data products Archives - British Geological Survey

GeoClimate Shrink–Swell

Lee Burnell — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 08:12:22 +0000

GeoClimate ��԰�–s�ɱ�� provides information on the projected future change in susceptibility of clay ��԰�–s�ɱ�� across Great Britain due to climate change. This version of GeoClimate utilises state-of-the-art climate projection data from the future climate dataset (), which is explicitly derived from UKCP18 regional climate model outputs. This dataset is preceded by and replaces the BGS GeoClimate UKCP18 and UKCP09 products, improving upon previous iterations by providing outputs for more representative concentration pathways (RCPs) and a larger number of time periods.

Many soils contain clay minerals that absorb water when wet (making them swell) and lose water as they dry (making them shrink). This ‘��԰�–s�ɱ��’ behaviour is controlled by the type and amount of clay in the soil and by changes in soil-moisture content related to rainfall and local drainage. This ��԰�–s�ɱ�� variation can cause ground movement, which in turn may damage building foundations, pipes or utility services.

Dry weather and high temperatures are a major factor in the emergence of subsidence in clay soils. Every summer can be completely different to the last; summer 2018 had the hottest, driest June for years whereas summer 2019 had one of the wettest Junes on record. Warmer, drier summers and increases in annual temperature and rainfall variability are predicted, which will cause more ��԰�–s�ɱ�� activity.

Shrink–swell ground movement, typically reported as subsidence, is one of the most damaging geohazards in Britain today, costing the economy an estimated £3 billion over the past decade. It can lead to financial loss for anyone involved in the construction, ownership or management of property, large structures, infrastructure networks and utilities. These costs could include increased insurance premiums, depressed house prices and, in some cases, engineering works to stabilise land or property.
Armed with knowledge about potential hazards, preventative or mitigative steps can be put in place to alleviate the effects of the hazard on property and infrastructure. The cost of such prevention may be very low and is often many times lower than the repair bill following ground movement

Further information

GeoClimate looks specifically at the geological factors that influence ��԰�–s�ɱ�� subsidence and the climatic effects and interactions. It does not consider any human or artificial factors. GeoClimate ��԰�–s�ɱ�� provides information on the potential for clay ��԰�–s�ɱ�� subsidence under a range of climate scenarios. The data provides projections for the RCPs 2.6, 4.5 and 8.5 emission scenarios.

Matrix of sample BGS GeoClimate clay ��԰�–s�ɱ�� outputs for the wettest, average and driest projected climate conditions in each of the RCPs 2.6, 4.5 and 8.5, for the time period of 2065 to 2075. BGS © UKRI

GeoClimate clay ��԰�–s�ɱ�� is a national geological dataset produced by BGS and is provided at a quasi-1:50 000 scale. It is based on the best and most appropriate resolution datasets available at national scale and coverage — the 1:50 000 BGS geological data and 1 km grid CHESS-SCAPE climate projection data. CHESS-SCAPE is a high-resolution downscaled dataset derived from the UKCP18 12 km regional climate model ensemble. GeoClimate clay ��԰�–s�ɱ�� has almost complete coverage of Great Britian (not including some Hebridean islands, Shetland and parts of Orkney).

Demonstration of data coverage for GeoClimate clay ��԰�–s�ɱ��. This instance shows the output for the average projected climate conditions for 2065 to 2075 under RCP 8.5. BGS © UKRI.

Additional dataset information

Features	GeoClimate clay shrink-swell
Temporal projections (11-year windows)	2030 (2025–2035) 2050 (2045-2055) 2070 (2065–2075)
Historical time period (11-year window)	1996 (1991 to 2001)
Emissions scenarios	RCP2.6 RCP4.5 RCP8.5
Climate model projection	CHESS-SCAPE (a high-resolution downscaled dataset derived from the UKCP18 regional climate model ensemble).
GeoClimate categories	Five (highly unlikely to extremely likely)
Climate data scale	Daily 1km grid
Outputs	36 in total: medium, drier, wetter and difference (for each RCP and each time period)
Format	ESRI vector polygon data
Difference maps	Nine: one for each RCP time period

Figure 1 Additional dataset information for GeoClimate clay ��԰�–s�ɱ��

Colour	Class
Blue	Highly unlikely	It is highly unlikely that foundations will be affected by increased clay shrink-swell due to climate change.
Light Blue	Unlikely	It is unlikely that foundations will be affected by increased clay shrink-swell due to climate change.
Yellow	Likely	It is likely that foundations will be affected by increased clay shrink-swell due to climate change.
Orange	Highly likely	It is highly likely that foundations will be affected by increased clay shrink-swell due to climate change.
Red	Extremely likely	It is extremely likely that foundations will be affected by increased clay shrink-swell due to climate change.
Grey	Unavailable	Input datasets unavailable.

Figure 2 GeoClimate clay ��԰�–s�ɱ�� colours, classes and susceptibility descriptors.

