SIST EN ISO 25177:2011

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
SIST EN ISO 25177:2011
01-november-2011
Kakovost tal - Terenski opis tal (ISO 25177:2008)
Soil quality - Field soil description (ISO 25177:2008)
Bodenbeschaffenheit - Bodenbeschreibung im Felde (ISO 25177:2008)
Qualité du sol - Description du sol sur le terrain (ISO 25177:2008)
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: EN ISO 25177:2011
ICS:
13.080.05 Preiskava tal na splošno Examination of soils in
general
SIST EN ISO 25177:2011 en,fr,de
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

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SIST EN ISO 25177:2011

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SIST EN ISO 25177:2011


EUROPEAN STANDARD
EN ISO 25177

NORME EUROPÉENNE

EUROPÄISCHE NORM
June 2011
ICS 13.080.01
English Version
Soil quality - Field soil description (ISO 25177:2008)
Qualité du sol - Description du sol sur le terrain (ISO Bodenbeschaffenheit - Bodenbeschreibung im Felde (ISO
25177:2008) 25177:2008)
This European Standard was approved by CEN on 10 June 2011.

CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this European
Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration. Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references concerning such national
standards may be obtained on application to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre or to any CEN member.

This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by translation
under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre has the same
status as the official versions.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland,
Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom.





EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION

EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG

Management Centre: Avenue Marnix 17, B-1000 Brussels
© 2011 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. EN ISO 25177:2011: E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

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SIST EN ISO 25177:2011
EN ISO 25177:2011 (E)
Contents Page
Foreword .3

2

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SIST EN ISO 25177:2011
EN ISO 25177:2011 (E)
Foreword
The text of ISO 25177:2008 has been prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 190 “Soil quality” of the
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and has been taken over as EN ISO 25177:2011 by
Technical Committee CEN/TC 345 “Characterization of soils” the secretariat of which is held by NEN.
This European Standard shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an identical
text or by endorsement, at the latest by December 2011, and conflicting national standards shall be withdrawn
at the latest by December 2011.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent
rights. CEN [and/or CENELEC] shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
According to the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organizations of the following
countries are bound to implement this European Standard: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech
Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia,
Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain,
Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Endorsement notice
The text of ISO 25177:2008 has been approved by CEN as a EN ISO 25177:2011 without any modification.

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SIST EN ISO 25177:2011

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SIST EN ISO 25177:2011

INTERNATIONAL ISO
STANDARD 25177
First edition
2008-11-15

Soil quality — Field soil description
Qualité du sol — Description du sol sur le terrain




Reference number
ISO 25177:2008(E)
©
ISO 2008

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SIST EN ISO 25177:2011
ISO 25177:2008(E)
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©  ISO 2008
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means,
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ii © ISO 2008 – All rights reserved

