EN ISO 25177:2019

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-januar-2020
Nadomešča:
SIST EN ISO 25177:2011
Kakovost tal - Terenski opis tal (ISO 25177:2019)
Soil quality - Field soil description (ISO 25177:2019)
Bodenbeschaffenheit - Bodenbeschreibung im Felde (ISO 25177:2019)
Qualité du sol - Description du sol sur le terrain (ISO 25177:2019)
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: EN ISO 25177:2019
ICS:
13.080.05 Preiskava tal na splošno Examination of soils in
general
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

EN ISO 25177
EUROPEAN STANDARD
NORME EUROPÉENNE
October 2019
EUROPÄISCHE NORM
ICS 13.080.01 Supersedes EN ISO 25177:2011
English Version
Soil quality - Field soil description (ISO 25177:2019)
Qualité du sol - Description du sol sur le terrain (ISO Bodenbeschaffenheit - Bodenbeschreibung im Felde
25177:2019) (ISO 25177:2019)
This European Standard was approved by CEN on 27 August 2019.

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, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and
United Kingdom.
EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION

EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG

CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Rue de la Science 23, B-1040 Brussels
© 2019 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. EN ISO 25177:2019 E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

Contents Page
European foreword . 3

European foreword
This document (EN ISO 25177:2019) has been prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 190 "Soil
quality" in collaboration with 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 April 2020, and conflicting national standards shall be
withdrawn at the latest by April 2020.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. CEN shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
This document supersedes EN ISO 25177:2011.
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, Republic of
North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the
United Kingdom.
Endorsement notice
The text of ISO 25177:2019 has been approved by CEN as EN ISO 25177:2019 without any modification.

INTERNATIONAL ISO
STANDARD 25177
Second edition
2019-09
Soil quality — Field soil description
Qualité du sol — Description du sol sur le terrain
Reference number
ISO 25177:2019(E)
©
ISO 2019
ISO 25177:2019(E)
© ISO 2019
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, or required in the context of its implementation, no part of this publication may
be reproduced or utilized otherwise in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, or posting
on the internet or an intranet, without prior written permission. Permission can be requested from either ISO at the address
below or ISO’s member body in the country of the requester.
ISO copyright office
CP 401 • Ch. de Blandonnet 8
CH-1214 Vernier, Geneva
Phone: +41 22 749 01 11
Fax: +41 22 749 09 47
Email: copyright@iso.org
Website: www.iso.org
Published in Switzerland
ii © ISO 2019 – All rights reserved