FAQs

These questions and answers have been provided to address any potential issues relating to how the product can be used or how it can be interpreted. If you have any additional questions, please contact BGS Digital Data (digitaldata@bgs.ac.uk).

This dataset provides information on the projected future change in susceptibility of clay ��԰�–s�ɱ�� across Great Britain due to climate change. It considers the changing climate and the associated changes in near-surface groundwater content, as well as the static variables of geology and geotechnical values.

All the GeoClimate datasets have coverage for Great Britain (except some Hebridean isalnds, Shetland and parts of Orkney).

The BGS GeoClimate datasets are available as vector GIS datasets with attribute values relating to ��԰�–s�ɱ�� hazard susceptibility under a range of climate scenarios. The dataset comprises both polygon and grid data. Please contact BGS Digital Data (digitaldata@bgs.ac.uk) to request further information.

BGS GeoSure Shrink–Swell is a hazard susceptibility rating that does not change for a geological deposit. However, the projected changes in climate vary across Great Britain, therefore the GeoSure ��԰�–s�ɱ�� rating is combined with climate projections to provide a GeoClimate rating.
GeoSure ��԰�–s�ɱ�� considers only the physical properties of the geology, whereas GeoClimate considers how these physical properties may be affected in the future as a consequence of projected changes in climate. We provide a 1996 baseline dataset (based on the time period 1991 to 2001) that should be referred to by users interested in the level of modelled ‘change’ from ‘current climatic conditions’.

GeoClimate UKCP18 was only available for RCP 8.5. The CHESS-SCAPE RCP 8.5 average climate projection is slightly drier than UKCP18, providing projections with slightly higher increases in subsidence susceptibility. Overall, the difference in outputs is very comparable, showing the robustness of the CHESS-SCAPE subset of four ensemble members to represent UKCP18.

Comparison between GeoClimate clay ��԰�–s�ɱ�� RCP 8.5 and GeoClimate UKCP18 RCP 8.5 susceptibility projections for 2030 and 2070. BGS © UKRI 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right (2026).

The gridded nature of areas of GeoClimate is due to the resolution of the soil-moisture deficit data generated using the BGS Groundwater Model (ZOODRM). This provides an output grid with a resolution of 2 km. Therefore, the grid is clearly visible when it is combined with the geological 1:50 000 polygon dataset in areas where the soil-moisture deficit values lead to a varying GeoClimate classification, across areas of consistent volume-change potential.

Changes in susceptibility are driven by both the mineralogical and lithological characteristics of the geology combined with the climate. Some areas of the country will never experience clay ��԰�–s�ɱ�� due to the underlying geology; these areas remain ‘improbable’ in every time period. In other areas, the underlying geology contains clay minerals that can shrink and swell due to varying water content but are not yet experiencing fluctuations large enough to trigger visible volume change and ground movement. As climate conditions change and become more extreme, these areas could see increased hazard and impacts.

There is a general relationship that RCP 8.5 is drier than RCP 4.5, which is drier than RCP 2.6 and, the further into the future, the larger the increase in clay ��԰�–s�ɱ�� susceptibility. However, this is greatly simplified and there are deviations from this due to complexities such as:
• reductions in aerosols accompanying the reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions: aerosols have a cooling effect and a much shorter lifetime in the atmosphere, leading to non-linear responses and potentially an increase in temperature following rapid mitigation strategies, followed by cooling in the longer term
• lag times of decades in the GHG emissions reductions and impact on global temperatures, due to long lifetime of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere
• variation in rainfall infiltration rates due to increasing summer temperatures causing drying of the ground surface and leading to increased runoff

CHESS-SCAPE has four ensemble members, which were chosen to span the range of temperature and precipitation changes in the UKCP18 ensemble, representing the ensemble climate model uncertainty. The GeoClimate ��԰�–s�ɱ�� methodology therefore provides four soil-moisture deficit values for each grid square. The values from each of the climate realisations are sorted from wettest to driest and the 10th, 50th and 90th percentiles of the model distribution were calculated. The 10th percentile has been used to represent the wetter conditions, the 50th percentile represents median or average conditions and the 90th percentile represents drier conditions.

The reason for the ‘unavailable’ category arises from two different sources. Firstly, not all the input datasets required are available for all of the Scottish islands (including Orkney and Shetland). Therefore, results for these areas are categorised as ‘Input datasets unavailable’. Secondly, various points along the coastline produced extremely high outlying values of soil-moisture deficit during the data processing. Those events originate with the climate scenario data. To account for this, any grid point with extremely high soil-moisture deficit values was removed and replaced with a null value. It is therefore not possible to provide it with a GeoClimate score and the cell is recorded as ‘unavailable’.