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SIST EN ISO 25177:2011
ISO 25177:2008(E)
Contents Page
Foreword. v
Introduction . vi
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 General references . 1
3.1 Site/profile numbers . 1
3.2 Location . 1
3.3 Geographical coordinates . 2
3.4 Date of observation . 2
3.5 Author and organization . 2
4 Profile environment . 2
4.1 Previous precipitation . 2
4.2 Land use at plot level (checked by detailed field survey) . 3
4.3 Type of cultivation or vegetation or human utilization (at the plot level) . 3
4.4 Geomorphology of the site . 4
4.5 Slope length (in metres). 4
4.6 Slope value . 4
4.7 Orientation (aspect) of the slope. 4
4.8 Nature of the parent material. 4
4.8.1 Modified or artificial material. 4
4.8.2 Natural material. 4
4.9 Presence and depth of water table . 5
4.9.1 General. 5
4.9.2 Depth. 5
4.9.3 Minimum depth of water table . 5
4.9.4 Maximum depth of water table . 5
4.9.5 Nature of the water . 6
5 Surface appearance. 6
5.1 Percentage of land surface occupied by rock outcrops or surface exposures of
“non-natural” material (e.g. on an industrial site) . 6
5.2 Evidence of erosion. 6
6 General designation – Soil type . 7
6.1 General. 7
6.2 Type of soil classification used. 7
6.3 Soil type with reference to the soil classification used. 7
6.4 Type of horizon designation used . 7
6.5 Sequence of horizons. 7
7 Horizon or layer description . 8
7.1 General. 8
7.2 Horizon or layer number . 8
7.3 Depth. 8
7.4 Estimation of moisture status . 8
7.5 Colour of the horizon or layer matrix. 9
7.6 Mottles . 9
7.6.1 General. 9
7.6.2 Abundance . 9
7.6.3 Colour . 10
7.7 Estimated organic matter content. 10
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SIST EN ISO 25177:2011
ISO 25177:2008(E)
7.8 Texture . 10
7.8.1 Description of texture diagram. 10
7.8.2 Estimation. 10
7.9 Coarse elements . 10
7.9.1 General . 10
7.9.2 Abundance (in percent volume fraction) .10
7.9.3 Maximum size of the most frequently observed coarse elements . 11
7.9.4 Nature . 11
7.10 Carbonates and effervescence. 11
7.10.1 Intensity of effervescence. 11
7.10.2 Location of effervescence. 12
7.11 Main categories of structure. 12
7.12 Compactness. 13
7.13 Total estimated porosity. 13
7.14 Roots . 14
7.14.1 Size (diameter) of most frequently observed roots. 14
7.14.2 Abundance. 14
7.15 Density of worm channels (usually an average over a number of square decimetres) . 14
7.16 Nature of lower horizon boundary . 14
Annex A (informative) Charts for estimating proportions of mottles, coarse elements, etc. 16
Annex B (informative) Reference soil groups of the World Reference Base for soil resources (FAO,
ISRIC and ISSS, 2006). 17
Annex C (informative) Soil horizon designation — Example of the FAO System (2006) . 23
Annex D (informative) Examples of texture diagrams . 28
Annex E (informative) Determination of soil texture in the field. 31
Annex F (informative) Some types of soil structure . 34
Bibliography . 35

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SIST EN ISO 25177:2011
ISO 25177:2008(E)
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies
(ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO
technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been
established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and
non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the
International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.
International Standards are drafted in accordance with the rules given in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
The main task of technical committees is to prepare International Standards. Draft International Standards
adopted by the technical committees are circulated to the member bodies for voting. Publication as an
International Standard requires approval by at least 75 % of the member bodies casting a vote.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent
rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
ISO 25177 was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 190, Soil quality, Subcommittee SC 1, Evaluation
of criteria, terminology and codification.
This first edition of ISO 25177 cancels and replaces ISO 11259:1998, which has been technically revised.
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SIST EN ISO 25177:2011
ISO 25177:2008(E)
Introduction
Traditionally, descriptions of soils and their environment were carried out as parts of soil survey and soil
inventories, the purpose of which was to describe the pedogenetic context of the soil and assess applied
aspects, principally agronomic potentials.
Today, many soil observations are made as part of much wider environmental studies, and include analysis
for objectives such as the following:
⎯ the identification of human influences on the soils, particular attention being paid to the negative effects of
these influences (for example, pollution and physical deterioration);
⎯ land protection within the context of “sustainable” agriculture;
⎯ the prediction of the fate of contaminants introduced into the soil;
⎯ the assessment of the consequences resulting from changes in the use of the soil;
⎯ setting up monitoring programmes for specific purposes (observation of changes of soil properties in
time);
⎯ the development of spatial data bases (used in the context of GIS) aimed at facilitating the geographical
representation of these;
⎯ many other uses.
Therefore, this International Standard is based on aspects of the traditional approach to soil description
[for example, the Guidelines for soil description FAO ROME (2006)]. The descriptions of soils and sites alone
are not sufficient. Field and laboratory measurements, whether physical, chemical or biological, must
accompany this description. Care must be taken in the specification of sites and in the methods of sampling
and the number of samples. It is therefore imperative that this International Standard be considered in the
context of other International Standards developed within the framework of ISO/TC 190, Soil quality.