ISO 25177:2019(E)
Contents Page
Foreword .vi
Introduction .viii
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 How to use this document . 2
4.1 General . 2
4.2 Combined use with other description standards . 3
4.3 Mandatory or optional observations . 4
4.4 Accuracy and units . . 4
4.5 Encoding . 4
5 Description objectives and methods . 4
5.1 General . 4
5.2 Investigation objectives . 5
5.3 Quality assurance and quality control . 5
5.4 Description structure . 5
6 Description of general references and general information . 6
6.1 General . 6
6.2 Site/profile numbers . 6
6.3 Location . 6
6.4 Geographical coordinates . 6
6.5 Date and time of observations . 7
6.6 Author and organization. 7
7 Profile environment . 7
7.1 General . 7
7.2 Previous precipitation . 7
7.3 Land use at plot level (checked by detailed field survey) . 7
7.4 Type of cultivation or vegetation or human utilization (at the plot level) . 8
7.5 Landform of the site . 8
7.6 Slope length . 8
7.7 Slope value (gradient) . 8
7.8 Slope orientation (aspect) . 9
7.9 Nature of natural and anthropogenic soils and materials . 9
7.9.1 Natural material . 9
7.9.2 Anthropogenic material . 9
7.10 Presence and depth to water table .10
7.10.1 General.10
7.10.2 Present depth to water table .10
7.10.3 Minimum depth to water table .10
7.10.4 Maximum depth to water table .11
7.10.5 Nature of the water .11
8 Surface appearance .11
8.1 General .11
8.2 Description of the surface material .11
8.3 Percentage of land surface occupied by rock outcrops or surface exposures of
“non-natural” material .11
8.4 Evidence of erosion .12
9 Soil profile description .12
9.1 General .12
9.2 Soil descriptions made or changed after the fieldwork .13
9.3 Soil layer or horizon description method .13
ISO 25177:2019(E)
9.4 Horizon or layer number .13
9.5 Horizon or layer depth .13
9.6 Nature of lower horizon boundary .14
9.7 Estimation of moisture status .14
9.8 Colour of the horizon or layer matrix .15
9.8.1 Colour description method .15
9.8.2 Colour description .16
9.9 Mottles.16
9.9.1 General.16
9.9.2 Mottle abundance .16
9.9.3 Mottle colour .17
9.10 Estimated organic matter content .17
9.11 Texture .17
9.11.1 Classification system used .17
9.11.2 Field determination/ estimation of particle sizes .18
9.11.3 Field determination/estimation of the coarseness of a sandy soil .18
9.11.4 Sampling for texture analyses .20
9.11.5 Description of texture diagram .20
9.12 Coarse elements .20
9.12.1 General.20
9.12.2 Coarse element abundance (in % volume fraction) .20
9.12.3 Maximum size of the most frequently observed coarse elements .21
9.12.4 Nature of the coarse element(s) .21
9.12.5 Non-natural or unknown coarse elements .21
9.13 Carbonates and effervescence .21
9.13.1 Intensity of effervescence .21
9.13.2 Location of effervescence .22
9.14 Main categories of soil structure .22
9.15 Compactness .23
9.16 Total estimated porosity .23
9.17 Roots .23
9.17.1 Root abundance .23
9.17.2 Size (diameter) of most frequently observed roots .24
9.18 Density of worm channels .24
9.19 Odour .24
9.20 Field detection of mineral oil in soil samples (oil-water reaction pan) .24
9.20.1 General.24
9.20.2 Oil floating on water .25
9.20.3 Other oil observations .25
10 General designation .25
10.1 General .25
10.2 Type of soil profile classification used . .26
10.3 Soil type with reference to the soil classification system used .26
10.4 Type of horizon designation used .26
10.5 Sequence of horizons .26
11 Reporting .26
11.1 General .26
11.2 Presentation of field soil descriptions .27
11.3 Profile diagram .27
11.4 Documented information .27
Annex A (informative) Landform .28
Annex B (informative) Charts for estimating proportions of mottles, coarse elements, etc. .29
[30]
Annex C (informative) Soil horizon designation — Example of the FAO System .30
Annex D (informative) Examples of texture diagrams .35
Annex E (informative) Determination of soil texture in the field .37
iv © ISO 2019 – All rights reserved

ISO 25177:2019(E)
Annex F (informative) Some types of soil structure .40
Annex G (informative) List of common elements found in soil and on the soil surface .42
Annex H (informative) Soil description observations to record for specific types of soil
investigations .44
Annex I (informative) Example field layer description method .47
Bibliography .49
ISO 25177:2019(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.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are
described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular the different approval criteria needed for the
different types of ISO documents should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the
editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www .iso .org/directives).
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. Details of
any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the Introduction and/or
on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www .iso .org/patents).
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation on the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and
expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the
World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) see the following
URL: www .iso .org/iso/foreword .html.
This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 190, Soil quality.
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition (ISO 25177:2008), which has been technically
revised.
The main changes compared to the previous edition is as follows.
[24]
— The 2015 edition of the World Reference Base for soil resources has been adapted.
[3] [4]
— References to geotechnical standards ISO 14688-1 and ISO 14688-2 have been made.
— A new Clause 4 describing how to use this document has been added and subsequent clauses have
been renumbered.
— A new Clause 5 describing objectives and methods has been added and subsequent clauses have been
renumbered. The aspects to describe and how to do this is more separate from the observations and
background information.
— The numbering and encoding have been made more consequent and logical.
— New aspects about coarse anthropogenical elements, oil-water reaction pan and signs of pollution
or contamination have been added.
— A new Clause 11 about reporting has been added.
— A new Annex A about landforms has been added and subsequent annexes have been renumbered.
[24]
— The former Annex B listing reference soil groups of the WRB has been removed.
— A new Annex G about common coarse elements found in soil and soil surface has been added.
— A new Annex H about recording soil description observations for specific types of soil quality
investigations has been added.
vi © ISO 2019 – All rights reserved