GeoClimate shrink-swell of a) the Outer Hebrides and b) Morecambe Bay, demonstrating the two origins of data unavailable areas (grey). BGS © UKRI 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right (2026)

GeoClimate Shrink–Swell uses 1:50 000-scale geological data. It is therefore quasi- 1:50 000 scale and is intended for use at this scale. All spatial searches of the maps should be undertaken using a minimum 50 m buffer. This is because the smallest detectable feature at this scale is 50 m. Consequently, digital data should be used at about the same scale as the original compilation; for example, 1:50 000-scale data should not normally be used at the 1:10 000 scale.
Most geological maps were originally fitted to a particular topographical base and care must be taken in interpretation, for example when the geological data is draped over a more recent topography.

This dataset is not routinely updated; it is revised on an ad hoc basis, as and when there are significant changes in its source data or when it is prioritised for update.

This dataset is licenced from BGS. Please refer to the terms of your licence or contact BGS IPR (ipr@bgs.ac.uk) for further information.

Despite the aggressive mitigation described in RCP 2.6, warming is predicted to continue and peak mid-century, then gradually decline and stabilise. Even with immediate, sustained and very rapid reductions in GHG emissions globally, UKCP18 suggests the country will experience an additional warming of around 0.6°C between now and 2050 (Climate Change Committee, [year]). RCP 2.6 projects long-term stabilisation occurring by 2070, with recovery towards wetter conditions.

Due to there being relatively modest differences between the emissions for the different RCPs at the start of the century and the atmospheric lags experienced, there is no simple, clear relationship between the RCPs for the 2030 projections. Due to the lag between CO2 emission reductions and climate response (decades), these only start to have a clearer impact after the 2050s.

Burning of coal and other fossil fuels releases GHGs and sulfate aerosols. Sulfate aerosols have a cooling effect on the climate, by reflecting sunlight and promoting cloud formation, leading to less sunlight reaching the ground surface thus partially masking the warming effect of GHGs. Sulfates have a relatively short lifetime in the atmosphere (days to weeks) in comparison to CO2, of which around 50 per cent is absorbed within 30 years.
A very rapid decrease in coal use is projected for RCP 2.6 by 2020, leading to a swift reduction in GHG and sulfate emissions. The RCP 2.6 projection is dominated by the success of the reduction in GHG emissions and there is little additional impact from the reduction in sulfate aerosols. In comparison with the intermediate mitigation pathway RCP 4.5, the reduction in aerosols contributes to the warming projected for 2030 and the related increase in ��԰�–s�ɱ�� susceptibility. This is because, when production falls due to the shorter atmospheric lifetime of the sulfates, levels decrease quicker than those for CO2 and GHGs.
Just as RCP 2.6 is dominated by the impact of rapidly decreasing GHG emissions, RCP 8.5 is driven by the gradually increasing GHG emissions over the coming century, with the sulfates again playing a minor role. The near-term projections (2030) for GeoClimate ��԰�–s�ɱ�� for RCPs 4.5 and 8.5 are therefore not that dissimilar.

RCP 4.5 assumes GHG emissions peak around 2040 and then start to decline. Due to lags in atmospheric GHG concentrations, the trends of increasing summer temperatures, decreasing summer rainfall and increasing summer rainfall intensity persist until the end of century.

The GeoClimate methodology involves a hydrogeological model, which provides soil moisture deficit values at a 2 km grid resolution. Therefore, though the projected rainfall and temperature values are daily 1 km grid datasets, the output is a 2km grid, which is then combined with the 1:50000 geological data.

As there is the potential of low-resolution data being used inappropriately for site-specific or high-stakes decisions, when used outside its intended scale and limits and without a clear understanding of the methodology and input datasets, a corporate decision was made to withdraw future Open GeoClimate datasets.

BGS GeoClimate UKCP09 and BGS GeoClimate UKCP18 have now been withdrawn and superseded as BGS data products. As such the datasets are not actively maintained, although they are still scientifically correct and valid at the time that they were originally published. This BGS GeoClimate clay shrink-swell (CHESS-SCAPE) data product is being actively supported within the BGS portfolio of data products and utilises our most up to date climate projections, so we would encourage the use of this dataset.

BGS GeoClimate – dataset launch webinar

BGS Press — Wed, 06 May 2026 07:05:15 +0000

The new BGS GeoClimate data product provides information on the potential for clay shrink-swell subsidence under multiple climate scenarios.

Soils and rocks with high clay content are prone to absorbing water when wet, causing them to expand. As these deposits dry out, they contract, reducing in size. These changes produce ground movement which can cause overlying property and infrastructure to move and shift, often resulting in costly structural damages. Signs of subsidence include cracks in walls, ceilings and other built structures.

This natural hazard presents a significant growing economic cost – In 2025, the UK experienced the warmest Spring on record, and the driest in more than 50 years. As a result, in the first six months of 2025, subsidence-related insurance claims in the UK totalled £153 million (ABI, 2025). Climate change projections indicate that hotter, drier conditions are likely to become increasingly frequent over the coming century, exacerbating subsidence susceptibility.

