BD Sol — Properties — Hérault

Mapping of the agropaedological units of the Hérault department and their properties: rock, position, depth, texture, porosity, useful reserve, pH. Although these data provide a lot of soil information, they do not constitute soil data strictly speaking: no scientific soil names are indicated, only the mother rocks are specified. The objective here is the creation of an agropaedological database with a strong practical purpose. The data are derived from the programmes of zoning the wine potential of Languedoc-Roussillon, within the framework of the State-Region plans for a better adaptation of the grape variety terroirs between 1980 and 1996 and the departmental programme of knowledge and valorisation of terroirs between 2000 and 2006. The data was digitised as part of the Soil Digitisation Program of the Hérault Climate Association (now integrated into the Department) conducted in partnership with the Hérault Chamber of Agriculture and the Hérault Departmental Council from 2009 to 2011. The agropaedological mapping methodology of the Hérault department was developed on a scientific basis in collaboration with Professors P. Bonfils and G. Labau of the Laboratory of Geology and Soil Science of INRA Montpellier, from the 1980s. The base has been corrected and maintained by the Hérault Department. It was also completed in its territory by the Métropole of Montpellier in 2018/2019. **Completeness limits**: The mapping ** does not cover all the municipalities of Herault, nor the total area of each municipality**. As a result, **uninvented soil means a lack of data.** **Map Precision Limits**: The mapping of soil properties ** is at the scale 1/10 000th** (so-called “communal scale”). They shall not be used on a higher scale. Thus, superposition with cadastral plans made on larger scales is not recommended by experts. Different **confidence indices** make it possible to translate the uncertainty of cartographic boundaries. Some attributes such as depth or texture are estimates made from field surveys. In the context of environmental studies, these soil data alone are not sufficient to understand a territory. They need to be cross-referenced with other types of data such as climatology. **The data made available must therefore be used with caution according to the accuracy limits**. The Hérault department and its technical and scientific partners cannot be held responsible for inaccuracies in the databases and for inappropriate uses of the said databases. For more information, refer to the documentation