ISO 25177:2019(E)
Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A
complete listing of these bodies can be found at www .iso .org/members .html.
ISO 25177:2019(E)
Introduction
Traditionally, description of soils and their environment was carried out as parts of soil surveys and soil
inventories, the purpose being to describe the pedogenic context of the soil and assess applied aspects,
principally agronomic potentials.
Today, many soil observations are made as part of either much broader, or alternatively more focused,
environmental studies, and might include analysis for objectives such as:
— identifying human influences on soils, with, particular attention being paid to the negative effects of
these influences (for example contamination with possible hazardous substances, or deterioration
of physical soil properties);
— land protection within the context of sustainable agriculture and forestry;
— assessing the fate of contaminants introduced to the soil;
— assessing the consequences arising from changes in the use of the soil;
— setting up monitoring programs for specific purposes (such as observation of changes of soil
properties over time);
— developing spatial databases (used in the context of GIS) aimed at facilitating the geographical
representation of soils;
— and for many other purposes.
While the general framework of this document has stayed the same in this updated version, additions
include references to the ISO 18400 series (see Figure 1), observations for soil contamination, and
description of artificial material and soil layers.
The description of soils and sites is often accompanied by field and laboratory measurements, and
therefore field measurement observations are included in this document.
The original text was based on aspects of the traditional approach to soil description {for example the
[30]
“Guidelines for soil description” from the FAO (Rome 2006) and the soil type classification from the
[24]
World Reference Base for soil resources (WRB) }.
Soil descriptions and associated soil data are used and re-used for a variety of purposes. For wider
utilization of data from soil descriptions, this document can be used in conjunction with other
(commonly and publicly available) standards. Some types of soil information, specifically soil
contamination data and data on anthropogenic and exogenous material, were not available in earlier
versions and have been included here.
Depending on the objective/s of an investigation, specific observations of interest will be made and
recorded. Even within a particular field of interest, the degree of detail in the soil description in the
field will vary, depending on the scope of the project.
The quality of field soil descriptions is strongly dependent on the knowledge and especially the
experience of the person making and/or recording the observations in the field, since most field
observations are estimations (sometimes with the help of reference materials and devices like colour-
charts, magnifiers, sieves, or scatter diagrams).
viii © ISO 2019 – All rights reserved

INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO 25177:2019(E)
Soil quality — Field soil description
1 Scope
This document provides guidance on the description of soil in the field and its environmental
context. It is applicable to natural, near-natural, urban and industrial sites. The soil observations
and measurements can be made on a project site level, on a plot level, on layer or horizon level and on
specific soil constituents.
It also provides guidance on how to describe layers of anthropogenic (artificial) material or layers that
were not modified by pedogenic processes in the strict sense and how to describe coarse material of
natural or artificial origin.
This document can be used in combination with other publications that provide guidance or
requirements regarding specific aspects of soil observations and measurements.
NOTE 1 It might not be possible or necessary to record data under all the headings listed in Clauses 4 to 11.
NOTE 2 Overall guidance for presentation of information from soil surveys is given in ISO 15903.
NOTE 3 The guidance provided assumes that sampling will be done in accordance with ISO 18400.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements 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, Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions — Part 1: Country codes
ISO 3166-2, Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions — Part 2: Country
subdivision code
ISO 11074, Soil quality — Vocabulary
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO 11074 and the following apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https: //www .iso .org/obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at: http: //www .electropedia .org
3.1
observation
act of observing a property, with the goal of producing an estimate of the value of the property
Note 1 to entry: Adapted from ISO 19156.
ISO 25177:2019(E)
4 How to use this document
4.1 General
This document describes the most commonly used field observations in soil quality investigations. The
observations are recorded at different levels:
— general/site (see Clause 6);
— profile/surface point (see Clause 7 and 8);
— horizon/layer (see Clause 9 and 10).
Pre-defined observations (picklists) are tabulated with their corresponding codes. Where relevant,
explanatory text is given before or after the observation to be recorded [e.g. in this subclause (4.1)]. Some
observations to be recorded are so commonly understood that they are simply listed, for example in 6.5.
Where possible values associated with observations are pre-defined (picklists) and these values are
defined with percentages (%), it is also permissible to record estimated specific percentage values.
EXAMPLE Recording of a mottle abundance value of 10 % is allowed (see 9.8.2). This can also be recorded as
code “3” or as “common”.
This means that a more precise estimate can be recorded (e.g. rather than a range), however it does not
mean that the estimates are in fact more accurate, since accuracy may depend on both the requirements
of the project and skill of the observer.
For soil descriptions in the field and for digital data exchange, only the codes and values can be recorded.
In the full field report, the text of the description can also be provided. The full text descriptions
belonging to codes shall be available.
NOTE In the digital exchange of data this might be in the form of a hint or link to the table.
The context of the information is important for the application of the results. In Figure 1, the process
for soil description is provided.
2 © ISO 2019 – All rights reserved

ISO 25177:2019(E)
Key
optional routes (specific part of) soil descriptions
possible purposes soil investigations (can be combined)
soil investigation primary process route
Figure 1 — Soil description process
4.2 Combined use with other description standards
This document can be used separately or in combination with standards that provide further guidance
or requirements for specific aspects of soil observations and measurements.
Where relevant, this document can be applied with the following references:
[30]
— FAO Guidelines for soil descriptions (Rome) , for example when describing soils and denoting
horizons;
[24]
— World Reference Base for soil resources (WRB) , for example when determining soil types;
— ISO 14688-1 and ISO 14688-2.
If additional codes, descriptions or requirements from these or other complementary references is
used, these shall be recorded (see 6.1).
EXAMPLES
—  ISO 25177:2019 FAO
—  ISO 25177:2019 ISO 18400-203
ISO 25177:2019(E)
4.3 Mandatory or optional observations
Where observations are mandatory, it is explicitly indicated by underlined text in this document. If not
mandatory the observations to record are optional.
For a number of common soil investigation types the mandatory observations are listed in Annex H. If
optional observations are described, they shall be recorded according to this document.
NOTE National legislation or project rules can demand that optional observations can be mandatory in some
contexts.
4.4 Accuracy and units
Because of the very different objectives for most field observations, no minimum accuracy is stipulated.
For some observations, the unit to be used is mandatory. The unit specified is generally the most
commonly used one and fit for the purpose for most soil descriptions.
EXAMPLE x- and y- coordinate in metres.
Depending on the accuracy required for an investigation, recording the coordinates in whole metres
may be sufficient, however, more accuracy is needed at times (for example, plus or minus 0,01 metres).
The unit used in the second case is still metres, although the accuracy may be significantly better than
a whole metre.
NOTE The units and number of digits output from a given device do not automatically reflect its accuracy.
For example, a GPS measurement with 3 digits after comma or point (depending on the convention used) does not
mean that the value is accurate to 1 mm.
4.5 Encoding
Field observations can comprise different types of results. For some observations, the result should
be one of the results given in the pre-defined in picklists. For other observations, results should be
recorded as estimated or measured values. At least at all main levels (site-, profile-, layer/horizon-)
there should be capacity for free text for observations that do not match those in the pre-defined
picklists.
Numeric codes in this document are defined with the same number of digits. If there are more than
9 and less than 99, a zero is added to the codes 1 until 9 (i.e. 01, 02, 03, etc.). Numeric codes start in
principle with 1, unless the first value class is zero or near-zero. In that case, the numeric codes start
with zero (0).
EXAMPLE In 8.4, Code 0 = no visible erosion.
If not observed, but a code is needed for an observation, an “X” can be used.
NOTE X does not mean observed with result 0 (zero).
[30]
In this document, some descriptions and associated codes are derived from FAO and/or ISO 14688-1.
In addition, new observation results have been added, codes from the earlier version of this document
might have been changed, and new codes might have been added.
5 Description objectives and methods
5.1 General
[30]
The reference for this clause is the FAO Guidelines for soil descriptions . If another complementary
reference is used, this shall be clearly stated in the text of the written report, or in the meta-data of the
digital data that is reported.
4 © ISO 2019 – All rights reserved