BGS GeoClimate identifies where susceptibility to shrink-swell subsidence is likely to change, considering 1:50 000 scale BGS geological data and the highest available resolution climate change projections, CHESS-SCAPE from UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UK CEH). These are explicitly derived from UKCP18 regional climate model outputs. This new version of GeoClimate improves upon previous iterations providing outputs for more Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) and a larger number of time periods.

BGS GeoClimate Shrink-Swell webinar recording

Webinar agenda:

Introduction to the new GeoClimate dataset
Review of the methodology and input datasets
Demonstration of data format, coverage, and resolution
Potential applications and user case studies
Q&A with BGS research scientists and products team
a download of questions and responses from the Q&A is now available.

Who should attend:

This webinar will be of interest to:

Anyone working with climate data and geospatial decision‑support tools continually refine how it identifies and manages supply risks for its material needs.
Banks and mortgage lenders
Insurers and risk modellers
Conveyancers and property reporters
Infrastructure managers e.g. transport, utilities
Local, regional and national planners and policy makers
Engineering and environmental consultants supporting climate resilience and adaptation

Relative topics

data products digital data shrink-swell subsidence

The post BGS GeoClimate – dataset launch webinar appeared first on British Geological Survey.

Is your region susceptible? Britain’s geohazard hotspots revealed

BGS Press — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 08:05:35 +0000

Scientists at the British Geological Survey (BGS) have published UK regional hazard maps revealing the most susceptible local authority regions around the country. The maps provide regional decision makers with an overview of the relevant hazards in their local area and provide an important indication of where more detailed hazard data may be required.

The analysis considers the occurrence of eight key geohazards relating to natural subsidence, the presence of the ground-gas radon, and the possibility of legacy mining in an area (excluding coal).

Download this map.

" data-gallery="gallery_68511">

Geospatial assessment of susceptible geohazards in each British local authority. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under Open Government Licence v.3.0. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2024. Download this map.

Regions in the south (Devon; Dorset; Hampshire; Kent; Surrey; Wiltshire; West Sussex) and north (Cumbria; North Yorkshire; Northumberland) of England are shown to be the most susceptible, with some regions affected by all eight hazards. The Outer Hebrides and Halton (south of Liverpool) were revealed to be the least susceptible, with exposure to three or fewer hazards.

Various geological properties and processes are associated with each hazard but the majority result in some form of ground movement, causing similar societal impacts and damage to infrastructure and homes. For example, collapsible deposits, compressible ground, running sands and shrink-swell subsidence can all result in damage to roads and pathways, breaks in utility pipes and damage to foundations and buildings. Former underground workings and soluble rocks can both cause larger underground cavities that may be prone to collapse, causing more significant and sudden movement and damage. Radon is the exception; it is a natural radioactive gas that can enter buildings from the ground and can increase the risk to human health where there is exposure to high concentrations.

The Stob Coire Sgrodain landslide, approximately 6 km south, south-west of Tulloch station, by the shores of Loch Treig, on the Fort William to Crianlarich railway line. Source: BGS © UKRI

Road subsidence in the Peterborough area due to compression and clay shrink-swell). Source: BGS © UKRI

Partial collapse of a house in Ripon, North Yorkshire, due to sinkhole formation over soluble gypsum in the Permian-aged Edlington Formation, February 2014. BGS © UKRI.

Figures released by the show thousands of claims relating to ground movement such as subsidence are being made annually, costing millions of pounds to remediate. costs tens of millions pounds a year to repair and there are dramatic examples of and soluble rock collapses causing sudden and catastrophic damage to residential areas. Radon gas is linked to in the UK each year.

It is important to note that there are other active hazards such as river and coastal erosion affecting some local authority regions, not yet included in this study.

To create these maps, BGS has simplified and summarised its geological information. In this generalised form they give an indication as to which geohazards are most prevalent per region. For a more detailed view of specific areas that are most prone to particular geohazards risks please visit the BGS data product webpages for mining hazards (non including coal), ground instability and radon gas to find out how to access higher-resolution data.

Download this map.

" data-gallery="gallery_41043">

Geospatial assessment of the most prevalent geohazards per local authority. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under Open Government Licence v.3.0. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and
database right 2024. Download this map.

BGS has compiled its most comprehensive and authoritative datasets in this way to provide the maximum support for a diverse range of stakeholders, ranging from regulators to policymakers and planners.

Presenting the data in this generalised manner provides a quick and convenient indication as to which geohazards are most prevalent by region, informing mitigation strategies and the acquisition of higher resolution data. We would encourage anyone interested in our hazard data to contact us or visit our dataset webpages for more information.

Katy Lee – BGS Product Portfolio Manager

The underlying BGS geohazard datasets from which these statistics are derived are each presented as five susceptibility classes per hazard. The summary maps shown here present statistics relating the upper three classifications which represent areas most likely to be impacted by the respective hazards. For the BGS GeoSure and mining hazard (not including coal) ground instability hazards these upper three classes represent areas where susceptibility to ground instability is possible, probable or known. The BGS Radon Potential upper three classes cover 95 per cent of homes estimated to be at or above the threshold guideline for radon levels (200 becquerels per cubic metre).

