NatureScot has prepared a spatial dataset to be used in muirburn license applications. This dataset visualises the extent of land that may be classified 'peatland', as defined in the associated muirburn legislation.
This dataset is derived from outputs of the spatial disaggregation model of the legacy soil map (1:250,000 scale) created by the James Hutton Institute. It is complemented with data from the James Hutton Institute 1:25,000 partial soil coverage map (Soil25K V10d). (Used with the permission of The James Hutton Institute. All rights reserved).
The resulting map updates earlier work undertaken by NatureScot for the identification of the distribution of carbon rich soil and is provided as a raster datafile with a resolution of 50 m.
The map displays a single field attribute with three classes defined as:
- Area with no peat: labelled "Non-peatland"
- Area with a peat layer less than 50 cm thick: labelled "Uncertain"
- Area with a peat layer greater or equal to 50 cm thick: labelled "Peatland"
- Area of non soils labelled as "Non-soil"
The map is intended to be used as a baseline information in the NatureScot Online Licensing System and does not on its own identify areas that may be suitable for muirburn or area that will be defined as peatland under other classification systems.
Additional information:Gagkas Z. & Lilly A. Spatial disaggregation of a legacy soil map to support digital soil and land evaluation assessments in Scotland July 2024 Geoderma Regional 38(2):e00833 DOI: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352009424000804