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Mike Hodgson, who has died aged 92, was a leading soil scientist, and the driving force behind the creation in 1983 of the National Soil Map of England and Wales, an outstanding achievement in environmental science.

The map, a detailed and definitive picture of soils across the two countries, with explanatory bulletins, won an award for cartographic excellence and continues to inform critical decisions about land use, when soil health is an issue of increasing national concern.

Acknowledging its legacy, Defra (the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) recently offered free access to the map and associated data, stating: “You simply can’t fix nature or have a resilient and sustainable food system without good soil. That’s why the National Soil Map is vital.”

Born in the mill town of Colne, in Lancashire, Mike was the son of Susannah, a former millworker who set up a lingerie shop, making most of the items herself, and William, who ran his own carpentry and funeral business. Mike was an intelligent and independent child who attended Colne grammar school a year early, before moving to London to study geography and geology at King’s College.

Committed to environmental issues, in 1957 he joined the Soil Survey of England and Wales. In his early career, he mapped the soils of West Sussex and managed the survey’s first regional office in the West Midlands.

His rigour and down-to-earth management style made him a charismatic boss, marking him out for leadership. In 1974, his first national project was the successful revision of the much reprinted Soil Survey Field Handbook, which introduced standard methods for describing and sampling soils to a global audience.

In 1978, his appointment to lead work on the National Soil Map was inspired, earning him the affectionate soubriquet Map Man. With his energy and keen editorial eye, Mike welded 36 regional soil scientists into an internationally admired team, which delivered the five-year project on time.

Outside work, Mike was equally energetic, whether fly fishing on the river Wharfe near the village of Kilnsey, in the Yorkshire Dales, or writing a history of Kilnsey Angling Club. Despite poor eyesight, he was an enthusiastic rugby player and referee. As a francophile he polished his schoolboy French into his 90s and cooked cordon bleu meals, inspired by Elizabeth David. On retirement in 1995, he also became deputy editor of the European Journal of Soil Science.

Mike was modest, but his achievements left a significant mark in a scientific field made more critical by climate change.

He will be remembered fondly by his colleagues for his rigour, humour and mentoring, which shaped their careers and made working with him such a privilege.

In 1958 he married Joyce Perry. She survives him, along with his children, Andrew and Hilary, and two grandchildren, Ben and Louis.