For full details of the classification breakdown, please refer to the respective dataset product user guides:

Download the maps

Further information on the assessed hazards:

If you have any queries about the BGS data available to support hazard susceptibility assessments please get in touch (digitaldata@bgs.ac.uk) or visit our dataset webpages for more information.

Collapsible deposits are soil materials that undergo a significant reduction in volume (collapse) when saturated with water and then loaded.
/datasets/bgs-geosure-collapsible-deposits/

Soft materials like peat or alluvium that compact under a load.
/datasets/bgs-geosure-compressible-ground/

Downslope movement of materials due to the effect of gravity and influenced by factors including geology, drainage, and slope.

/datasets/bgs-geosure-landslides/

Subsurface voids resulting from past underground mining activity pose a possible hazard. Former underground workings, particularly where shallow, may collapse and cause surface settlement.
/datasets/mining-hazard-not-including-coal-coverage/

Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas, that can enters buildings from the ground. Exposure to high concentrations increases the risk of lung cancer.
/datasets/radon-data-indicative-atlas-of-radon/

Loosely-packed sandy layers in the subsurface that can be fluidised by water flowing through them, leading to damage to roads and pathways, breaks in utility pipes and connections, and structural damage to foundations and buildings.
/datasets/bgs-geosure-running-sand/

Clay-rich soils shrink and swell in response to changes in moisture content, leading to ground movement and potentially causing damage to buildings.
/datasets/geoclimateukcp18-premium/

Rocks such as limestone and salt can pose a hazard because they dissolve when exposed to water, creating underground cavities and potentially causing subsidence, sinkholes, and structural damage to buildings and infrastructure.
/datasets/bgs-geosure-soluble-rocks/

Relative topics

data products geohazards landslides maps and models multi-hazards national geoscience

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The post Is your region susceptible? Britain’s geohazard hotspots revealed appeared first on British Geological Survey.

New data reveals latest mineral workings around Great Britain and Northern Ireland

BGS Press — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 13:55:11 +0000

The latest release of the BGS BritPits dataset covers more than 260 000 mineral workings in Great Britain, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.

The data includes active, inactive, dormant and ceased sites, as well as a range of mineral operations including mines, quarries, onshore oil and gas fields, wharfs and rail depots handling mineral products and industrial processes. Each entry describes an onshore mineral working in terms of its name, operational status, geographical location, Mineral Planning Authority, operator, the geology worked and the mineral commodity produced.

This data is of particular value to organisations with an interest in the location of mineral extraction sites and their potential for further use. For example, BritPits data has been supplied to:

national and local governments, for use in planning and statistical studies
non-governmental organisations, for environmental and conservation planning
commercial organisations, for analysis of resource potential and legacy operations

BritPit locations. BGS © UKRI – Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2025

BGS BritPits is available in three different packages:

Two licenced packages are available in GIS and CSV formats.

The full dataset includes all the entries of the BGS BritPits database, including historic sites. This data is also available for specific mineral planning areas (MPAs). The full dataset is available as a GIS or CSV format and can be accessed as a Web Map Service (WMS) layer or via the .

The AID data package is a subset of the full dataset and includes only the active, inactive and dormant mines and quarries (around 5200 entries).

Index level information is available to view via the BGS GeoIndex and access as a WMS link under the Open Government Licence (OGL). This is based on the full BritPits dataset but contains index-level information only on the name, status and location of the working. More detailed information on commodities, MPAs, operator, etc. are reserved for the licensed version.

Further information is available through the BGS BritPits dataset page or by contacting the digital data team.

Relative topics

data products digital data minerals mines and mining national geoscience

BGS Groundwater Flooding Susceptibility: helping mitigate one of the UK’s most costly hazards

BGS Press — Wed, 25 Sep 2024 15:00:00 +0000

Groundwater flooding occurs when the water table rises to meet the ground surface. This hazard often goes unnoticed because it commonly occurs alongside river and surface water flooding, but it can substantially exacerbate the effects of flooding events.
Without dramatic images of burst river banks or breached sea defences, groundwater flooding rarely makes the headlines, yet in England and Wales it is estimated that groundwater flooding accounts for on average £530 million in damage per year. This represents 30 per cent of the total national annual economic loss due to flooding (Allocca et al., 2021).

A significant contributing factor to the high costs associated with groundwater flooding is the effect on underground infrastructure, such as basements and buried assets. Generally, the water table response to rainfall is much slower than rivers. Persistent rainfall over weeks and months can raise groundwater levels to a tipping point, where even a short period of low-intensity rainfall can unexpectedly trigger a flooding event. The mechanics of groundwater flooding also result in flood water lingering for longer than other forms of flooding as the water table slowly recedes, causing an estimated 2.5 times greater damage than those incurred from other flood types (Allocca et al., 2021).