ISO 25177:2019(E)
5.2 Investigation objectives
Soil investigations usually have specific objectives. Other standards adapted to various scopes can be
combined with this document.
Main investigation types based on project objectives or approaches include:
— investigation for contamination (e.g. according to ISO 18400-203);
— investigation for nature or near-nature management (e.g. according to ISO 18400-205);
— investigation for cultivation management (e.g. according to ISO 18400-205);
— investigation for agricultural management (e.g. according to ISO 18400-205);
— investigation for forestry (e.g. according to ISO 18400-205);
— investigation for archaeology;
— investigation of soil gas (e.g. according to ISO 18400-204);
— biological investigation (e.g. according to ISO 18400-206).
NOTE 1 See Figure 1 for a schema of how this document can be used in combination with other standards.
NOTE 2 Annex H provides a list of the most commonly used observations of soil that can be recorded and the
importance of separate types of soil investigations.
5.3 Quality assurance and quality control
The desired accuracy and level of detail is dependent on the project scope and project objectives.
Where aspects of soil description are mentioned or given, ISO 18400-106 can be applied.
Alternatively, or in addition, other guidance on QA/QC can be applicable.
For digital exchange of soil related data ISO 28258 can be applied.
Field estimations depend on the knowledge and experience of the observer. To ensure consistent
soil observations, it is recommended to regularly undertake field soil descriptions with experienced
personnel.
NOTE 1 Education and training of staff is important. Projects can benefit with staff that has experience with
similar soil sites, soil layers and scopes.
NOTE 2 Assessing inexperienced personnel’s estimates of texture for example can be done by comparing their
results with reference analysis and reference samples, and/or having them working with personnel experienced
in field soil description.
NOTE 3 A check for logical and internal consistency of field data can give a first impression of data quality.
5.4 Description structure
Soil is described at different levels.
— General level: references of a soil description, e.g. profile numbers, geographical coordinates. See
Clause 5.
— Site level: observations of the location or site. The scale of the location or site is determined in the
project. A project can have different sites or locations. A site or location usually has more than one
plots. See Clause 6.
ISO 25177:2019(E)
— Plot level: observations that can be made on profile level: from the borehole or in a trial pit or trench.
See Clause 7 and 8.
— Layer/horizon level: observations that can be made on one spot from the surface down to the parent
material. See Clause 9.
NOTE The difference between plot and site (location) is explained in ISO 28258.
6 Description of general references and general information
6.1 General
Record the general reference, using the following codes or descriptions:
Code Description
1 ISO 25177
[30]
2 ISO 25177 and FAO
3 ISO 25177 and ISO 14688-1
[30]
4 ISO 25177 and FAO and ISO 14688-1
5 ISO 25177 and other standard(s) – see 4.2
Record, if relevant, (other) reference standard(s) and general information.
6.2 Site/profile numbers
Record the profile number(
...