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SIST EN ISO 25177:2011
INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO 25177:2008(E)

Soil quality — Field soil description
1 Scope
This International Standard is a guide for describing the soil and its environmental context at a given site.
Sites can be natural, near-natural, urban or industrial. It is important to realize that a number of soil samples
can be taken at a site to support the soil description. The information provided by the descriptions in this
International Standard provides the context for the presentation of results from analyses undertaken on soil
samples.
NOTE 1 It might not be possible or necessary to record data under all the headings listed in these descriptions.
NOTE 2 Overall guidance for presentation of information from soil surveys is given in ISO 15903.
2 Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document. For dated
references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced
document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO 3166-1:2006, Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions —
Part 1: Country codes
ISO 3166-2:2007, Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions —
Part 2: Country subdivision code
ISO 14688-2:2004, Geotechnical investigation and testing —Identification and classification of soil —
Part 2: Principles for a classification
3 General references
3.1 Site/profile numbers
⎯ Profile number
⎯ Survey number or code
3.2 Location
⎯ Country
Country codes according to ISO 3166-1 and ISO 3166-2 shall be used. For historical research, designations
according to ISO 3166-3 should be considered, when necessary.
⎯ Administrative division
To be adapted according to the country: (provinces, states, regions, departments, towns, etc.), both uncoded
and coded.
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SIST EN ISO 25177:2011
ISO 25177:2008(E)
3.3 Geographical coordinates
⎯ Type of geographical reference system (degrees, Lambert, national reference grid)
⎯ Position within the geographical reference system (longitude in deg/min/s, latitude in deg/min/s)
⎯ Altitude (in metres)
3.4 Date of observation
⎯ Year
⎯ Month
⎯ Day
⎯ Time
3.5 Author and organization
⎯ Author's name
⎯ Accreditation
⎯ Name of organization
⎯ Department
⎯ Address
⎯ Telephone
⎯ Fax number
⎯ E-mail address
4 Profile environment
4.1 Previous precipitation
0 No precipitation within the last month
1 No precipitation within the last week
2 No precipitation within the last three days
3 Rainy but no intense precipitation within the last three days
4 Moderate rain for several days or intense rainfall the day before the observation
5 Extreme precipitation or snow melt or inundation just before the observation
6 Not recorded
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SIST EN ISO 25177:2011
ISO 25177:2008(E)
4.2 Land use at plot level (checked by detailed field survey)
01 Buildings and industrial infrastructures
02 Mining site (current or past)
03 Metal processing sites
04 Chemical processing sites
05 Oil and gas production sites
06 Metal manufacturing sites
07 Food processing sites
08 Waste disposal sites
09 Cultivated lands
10 Horticulture
11 Grazing
12 Orchards, fruit plantations or grapevines
13 Forest, woodlands
14 Mixed land use (agroforestry or agropastoral)
15 Gathering/hunting-fishing (exploitation of natural vegetation, hunting or fishing)
16 Nature protection (for example, nature reserve, protected area, erosion control by terracing)
17 Wetland (for example, marsh, swamp, mangrove, etc.)
18 Snow or ice cover
19 Bare rock or rocky surface
20 Natural lands
21 Natural grasslands
22 Recreation land
23 Other type of unutilized and unmanaged site
4.3 Type of cultivation or vegetation or human utilization (at the plot level)
Be as clear and precise as possible. For cultivated plants, it may be interesting to note the variety, when
known.
EXAMPLE Grazing (natural meadow, planted grassland); metal processing (ferrous, non-ferrous); mining site (iron,
deep coal, open-cast coal); cultivated lands (maize, oats, rice); horticulture (flowers, vegetables).
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SIST EN ISO 25177:2011