The BGS Groundwater Flooding Susceptibility dataset highlights which areas of England, Scotland and Wales are most susceptible to groundwater flooding, based on geological and hydrogeological conditions at a 50 m resolution. Models of groundwater flooding originating from both superficial and bedrock aquifers are combined creating zones of susceptibility which are classified as:

the potential for groundwater flooding to occur at surface
the potential for groundwater flooding of property situated below ground level (basements, etc.)
limited potential for groundwater flooding to occur

Sample of the BGS Groundwater Flooding Susceptibility dataset. BGS © UKRI

A complementary dataset providing a measure of confidence in the susceptibility classification (based on the hydrogeological setting) is included, which considers the groundwater flooding mechanism, susceptibility class and locations of previous groundwater flooding. The data is recommended as a screening tool for scoping and planning rather than for site-specific risk assessments.

Feedback from existing data users demonstrates the wide-ranging applications of this data:

desk-based scoping studies by environmental and engineering consultants
informing local planning authorities and property developers when compiling local development plans
informing lead local flood authorities compiling their strategic flood risk assessments
assessing infrastructure networks and assets, such as rail lines, highways and water treatment facilities, for susceptibility to groundwater flooding
research by conservation and academic institutes
informing water companies of areas that may be affected by planned reductions in groundwater abstraction activities
informing climate reports for Ministry of Defence sites

Many home insurance providers do not provide cover for the effects of groundwater flooding and ensuring awareness of an area’s susceptibility to this hazard is an essential component of any property conveyancing report.

A more granular view of groundwater flood risk can be gained by combining this data with other information such as elevation, previous instances of groundwater flooding, rainfall, property type, and land drainage information. A number of BGS’s data resellers have used the BGS Groundwater Flooding Susceptibility dataset alongside some of our other datasets to develop their own flood modelling tools, predicting groundwater flood risk at a finer scale.

Contact

If you would like to discuss how this data can support your organisations groundwater flooding decision making please get in touch with the digital data team (digitaldata@bgs.ac.uk).

Allocca, V, Di Napoli, M, Coda, S, Carotenuto, F, Calcaterra, D, Di Martire, D, and De Vita, P. 2021. .��Science of the Total Environment, Vol. 790, 148067. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148067

About the author

Rob Shaw

Geospatial data analyst

BGS Keyworth

Find out more

Relative topics

data products digital data flooding groundwater water security

Spotlight on BGS coastal erosion data

BGS Press — Thu, 18 Jul 2024 06:59:07 +0000

The (FCERM) research and development programme’s areas of interest launched at the beginning of May 2024. Following this, we are highlighting the BGS datasets that can support coastal researchers and practitioners facing adaptation challenges at the coast.

As a result of the complex interaction of natural properties and processes, a range of geohazards converge at the coast and make it a hotspot for financial and societal costs. One such example of these issues is demonstrated by the plight of Fairbourne, a village in west Wales that is . The third UK Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA3) has highlighted that all four UK nations are and the UK lacks national ‘projections of risk to the viability of coastal communities, either from erosion or catastrophic flooding’.

Existing methodologies for assessing national coastal erosion vulnerability often fail to consider how the localised properties and structures of geological deposits can affect coastal change when combined with coastal processes. For example, the (NCERM) for England and Wales states, ‘Details of geologically complex areas known as “complex cliffs” are, in general, not included within the dataset due to the inherent uncertainties associated with predicting the timing and extent of erosion at these locations.’

BGS GeoCoast

BGS GeoCoast aims to plug this data gap by providing a suite of nationally consistent geological properties data that can be used by stakeholders as key components within a coastal modelling environment.

BGS launched GeoCoast in 2022. It is an integrated geographical information system (GIS) package of datasets designed to inform and support coastal management, planning and adaptation around Great Britain. GeoCoast is based on the outputs of numerous research programmes, stakeholder advice and data analytics and provides sufficient data for users to analyse and assess a range of coastal risks.

GeoCoast Premium

GeoCoast Premium is a licenced package that identifies coastal properties at a 50 m scale and consists of three layers:

erosion susceptibility
coastal properties
groundwater flooding zones

Erosion susceptibility

GeoCoast erosion susceptibility. BGS © UKRI.

The first layer provides an erosion susceptibility assessment of the coastal stratigraphy. Our regional geology experts considered the 3D geological ‘stack’ of rock types on the coasts of Great Britain, providing unique insight that is not always available from 2D geology maps.

Each rock type in the stack is scored based on a series of geological properties:

type of discontinuities
material strength
permeability

A total score is calculated per rock type and a worst and mean erosion susceptibility score provided for the entire stack. Scores are also classified from ‘low’ to ‘high’, with special consideration given to the rock type at the bottom of the stack as this is most likely to interact with wave action and tidal processes.

Additional information is provided on:

cliff profile
complexity of the geological structure of the stack
whether there have been any previous landslides mapped at this location

This is repeated every 50 m around the high-water line of mainland Great Britain. Projected rates of erosion calculated by the NCERM project are also provided for England and Wales.

