of factors, including pore water resistivity, saturation and the clay content of the underlying geology. It is an important factor in engineering activities in use cases such as power distribution networks and earthing of electrical systems (e.g. electric vehicle charging facilities). This dataset is for desk studies which must be validated by physical soil sampling at a site of interest.

Buy BGS Electrical Resistivity

BGS Soil Chemistry

BGS Soil Chemistry provides estimated ambient background concentrations of Arsenic, Cadmium, Chromium, Nickel and Lead for rural topsoil and measured concentrations of these elements plus Copper, Tin and Zinc in urban topsoil sample collected from geochemical surveys in 23 major urban centres.

The dataset also includes estimated 'bioaccessible' data for Arsenic and Lead (released from the soil into solution in the gastrointestinal tract in a form that can potentially be absorbed into the bloodstream).

BGS Soil Chemistry can be used as part of land-quality assessments to provide context and establish if elevated local measurements in urban areas are the result of significant human-induced pollution or if they are representative of the estimated ambient background concentration. It is useful to inform planning decisions and to aid environmental consultants, developers, householders and their legal representatives prior to site investigation.  This dataset is for desk studies which must be validated by physical soil sampling at a site of interest.

Contact us

Technical Details

Supplier

BGS - British Geological Society

Update Cycle

Periodically

Coverage

Great Britain

Scale

1:50 000

Formats Available

SHP

Stated Accuracy

Stated Accuracy

Stated Accuracy

Licence Options

Annual

Delivery Timescale

Within 24 hours

Related Products

Download Samples

BGS Civils (All Layers)

BGS Civils is a suite of maps of engineering properties based on the 1:50 000 scale Geology map of Great Britain. It comprises eight layers and provides the key engineering characteristics of the uppermost 2-metres of geology of Great Britain:

• • Bulking Volume (increase in volume when excavated)
• • Corrosivity (Ferrous)
• • Discontinuities
• • Engineered Fill
• • Foundation Conditions
• • Excavatability
• • Strength
• • Sulphate/Sulphide

The dataset is intended for professional user desk studies in engineering, environmental consultancy, planning, site development and asset management for daily planning activities and preventative maintenance or investigating costs for trench excavation.

Buy BGS Civils

BGS Mineral Resources

BGS Mineral Resources maps the geological distribution of all onshore, workable mineral resources in England, Wales and Scotland central belt at a scale of 1:50 000.

Great Britain has a wide range of minerals including construction minerals, industrial minerals and metals.  BGS Mineral Resources brings together minerals, environmental and other land-use information in an integrated system.  It is intended to inform desk studies and the development of more effective/sustainable management strategies for mineral extraction (subject to environmental and local authority planning constraints).

Buy BGS Mineral Resources

Contact us

BGS Mining Hazards

BGS Mining Hazard provides a national-scale summary of the likely presence of mining in Great Britain and an indication of the level of hazard associated with old workings. Presented as a vector map of interlocking 1km hexagon cells (area c.2.6 km2) with four classes (localised, small-scale, significant and no record).

Note: The 'full' BGS mining hazard (not including coal) dataset is also available on request and provides further detail at a 1:50 000 scale, including information on the type of commodity extracted, mine names and any additional details where available.

Contact us

Technical Details

Supplier

BGS - British Geological Survey

Update Cycle

Annually

Coverage

GB

Scale

1:50 000

Formats Available

BGS Civils: SHP, DWG

Stated Accuracy

Stated Accuracy

Stated Accuracy

Licence Options

Annual

Delivery Timescale

Within 24 hours

Related Products

Aerial Imagery products from Ordnance Survey, Getmapping or Bluesky.

Download Samples