Soil survey: Facts, Discussion Forum, and Encyclopedia Article

All Topics

Soil survey

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

	Soil survey
	Home Discussion
	Topics Soil survey Topic Home Soil survey, or soil mapping, is the process of classifying soil typeSoil type Overview In terms of soil texture, Soil type usually refers to the different sizes of mineral particles in a particular sample.... s and other soil properties in a given area and geo-encoding such information. It applies the principles of soil scienceSoil science Soil science deals with soil as a natural resource on the surface of the earth including soil formation, classification and m... , and draws heavily from geomorphologyGeomorphology Overview Geomorphology is the study of landforms, including their origin and evolution, and the processes that shape them.... , theories of soil formationPedogenesis Pedogenesis or soil evolution is the process by which soil is created.... , physical geographyPhysical geography Physical Geography looks at the natural environment, e.g.... , and analysis of vegetationVegetation Vegetation is a general term for the plant life of a region; it refers to the ground cover provided by plants, and is, by fa... and land useLand use A land use is the activity land is used for.... patterns. Primary data for the soil survey are acquired by field sampling, supported by remote sensingRemote sensing Summary Land coverMedical imagingPictometry... , (principally aerial photographyAerial photography Aerial photography* is the taking of photographs from above with a camera mounted, or hand held, on an aircraft, helicopter, ... ). The term soil survey may also be used as a noun to describe the published results. In the United StatesUnited States The United States of America, also known as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., and America, is... , these surveys have been published in book form for individual counties by the National Cooperative Soil SurveyNational Cooperative Soil Survey Summary The National Cooperative Soil Survey in the United States is a nationwide partnership of federal, regional, state, and local... . The information is used by farmerFarmer A farmer is a person who is engaged in agrarian business by using land.... s and ranchers to help determine whether a particular soil type is suited for cropsAgronomy Agronomy is a branch of agricultural science that deals with the study of crops and the soils in which they grow.... or livestockLivestock Livestock is the term used to refer to a domesticated animal intentionally reared in an agricultural setting to make produce suc... and what type of management might be required. An architectArchitect An architect is a person involved in the planning, designing and oversight of a building's construction.... or engineerEngineer An engineer is someone who is trained or professionally engaged in a branch of engineering.... might use the engineering properties of a soil to determine whether or not it was suitable for a certain type of construction. Typical information in a published county soil survey includes the following: a brief overview of the county's geography a general soil map with a brief description of each of the major soil types found in the county along with their characteristics detailed aerial photographs with specific soil types outlined and indexed photographs of some of the typical soils found in the area tables containing general information about the various soils such as total area, comparisons of production of typical crops and common range plantsPasture Pasture is land with lush herbaceous vegetation cover used for grazing of ungulate livestock as part of a farm or ranch.... . They also include extensive interpretations for Land use planningLand use planning Land Use Planning is the term used for a branch of public policy which encompasses various disciplines which seek to order a... such as limitations for dwellings with and without basements, shallow excavations, small commercial buildings, septic tank adsorptions, suitability for development, construction, and water management. tables containing specific physical, chemical, and engineering properties such as soil depth, soil textureFacts About Soil texture Soil texture is a soil property used to describe the relative proportion of different grain sizes of mineral particles in a ... , particle size and distribution, plasticityPlasticity Plasticity has five meanings in the sciences:... , permeabilityPermeability (fluid) In the earth sciences, permeability is a measure of the ability of a material to transmit fluids.... , available water capacityFacts About Available water capacity Available water capacity is defined as the range of available water that can be stored in soil and be available for growing ... , shrink-swell potentialVertisol In both the FAO and USA soil taxonomy, a vertisol is a soil in which there is a high content of expanding and shrinking clay... , corrosionCorrosion Corrosion is deterioration of intrinsic properties in a material due to reactions with its environment.... properties, and erodibilityErosion Erosion is the displacement of solids by the agents of wind, water or ice, by downward or down-slope movement in response t... . In recent years, much of this information has been published on the Internet. Currently, soils data can be viewed at a free website hosted by the NRCS at: http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/ After clicking the "Start WSS" button, First, click the "Address" tab and type in your home address and hit the "view" button, go to the interactive map and hit one of the "AOI" buttons and put a box around the area you are interested in and then click the "Soil Map" tab on the left. A soil map of your selected area will come up as well as a list of the soil series and their descriptions. Clicking the "Layers" tab will allow you to select the data you would like displayed on the interactive map. Soil survey information can be added most easily to a geographic information system using the See also FAO soil classificationFAO soil classification The FAO developed a supra-national classification, also called World Soil Classification, which offers useful generalization... USDA soil taxonomyUSDA soil taxonomy USDA Soil Taxonomy developed by United States Department of Agriculture and the National Cooperative Soil Survey provides an... PedometricsPedometrics Pedometrics is defined as the application of mathematical and statistical methods for the study of the distribution and gene... External links Inventory of the soil resource across the U.S. , hosted by the Soil Maps of the world at the University of South Carolina Library's Digital Collections Page .