Coastal properties grid

The coastal properties grid provides information on a wider coastal range, covering the foreshore and backshore region. Using the data to consider Fairbourne as an example, the grid provides a condensed version of the erosion susceptibility assessment.

BGS GeoCoast Coastal Properties Grid erosion susceptibility classification for Lithology1, the lithology at the base of the coastal stack, at Fairbourne. BGS © UKRI — contains OS data © Crown Copyright 2024

Projected coastal inundation extents consider sea level projections from UK Climate Projection (UKCP) 18 under the RCP 4.5 emissions scenario. These projections offer a worst case, undefended view of coastal inundation and therefore do not account for any engineered defences.

The susceptibility of the underlying geology and observed ground motion data have been used to calculate subsidence rates for the entire foreshore and backshore area. It is also available as a potential percentage volume reduction.

The coastal zone has been classified by coastal type.

Groundwater flooding zones

The third component of GeoCoast Premium is the groundwater flooding zone. This layer allows for coastal inundation and groundwater flooding to be considered in tandem as groundwater flooding can exacerbate and prolong coastal flood events and have a particular impact on buried assets such as utilities and foundations. In this layer, a current view of coastal inundation susceptibility is considered rather than a projected view.

This data highlights some 133 km² of coastline classed as ‘high susceptibility to erosion’ with a further 195 km² in the ‘moderate to high susceptibility’ class. Even if defences are maintained, this is a staggering amount of coastline under threat and there are some 30 000 properties within 25 m of potentially highly susceptible coast. Counties such as Lincolnshire, Hampshire, Norfolk and Lancashire are particularly affected.

GeoCoast Open

GeoCoast Open data is freely available on the and for download. This package provides a range of historic images and diagrams extracted from our archives, memoirs and other publications that can provide a reference for coastal change. It also contains a detailed suite of statistical data based on the GeoCoast Premium datasets. These include, for example, percentage of a shoreline management plan area or local authority coastline at threat from inundation and percentage of coastline with high susceptibility to erosion. In addition, there is a tool to compare or share best practice at a regional scale and streamline the consideration of multiple underlying datasets through a simple, high-level scheme, presented as domains.

A series of are available for seven coastlines of natural importance demonstrating the attribution and application of the datasets. For more information, please visit the BGS GeoCoast web pages or do not hesitate to get in touch (digitaldata@bgs.ac.uk).

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BGS announces collaboration with Ordnance Survey

BGS Press — Wed, 29 May 2024 08:10:36 +0000

Nine of BGS’s primary datasets will now be included as open data in the . This development will enable customers to access and combine OS and BGS data on a single platform, making it easier than ever to create value from geospatial data.

The inclusion of datasets will introduce OS Data Hub users to a selection of the detailed data that is available from BGS. The datasets will provide access to large-scale overview maps of ground hazards where there could be, for example, landslides. The maps can inform further assessment and highlight potential hazards that either need to be regraded or investigated in more detail.

I am delighted that we have extended the OS Data Hub to include data from the British Geological Survey. Ordnance Survey is constantly looking to provide a greater and richer variety of data to customers whether above or below ground, so adding the BGS datasets — which is a first for us — will extend our offering to our customers significantly. As we explore this new territory for the OS Data Hub, we really hope to encourage other third parties to collaborate with us and for new and existing customers to explore the new data available to support their own challenges.

John Kimmance, OS Managing Director of National Mapping Services.

We are excited to continue to build our relationship with Ordnance Survey as a Geo6 partner and make nine primary BGS datasets available to users via the OS Data Hub. The OS Data Hub presents a superb opportunity for new, differing user communities to access BGS geological data and we are eager to see what impact this will bring.

Garry Baker, director of ��ҳ��Informatics.

This new collaboration has been funded by the Government Office of Technology Transfer’s , which supports public sector organisations to explore or further develop new and innovative uses for their knowledge assets. This followed engagement with OS and BGS’s customers, which showed potential benefits to both public and private sectors from greater access to geological data.

Data from BGS GeoScour Open showing a generalised overview of the natural characteristics and properties of river areas for the assessment of river sediment. Overlaid with data from OS Open Rivers, OS Open Zoomstack and OS Terrain 50. BGS © UKRI.

The nine datasets

BGS Geology 625k

Bedrock geology showing rock type and lithology for the UK, which could be used by academic institutions to understand geological presence at regional and national levels. The data could also be used to work out the percentage geology type in counties or regions of the UK or, by pairing with a digital terrain model, to understand how the geology influences the shape of our landscape.

BGS Mining Hazard (not including coal) 1 km hex grid

A national-scale summary of the presence of mining and an indication of the level of hazard associated with old workings, generalised into a hexagon cell, this provides an overview of the likelihood that mining has occurred in a locality. This will be valuable to local authorities to identify potential threats and whether additional investigation is required in planning developments in these areas. Polygon data is available from BGS as a licensable data product providing more detail.

