National soil data

As of August 2021, S-map coverage stood at 37.1% of New Zealand, or 67.7% of multiple use land (LUC 1-4). For areas outside S-map coverage we recommend to explore ‘legacy’ soil information from one of the following sources:

• Fundamental soil layers (FSL): Originates from an expert derived join of attributes measured in the National Soils Database (NSD) and the polygon boundaries of the New Zealand Land Resource Inventory (NZLRI). 16 key soil attributes were selected through a consultation process with stakeholders, and fall broadly into three groups: soil fertility/toxicity, soil physical properties (particularly those related to soil moisture), and topography/climate.
  The 16 attributes described are: slope, potential rooting depth, topsoil gravel content,     proportion of rock outcrop, pH, salinity, cation exchange capacity, total carbon, phosphorus retention, flood interval, soil temperature, total profile available water, profile readily available water, drainage, macropores (shallow and deep).
  How to access: Maps of the soil attributes can be explored and queried through our dedicated SoilsMapViewer. All FSL layers are available from the LRIS portal for download and analysis.
• Legacy Map Viewer: As part of our custodianship work we have digitised NZ Soil Bureau’s ‘reference’ map collection of over 300 map items from New Zealand and the Pacific. The New Zealand items – published between 1932 and 1989 – are available from an online viewer, allowing you to spatially explore available ‘legacy’ information for your area of interest.
  How to access: Search and filter available maps from our Legacy Map Viewer page. Download of map scans is through our Manaaki Whenua Digital Library interface.

Soil observations in the field and associated laboratory results are stored in the National Soils Data Repository (NSDR). The NSDR therefore underpins S-map Online and all other Manaaki Whenua soil information products.
The NSDR hosts the ‘legacy’ National Soils Database (NSD), a 'point' database containing descriptions of about 1,500 New Zealand soil profiles, together with their chemical, physical, and mineralogical characteristics. In addition, it is used to capture, store and harmonise ‘legacy’ soil datasets from across the organsation, as well as all relevant soil observations and analyses being made as part of our ongoing projects.
How to access: Visit our NSDR Viewer to access this database. Note that public access is currently restricted to the NSD only.

National monitoring of the quality of New Zealand soils was encouraged by the Resource Management Act 1991. Most regional councils assess soil quality via monitoring schemes under various land uses: forestry, cropping and horticulture, dairy, and drystock. Seven soil characteristics are part of the soil quality monitoring: total carbon, total nitrogen, mineralisable nitrogen, acidity, plant-available phosphorus, bulk density and macroporosity.
How to access: Findings of the soil quality monitoring are published in regular intervals by MfE and Stats NZ as part of their environmental reporting efforts. MfE also provides related datasets for download, e.g. on ‘Our land 2018’ and ‘Our land 2021’ reports.