Soils SSURGO

Abstract

The Soil Survey Geographic Database (SSURGO) data set represents soil map units and related tabular data. This is the most detailed soils data available from the Natural Resource Conservation Service located within the United States Department of Agriculture.

Soil map units are the basic geographic unit that tabular soils data are tied to. The tabular data is made up of many related tables. MapWise utilizes a subset of the SSURGO data set that was generated by FGDL. This version of soils data is a simplified view of tabular soils data designed to make it easy to visualize and reference basic soils information. MapWise also obtained additional soils tables from the SSURGO database for calculation and presentation of information such as crop yields by crop type.

Soil scientists across the country have spent decades developing detailed soils maps and associated data. Before the digitization of soils data, NRCS collected soil data on paper and published soil books by county. These books contained detailed soil maps overlaied on aerial photos, discussions of soils present within the county, and many tables of information that all tied back to the map units represented on the maps. All of this information was digitized in the 1990s and 2000s for use within Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

Purpose

Soil properties play a large role in the suitability of land for various purposes. Soils data are widely used for evaluating and managing land involved in agriculture, industry, urban development, and recreation.

Time Period of Content

  • Beginning date: 1990
  • Ending date: 2012

Publish Date

2012

Originator

Natural Resource Conservation Service

Publisher

Theme Keywords

soils, ssurgo, map unit, soil properties

Place Keywords

Florida

Source Scale

1:24,000

Horizontal Accuracy

+/- 40 feet

Format

SHP

Format Details

Polygon

Projection

Florida Albers HARN

Field Names

Field Description Type
areasymbol Area symbol String (20.0)
spatialver Spatial version (SSURGO) Real (19.11)
musym Map Unit symbol - String (6.0)
mukey Map Unit key String (30.0)
compname Soil component name (dominant) String (60.0)
comppct Soil component percentage (dominant) Integer (4.0)
muname Map Unit name String (175.0)
muacres Map Unit acres Integer (9.0)
texture Soil texture String (30.0)
brockdepmi Bedrock Depth - Minimum Integer (4.0)
hydricrati Hydric rating (YES or NO) (dominant) String (10.0)
drainagecl Drainage class String (30.0)
nirrcapcl Non Irrigation Capability Class String (5.0)
hydrgrp Hydric Group String (5.0)
corcon Corrosion Concrete String (10.0)
corsteel Corrosion Steel String (10.0)
mukind Map Unit kind String (25.0)
frmlndcl Farmland Classification String (125.0)
flodfreqdc Flooding Frequency - Dominant Condition String (15.0)
flodfreqma Flooding Frequency - Maximum String (15.0)
englrsdcd Engineering rating for roads String (30.0)

Comments

Soils metadata that describes all of the data tables available in the SSURGO data are found in the referenced link.