dataset · United Kingdom
Permeability Dataset for Great Britain (Merged)
The data comprises four GIS layers representing the permeability of geological deposits for Great Britain (bedrock, superficial, artificial and mass movement deposits). The permeability data has been derived from DiGMap-GB (Digital Geological Map Data of Great Britain), and therefore reflects the scale of DiGMap-GB. For the majority of the Great Britain, the scale is 1:50,000, however in areas where the geology is not mapped to this scale, the next best available scale is used. For bedrock depos
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Licence: ["The copyright of materials derived from the British Geological Survey's work is vested in the Natural Environment Research Council [NERC]. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in an
Evidence quality: 46.4
Listed in data.gov.uk public catalogue API on 2026-10-16; relevance/value screened (haiku).
Metadata checked: 2026-10-14T13:20:00.000Z
What's in it
- Data offered docs-verified
- bedrock deposit permeability · superficial deposit permeability · artificial ground permeability · mass movement deposit permeability · max and min permeability indices per geological unit · predominant flow mechanism (fracture or intergranular)
- Coverage docs-verified
- Great Britain (per summary); metadata bounding box is 51.64°N–53.49°N, 2.00°W–1.84°E
- Resolution docs-verified
- 1:50,000 for most of Great Britain; 1:250,000 for bedrock and 1:625,000 for superficial deposits where geology is not mapped at 1:50,000
- Update frequency docs-verified
- Annually, or after a major new release of DiGMap-GB
- Formats docs-verified
- ESRI shapefile · MapInfo TAB
- Access docs-verified
- Free for internal use; commercial use requires a licence. Copyright vested in NERC; no reproduction or transmission without permission of the copyright holder. Licence terms not stated in docs.
Useful for
- Use cases llm-inferred
- Infiltration and SuDS feasibility screening using bedrock and superficial permeability across a site · Permeability context for a contaminated land Phase 1 desk study · Ground permeability screening for soakaway suitability in drainage strategies
- Audience llm-inferred
- drainage engineers · hydrologists · geotechnical engineers · contaminated land consultants · GIS analysts
Limitations
- Constraints llm-inferred
- Metadata bounding box (51.64°N–53.49°N, 2.00°W–1.84°E) is much smaller than Great Britain; confirm extent before use elsewhere · Mapping scale varies; artificial ground and mass movement deposits are not mapped beyond 1:50,000 · Permeability indices ignore the thickness of unsaturated and saturated parts of each unit · Underlying reference date is 2005-07-29 (DiGMap-GB based) · NERC/BGS gives no warranty on accuracy or suitability; use is at the customer's own risk · Commercial use needs a licence; page licence field reads 'Not set' · Best displayed in a desktop GIS; vector files only, no API or raster access stated
Evidence
- https://www.bgs.ac.uk/datasets/permeability/
- https://www.data.gov.uk/dataset/7c7a6dc9-9145-4963-89fe-0f5bd074ce52/permeability-dataset-for-great-britain-merged
Check upstream coverage, uncertainty and licence before use. Station observations are not forecasts or design levels.