Labs again

Intro Soils – Lab 10 Web Soil Survey

o Labs submitted without advised instructions will result in a 4 point deduction: Proper document name (LastName_SoilsLab8), name included in document, legible spacing, numbering, and use of spell and grammar check.

Lab 10 – Web Soil Survey

The Web Soil Survey is a national web-based repository for the National Cooperative Soil Survey. The

survey began in the late 1800s and continues today in an effort to map, classify, and characterize soils

across the United States. Even though county maps exist for most counties in the country and are

accessible at local NRCS offices, libraries, and courthouses, the most up to date information is available

online. The website has a tremendous amount of information with detailed instructions on getting

started and accessing the data.

Your task for this assignment is just not to become an expert at Web Soil Survey, but to just get online

and get acquainted with the site and to research a site of your choice. Your assignment will be to

answer some questions about the soils you researched.

The Web Soil Survey (WSS) is located at the following address:

http://websoilsurvey.sc.egov.usda.gov/App/HomePage.htm. It is suggested to first read through some

of the introductory material on the homepage, especially the four basic steps, before getting started. It

just takes some time to click around, get familiar with the layout and then dig into the various tabs to

get more information.

To get started, click on the green ‘Start WSS’ button. This is the main page where all of the information

is located. The first step is to identify an area of interest or the location where you would like more

information; you can do this by just typing in an address or even a GPS location. Sometimes exact

addresses are hard to find, so you may need to identify a broader, general area and then pan around to

find where you would like. Once the aerial images come up, you may want to use the ‘hand button’ to

pan around and locate the more specific location you want to investigate. The click functions are zoom

functions and can either go in or out. Once you have the area you want to look into identified, use the

AOI (area of interest) tool, on the toolbar to draw a square (or polygon) around the area of interest.

Once you have that clicked and identified, the area will be hashed in green, basic information is on the

left panel (size, etc.) and you are set to go!

From there, you can move across the tabs at the top to access information available on the WSS. The

soil map tab generates a soil map with soil map unit names, generally synonymous with the soil series

name, and other information. There is a printable version of the map which also includes the map unit

descriptions. If you click on the soil map unit name (left panel) a printable window of information also

poops up with the full description of the unit (properties, landforms, profiles, etc.). Soil explorer tab has

all of the land use suitability, properties and qualities, and various reports. To view a particular

category, click on the down tab, and view soil report. The information will come up on the map as well

as down below the aerial photo (if available). If you are looking at a relatively small area (less than 10

acres) data may not be available for every potential data point; if you click on the view rating tab and

nothing comes up, data for that particular item may not be available. The amount of information

available quickly and relatively easy is quite amazing! Just click around and see what you can learn!

The soil map feature lists a series of unit names which is generally synonymous with the soil series. To

learn more about the soil series, go to the ‘Official Soil Series Description Page’. It is linked on the Web

Soil Survey homepage on the left panel, and the direct link is the following:

http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/soils/survey/geo/?cid=nrcs142p2_053587. Database

access is available by several search functions listen on the home page. Once identified, the series

description gives a detailed list of information about the series including taxonomic class, typical

horizons and their characteristics, locations, and other comments. It is a great source of additional

information, especially the detailed taxonomic class. There is also a geographic distribution map

function as well.

This is meant to be a relatively easy, fun, and informative exercise, but if you are having considerable

issues after some time on the website, please email the instructor for assistance.

Intro Soils – Lab 10 – Assignment Questions Web Soil Survey

o Labs submitted without advised instructions will result in a 4 point deduction: Proper document name (LastName_SoilsLab8), name included in document, legible spacing, numbering, and use of spell and grammar check.

1.) What area of interest (AOI) did you research? (address, GPS location, etc.)

2.) Once you have your AOI identified, using the soil map tab, what were at least two soil map units

(soil series) found in your investigation (for example, Grenada silt loam or Loring silt loam). You

may have lots or very few depending on the variability in your AOI. Also search these series

names (Official Soil Series Description Page) and from the description list the taxonomic class,

information about their geographic distribution and extent, as well as use and vegetation.

3.) Using the same or a different AOI, please include that information if you changed, investigate at

least three other soil properties on the Web Soil Survey for your specific AOI and report your

findings. Attempt to find information that will be useful in how the land is utilized currently or

how it may be utilized in the future, and include comment on those in your report. Any

property on the Web Soil Survey is fair game (land management, water management, depth to

water table, crop productivity index, organic matter, erosion factors (T), etc).