The "U.S. General Soil Map (STATSGO) – State Subset" product includes both spatial and tabular soil data for any state or Washington, D.C. area in the conterminous United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, or the United States Virgin Islands.
Title: U.S. General Soil Map (STATSGO) – State Subset Database
Originator:
Abstract:
The U.S. General Soil Map consists of general soil association units. It was developed by the National Cooperative Soil Survey and supersedes the State Soil Geographic (STATSGO) dataset published in 1994. It consists of a broad based inventory of soils and non-soil areas that occur in a repeatable pattern on the landscape and that can be cartographically shown at the scale mapped. The dataset was created by generalizing more detailed soil survey maps. Where more detailed soil survey maps were not available, data on geology, topography, vegetation, and climate were assembled, together with Land Remote Sensing Satellite (LANDSAT) images. Soils of like areas were studied, and the probable classification and extent of the soils were determined.
Map unit composition was determined by transecting or sampling areas on the more detailed maps and expanding the data statistically to characterize the whole map unit.
This dataset consists of geo-referenced vector digital data and tabular digital data. The map data were collected in 1-by 2-degree topographic quadrangle units and merged into a seamless national dataset. It is distributed in state/territory and national extents. The soil map units are linked to attributes in the tabular data, which give the proportionate extent of the component soils and their properties.
The tabular data contain estimated and measured data on the physical and chemical soil properties, soil interpretations, and static and dynamic metadata. Most tabular data exist in the database as a range of soil properties, depicting the range for the geographic extent of the map unit. In addition to low and high values for most data, a representative value is also included for these soil properties.
The tabular data can be used with their companion general soil maps. For additional information contact the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and State Soil Scientist. Their contact information is available at http://soils.usda.gov/contact/state_offices/.
A Microsoft Access template database has been prepared for use with the U.S General Soil Map tabular data and is available at http://soildatamart.nrcs.usda.gov/Templates.aspx
The static tabular metadata documents the underlying data structure, independent of the actual data contained in an export. The dynamic metadata documents the contents of a particular export. The structure of the static and dynamic metadata tables can be viewed online at http://soildatamart.nrcs.usda.gov/SSURGOMetadata.aspx.
Digital versions of hydrographic features, cultural features, and other associated layers that are not part of the U.S. General Soil Map dataset may be available from http://datagateway.nrcs.usda.gov/, or from Geospatial One-Stop at http://www.geodata.gov/gos .
Tabular Format: Text files (.txt) in ASCII, pipe (|) field delimited and double quote text delimited format.
Spatial Format: Vectors, polygons, and lines – ESRI Shapefile format.
Spatial Reference Information: Decimal Degrees, North American Datum 1983
