An Introduction to Soil Classification
[This is the Soil Classification course which will be delivered online. This follows on from the Practical Introduction to Soil course, and provides further knowledge and training.]
If you are a land manager, researcher or consultant working with soils in the field, and wish to make the best use of currently available soil information, this course is for you.
This two-day online training course is led by a team of national experts in soil description, mapping and classification. Initially, you will gain a basic understanding of the principles and methodology behind soil classification and how it can be used to support the sustainable management of soil resources. Subsequent sessions give an overview of the three different systems used in England & Wales, in Scotland and in Northern Ireland and the two main classification system used at the international level.
The main component of the course focusses on the internationally used World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB), developed with the specific objective of enabling ‘the accommodation of national soil classification systems.’ You will learn how to recognize those soil properties that identify key diagnostic layers influencing soil behaviour, and how these are used as building blocks within the classification system.
At various stages in the course there will be practical sessions where, with guidance from the tutors and use of purpose-built flow charts, you will use these methods to build up the classification of an example soil type based on its field description.
A final session covers how to use WRB classes to interpret their ability to support different soil functions.
As part of the package, you will receive a comprehensive course manual, a soil profile description form for future use, a link to download the WRB manual and a copy of The Fragile Skin; Soil Landscapes of the UK.
If you only have limited experience of working with soils in the field, attendance on our training course ‘A Practical Introduction to soil in England & Wales’ or the sister course on Scottish soils will help you get more out of this course on soil classification.
----------------------------------
If you have booked but would like to cancel for whatever reason, please refer to our Cancellation Policy.