ISO 25177:2008(E)
4.4 Geomorphology of the site
⎯ The position of the site in the landscape
⎯ The geomorphology of the immediate surroundings of the site (scale: 0,1 km)
4.5 Slope length (in metres)
When flat, note 0 (zero).
4.6 Slope value
The average slope value is measured in the vicinity of the soil pit (flat = 0).
Slope may be expressed in percent or degrees:
⎯ slope value, in percent;
⎯ slope value, in degrees.
4.7 Orientation (aspect) of the slope
The orientation of the slope can be expressed in the following ways:
a) N-S-E-W
NE-SE-NW-SW
with VV = variable and AA = flat; or
b) use degrees with the following convention:
0° = north
90° = east
180° = south
270° = west
with VV = variable and AA = flat.
4.8 Nature of the parent material
4.8.1 Modified or artificial material
The nature of the parent material may be modified by the use of the site, or artificial materials may be
imported to a site. The knowledge of the history of the site may provide information about the modifications of
the natural material.
4.8.2 Natural material
The natural parent material and/or bedrock should be described as completely as possible, according to
local knowledge. For example, glacial tills, marine alluvium, metamorphic bedrock, hard limestone, loessic
deposit, etc.
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SIST EN ISO 25177:2011
ISO 25177:2008(E)
4.9 Presence and depth of water table
4.9.1 General
The depth of the water table generally fluctuates during the year, sometimes in relation with the seasons or
the tide.
In 4.9.2, note the depth of the water table during the description of the site.
Subclauses 4.9.3 and 4.9.4 are included to describe the variations in water-table depth, when there are some
variations in depth and when these variations are known (piezometers, investigations, or as marks on the
walls of the profile).
In 4.9.3, the minimum depth of the water table shall be noted (water table at its highest point).
In 4.9.4, the maximum depth of the water table shall be noted (water table at its lowest point).
When the person writing the description does not know these variations in depth, record “unknown” in 4.9.3
and 4.9.4.
When there is no variation in the water-table depth, or when the describer does not know if there are depth
variations, do not answer the points in 4.9.3 and 4.9.4.
4.9.2 Depth
The depth can be
a) observed or measured,
b) estimated, or
c) not observed.
If it is estimated, observed or measured, the depth is expressed in centimetres.
4.9.3 Minimum depth of water table
The minimum depth of the water table can be
a) observed or measured,
b) estimated, or
c) not observed.
If it is estimated, observed or measured, the depth is expressed in centimetres.
4.9.4 Maximum depth of water table
The maximum depth of the water table can be
a) observed or measured,
b) estimated,
c) not observed.
If it is estimated, observed or measured, the depth is expressed in centimetres.
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SIST EN ISO 25177:2011
ISO 25177:2008(E)
4.9.5 Nature of the water
Make a general estimation, without reference to threshold value of soluble salts or of conductivity, or analytical
values for pollution or contamination, as follows:
⎯ S = saline;
⎯ B = brackish;
⎯ F = fresh;
⎯ P = polluted or contaminated.
Combinations SP, BP or FP are possible.
5 Surface appearance
5.1 Percentage of land surface occupied by rock outcrops or surface exposures of
“non-natural” material (e.g. on an industrial site)
The following categories are widely used in soil description. (Compare the charts shown in Annex A.):
0 None: 0 %
1 Very few: > 0 % and u 2 %
2 Few: > 2 % and u 5 %
3 Common: > 5 % and u 15 %
4 Many: > 15 % and u 40 %
5 Abundant: > 40 % and u 80 %
6 Dominant: > 80 %
7 Not observed
5.2 Evidence of erosion
The classes given below are based upon aspects of soil conditions reflecting present erosion (or
accumulation) and not past or possible future erosion (or accumulation).
0 No visible evidence of erosion
1 Visible evidence of soil loss
1 Sheet erosion
2 Rill erosion
3 Gully erosion
4 Wind erosion
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