Geoscience Information and Knowledge Exchange Directorate
| Information Products

Photograph of Matt Harrison
Matt Harrison
Head of Information Products

Matt Harrison is Head of Information Products, leading a team creating national geoscience datasets for research and commercial use. Matt worked in business for 5 years on completing his BSc in Geology at Edinburgh University, moving on to undertake an MSc in Geographical Information Science, also at Edinburgh. During his time at BGS Matt has worked in the field of spatial information, mainly across the natural hazards and marine areas, leading the GeoSure project and as Baseline Products Team Leader in interoperability between onshore and offshore datasets.

The Information Products programme aims to produce digital datasets covering the whole of Great Britain that are based on the outputs of the BGS survey and research programmes and our substantial national data holdings. Geoscientific knowledge and data are combined to provide products relevant to a wide range of users in central and local government, insurance and housing industry, engineering and environmental business, and the British public.

Information Products teams:

Baseline Products
Russell Lawley

Will create, maintain and deliver digital geoscience datasets that:
  • underpin research and BGS derived products
  • can be used in digital reporting tools, GIS modelling and web enabled systems
  • comprehensible
  • understandable for specialist and non specialist audiences
Datasets include:
  • DiGMapGB (geological map data)
  • Superficial Deposit Thickness Modelling
  • Geological Indicators of Flooding
  • Soil Parent Material Model
  • NBIC (comprehensive and representative borehole information)
  • DigBath 250 (bathymetric data)
  • DigSBS (marine sediment data)
  • DigRock250 (marine bedrock data)

Data Capture and Best Practice
Ed Hough

Will work with BGS and Customers to identify requirements for capture that:
  • underpin the development of new baseline and derived information products
  • enhance existing external customers
  • co-ordinate a systematic approach to capture
  • practice methods and procedures
  • enable staff to follow these procedures
  • The BGS CartoGIS service resides in the Data Capture and Best Practice Team. In addition to geological data capture and management, the service also produces illustrations for scientific publications, ensures quality output is maintained, and supports BGS in the delivery of key strategic objectives.

Derived Products
Dr Kate Royse

Will develop methods and create products that:
  • have relevant and undertandable datasets
  • spatial data displayed as single or multiple 'layers'
  • 3D geological models of shallow subsurface
  • combine geoscientific knowledge and services.
Products of use to:
  • central and local government
  • insurance and housing
  • engineering and environmentsl business
  • the general public.
Datasets include:
  • geochemical hazards (e.g. radon and PHE's)
  • natural hazards (e.g. landslides and dissolution)
  • flooding permeability
  • underground assets management
  • the impacts of climate change
  • scenario planning.

Many of our products are available through our online shops and much of our data can be licenced for your own use. Please see our products page for a full list of available products.