BGS GeoSure 5km hex grid

Used to inform potential regional ground instability issues and which types of instability might be present, for example:

collapsible deposits
compressible ground
landslides
running sands
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soluble rocks

This could also be used by local authorities to understand the types of hazards that may be present in areas when considering planning applications and any need for extra investigation that could use the BGS GeoSure data suite for each hazard type.

BGS GeoClimate UKCP18 Open

Shrink–swell national datasets show potential change in subsidence due to changes in climate. They have been developed by combining long-term UK Climate Projection (UKCP) scenarios for rainfall and temperature changes with the geotechnical properties of the ground, to identify areas projected to experience the largest increases in susceptibility to subsidence over the next century. The data could be used by lenders, insurers and large UK companies that require a screening tool to assess their potential future exposure to subsidence and the need for large UK private companies to adhere to climate change reporting requirements. Further investigation can be undertaken with the BGS GeoClimate UKCP18 premium data.

BGS GeoCoast Open

This dataset contains a detailed suite of statistical data based on the underlying datasets (BGS GeoCoast Premium). These include, for example, the percentage of a county at threat from inundation and the percentage of a county’s coastline having high susceptibility to erosion. In addition, there is a tool to compare or share best practise at a regional scale and streamline the consideration of multiple underlying datasets through a simple, high-level scheme, presented as domains. The data is of particular use for coastline planning when assessing risk to assets and infrastructure.

BGS GeoScour Open

This provides a generalised overview of the natural characteristics and properties of river areas for the assessment of river sediment. This could help local authority planning by identifying the potential risks associated with flooding. The same can be said of asset owners and the potential for mitigation measures if assets such as bridges could be affected. Further investigation can be undertaken with the BGS GeoScour Premium data.

BGS Hydrogeology 625k (digital hydrogeological map of the UK)

Indicating aquifer potential in generalised terms using classifications defining flow based upon the geology, the data will be of use to hydrogeologists and groundwater management specialists who require a national understanding of groundwater flow to aid water management strategies.

BGS/UKHSA radon data: Indicative Atlas of Radon

A simplified version of the radon potential dataset with each 1 km grid square being classed according to the highest radon potential found within it. The UK Health Security Agency recommends radon levels should be reduced in homes where the annual average is at or above 200 becquerels per cubic metre (200 Bq/m³). Local authorities can use this data as a screening tool for identifying areas that require further investigation with the detailed radon potential dataset.

BGS Soil Parent Material Model

Parent materials (underlying geology) provide the basic foundations and building blocks of a soil, influencing texture, structure, drainage and chemistry. This model details the distribution of physiochemical properties of the weathered and unweathered parent materials of the UK to help identify soils and landscapes sensitive to erosion or deficient in nutrients and is useful for farmers and crop scientists.

Other BGS data products

These open datasets can also be accessed via our website as part of our wider suite of data products. The data is accessible in a variety of formats and via different platforms including the BGS GeoIndex map viewer and web map services. Some of the datasets also have a premium version which can be licensed. For more information about our data products please contact the digital data team (digitaldata@bgs.ac.uk).

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The post BGS announces collaboration with Ordnance Survey appeared first on British Geological Survey.

BGS data product licence fees to rise

BGS Press — Fri, 01 Mar 2024 09:12:52 +0000

From 1 April 2024, BGS will apply a 5 per cent increase to its direct licence fees for all data products. This means that any direct licence issued or renewed on or after 1 April 2024 will reflect this increased price. Existing data licensees will not be affected until such time as their licence is next due for renewal, after 1 April 2024.

BGS has not increased its data product licence fees for many years: this 2024 increase takes into account inflationary and cost pressures faced by BGS, including increased staff costs, and follows a review of Office for National Statistics guidance with regard to inflation and price indices. Going forwards, BGS will undertake annual price reviews and will communicate any future licence fee changes (from 2025) as appropriate.

If you have any queries regarding this matter, please contact the IPR digital team��(��徱��ٲ��.��.�ܰ�).

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data products Archives - British Geological Survey

GeoClimate Shrink–Swell

GeoClimate Shrink–Swell

Further information

Additional dataset information

FAQs

Access the data

Open access (Sample data)

Premium access

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BGS GeoClimate – dataset launch webinar

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Is your region susceptible? Britain’s geohazard hotspots revealed

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Further information on the assessed hazards:

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Contact

About the author

Rob Shaw

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Spotlight on BGS coastal erosion data

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GeoCoast Premium

Erosion susceptibility

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The nine datasets

BGS Geology 625k

BGS Mining Hazard (not including coal) 1 km hex grid

BGS GeoSure 5km hex grid

BGS GeoClimate UKCP18 Open

BGS GeoCoast Open

BGS GeoScour Open

BGS Hydrogeology 625k (digital hydrogeological map of the UK)

BGS/UKHSA radon data: Indicative Atlas of Radon

BGS Soil Parent Material Model

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