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Web Soil Survey

by Larry R. Sabata, Soil Scientist
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
Topeka, Kansas

No longer does anyone have to first request and then wait to receive a hard copy of the soil survey publication for an area that is of interest to them. The soils information which used to take days or longer to receive can now be obtained in a matter of seconds on the computer through the Internet.

Web Soil Survey Promotional Photo Recently, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) released an Internet-based Web site allowing users widespread access to soil survey information across the entire country. The site is titled “Web Soil Survey” and can be accessed at http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/.

The Web site is designed to focus around easy-to-use features which define, view, and then explore a geographical area of interest. Viewers visiting the site are first asked to “define” their area of interest, such as selecting a state and county or just highlighting a designated area. Once a location has been defined and projected on the computer screen, the viewer has a choice to print the map and related information or save it to his/her hard drive. The information available at this site can also be customized to aid a user in evaluating soil data for areas of analysis, for instance, in determining soil suitability for specific types of uses.

Currently, by way of the Web Soil Survey, NRCS has soil maps and data available online for more than 95 percent of the Nation’s counties. The goal is to provide 100 percent coverage in the near future. Kansas has all counties available for access through the Web Soil Survey. In addition, the site will be updated and maintained online as a single authoritative source of soil survey information.

The next time you have a soils question, check out the Web site!

For more information about NRCS programs, visit the Kansas NRCS Web site at www.ks.nrcs.usda.gov.

This article is also available in Microsoft Word format.

Web Soil Survey (DOC; 36 KB) (Click on image above to download larger version of the picture)

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Last Modified: 08/22/2008