Soil Intelligence
The shallow profile, characterised and screened
C1 · Dubai Municipality baseline soil
Baseline soil assessment for Dubai Municipality environmental clearance. The shallow soil profile characterised, classified and screened for contamination, sampling design, units and parameter coverage checked against the prescribed schedule rather than assumed.
Sampling design
Three locations, four depths, twelve samples, as a minimum
The Dubai Municipality Appendix 4 baseline soil schedule prescribes representative samples at four depth intervals, taken at a minimum of three separate locations, for a minimum of twelve samples in total. Each interval is recovered from a vertical hole, divided into equal layers every 10 cm, mixed, and bagged with its depth, site and history recorded.
Interval 1
0-50 cm
Interval 2
50-100 cm
Interval 3
100-150 cm
Interval 4
150-200 cm
The schedule also asks the soil report for the depth to water level. We record it as given, and we treat it as the point where the soil assessment meets the groundwater assessment rather than as a closing statement.
Parameter coverage
Every parameter the schedule names, checked for presence and for unit
A laboratory certificate and a regulatory schedule rarely use the same units. Cation exchange capacity arrives as cmol/kg where the schedule asks for meq/100 g; organic carbon arrives as mg/kg where the schedule asks for a percentage. The assessment declares equivalence where it genuinely exists, and refuses the conversion where the dimensions do not match, rather than silently rescaling a number.
Physical and chemical properties
Items 1-8 and 10-13 of the schedule
- pH
- Electrical conductivity (µS/cm)
- Sodium adsorption ratio (ratio)
- Exchangeable sodium (meq/L)
- Cation exchange capacity (meq/100 g)
- Exchangeable sodium percentage (%)
- Gypsum (%)
- Estimated organic carbon (% OC)
- Soil texture (USDA classification)
- Bulk density (kg/m³)
- CaCO₃ (%)
- Total nitrogen (%)
Contamination screening
Items 9 and 14 of the schedule
- Zn, Mn, Fe, Cu, Al, Co, Cd, Pb, As, Cr, Ni, Hg and cyanide, total concentration and leachable fraction (mg/kg)
- Total petroleum hydrocarbons (mg/kg)
- Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (mg/kg)
- Volatile organic compounds (mg/kg)
- Pesticides and herbicides (mg/kg)
- Dioxins and furans (mg/kg)
Quantitative assessment
Reported in cubic metres
- Cut and fill volume
- Agricultural soil volume
- Non-agricultural soil volume
Where a required parameter is absent from the laboratory data, it is reported as absent. It is never inferred, and never quietly dropped from the schedule.
Screening values
Compared against the Dutch Intervention Values where one exists, and reported as having none where it does not
A value exists
The measured result is compared against the Dutch Intervention Value for that determinand, with laboratory qualifiers such as < and > preserved rather than discarded. The comparison, the value used and its source are all recorded with the result.
No value exists
The absence is stated explicitly. We do not substitute a value from an unrelated standard, and we do not leave the parameter silent, an unscreened determinand is reported as unscreened, and a fit-for-purpose benchmark is sought and cited if one can be.
Regional pedological context from the Environment Agency, Abu Dhabi (EAD) soil survey is carried alongside the measured properties, in its own record, labelled as mapped. A mapped class describes a region; it is not a measurement of your site, and it is never merged into one.
What you receive
The soil assessment deliverable
- Sampling design checked against the DM Appendix 4 minimum (0-50, 50-100, 100-150 and 150-200 cm at a minimum of three locations)
- Physical parameters: pH, electrical conductivity, SAR, exchangeable sodium, CEC, ESP, gypsum, organic carbon, bulk density, CaCO₃ and total nitrogen
- USDA soil texture classification, cross-checked for consistency against the reported particle size distribution
- Chemical contamination screening: heavy metals and cyanide (total and leachable), TPH, PAHs, VOCs, pesticides and herbicides, dioxins and furans
- Quantitative assessment: cut and fill volume, agricultural and non-agricultural soil volumes
- Regional pedological context from the EAD soil survey, recorded separately from measured properties and never merged into them
- A schedule-completeness statement: which required parameters are present, which are missing, and which were reported in a unit other than the one prescribed
Certification
Software scales the specialist. It does not replace them.
The engine applies the specialist's own standard consistently, the same rule in the executive summary as in the limitations section, on every claim, every time. A certified soil assessment is then reviewed claim by claim and signed by GDM's soil specialist. Certification is a human act, performed by a named person, and we say so.