Soil Data Join Recorrelation MO1 Approach to the Harmonization Process

Agenda 1.Introduction ›Brief review of NASIS structure ›Overview of the Soil Data Join Recorrelation (SDJR) initiative ›Acres goals and timelines ›Roles and responsibilities 2.Overview of national instruction 3.Map unit NASIS group assignment 4.Review SDJR data package 5.MO1 SDJR demonstration

NASIS review  These four objects (table and nested child tables) will be referenced: 1.Data Mapunit 2.Legend 3.Mapunit 4.Project

NASIS review  Data Mapunit ›Stores component data ›Links to the Mapunit object through the Correlation child table  Mapunit ›Linked to the Legend and Project objects ›Uniquely identified by the national mapunit symbol ›Links to the Legend object through the Legend Mapunit child table using the national map unit symbol

NASIS review  Mapunit ›Also is linked to the Project object through the Project Mapunit child table using the national map unit symbol Same method as linking a mapunit to a legend

NASIS review  Legend ›Will not be edited by the MLRA SSO ›Contains the Legend Mapunit child table Only thing that can be edited in this table is the map unit acres and map unit symbol (aka, publication symbol) Can edit. Can’t edit. Comes from Mapunit table.

NASIS review  Project ›How update soil survey is managed ›Created in NASIS 6 ›Used to manage map units, mapping goals, and progress ›MLRA SSO will be able to create and edit projects

Overview of SDJR  A national initiative designed to emphasize and accelerate the ongoing MLRA approach to soil survey  Requires an evaluation of all map units owned by a MLRA SSO  Will result in: ›Recorrelated and up-to-date map units, which will minimize the tabular data discrepancies that occur between similar or identical map units. ›A comprehensive list of future projects

Three SDJR Objectives 1.Evaluate map units in your MLRA SSA 2.Update NASIS for map units that can be harmonized 3.Document future projects identified during evaluation and harmonization

Overview of SDJR  NASIS database initiative ›Only working on tabular data (NASIS) ›Soil lines will not be edited  Intention is to improve joins between soil survey areas by reducing the number of unique map units and data map units (DMU) in NASIS

Overview of SDJR  Focuses on identically and similarly named map units, which are linked to more than one DMU  Intended result is for identically and similarly named map units to use the same up-to-date DMU  Legend map unit symbols will not be changed

Overview of SDJR Structure of Data Currently In NASIS Survey Area Symbol Map Unit NameMap Unit Symbol DMU Description WA631Agnew silt loam, 0 to 8 percent slopesAgB631AgB WA609Agnew silt loam, 0 to 8 percent slopes Expected New Structure of Data In NASIS Survey Area Symbol Map Unit NameMap Unit Symbol DMU Description WA631Agnew silt loam, 0 to 8 percent slopesAgBMLRA 1-1 2gp8 WA609Agnew silt loam, 0 to 8 percent slopes1MLRA 1-1 2gp8 A new up-to-date DMU is created and both map units are linked to it. The original legend map unit symbols are retained.

Overview of SDJR  NOT a spatial initiative  Soil lines will not be edited  At this time, the guidance for spatial editing is as follows: ›“Any time a spatial edit is required to complete a SDJR project, it is no longer a SDJR project, but instead becomes a future project.”

Overview of SDJR  NOT a spatial initiative  Soil lines will not be edited  Only potential spatial editing would be if a group of polygons of a map unit need to be correlated into two different map units ›Only the attribute table would be changed ›We expect this to happen rarely, if at all

Example Of Potential Spatial Edit  Map unit 037 – Meadowridge ashy sandy loam, 12 to 35 percent north slopes ›Occurs in both the and zone. ›Meadowridge is correlated to the “JD Sandy PZ” ecological site ›In the zone, Meadowridge needs to be correlated to the “SR Mountain PZ” ecological site

Example Of Potential Spatial Edit  A second map unit is set up ›038 - Medowridge ashy sandy loam, moist, 12 to 35 percent slopes Meadowridge in this map unit is correlated to SR Mountain PZ ›The map unit symbols for the polygons in the precipitation zone are changed from 037 to 038

Example Of Potential Spatial Edit  Soil lines were not changed  Only the map unit symbol was changed  Will require a re-certification of the soil lines

Overview of SDJR  New mapunits and DMUs created  Original map units retained and made additional in the Legend Mapunit table  Original DMUs retained and are linked as non- representative to the new map unit  No existing data will be modified  Only new data created

What Triggered SDJR?  The USDA-NRCS Soil Survey program intends to: ›Accelerate MLRA approach to soil survey ›Develop a “road map” for conducting update soil survey ›Create standards for updating tabular data ›Develop systematic and consistent methods for populating the Project Object

What Triggered SDJR?  The Soil Survey program needs to position itself as a viable program  Sell ourselves to the decision makers ›Thematic maps of proposed future projects can be generated ›The amount (acres of map units) of proposed work can be easily displayed

SDJR Technical Team  Charged with developing SDJR national instructions  Hold monthly teleconferences to discuss the SDJR initiative  Comprised of 20 people ›One SDQS from each MO ›Paul Finnell, NSSC NASIS Database Manager ›Cameron Loerch, National Leader, Soil Survey Standards

Who is Working SDJR?  All MLRA SSOs that are not working on initial or extensive revision soil surveys will be focusing on SDJR ›Those MLRA SSOs working on initial or extensive revision soil surveys will only harmonize matching map units and identify future projects

How Much Time Is Spent on SDJR?  At a minimum, it will be enough time to satisfy your SDJR acre goals  Expect to focus 50%-75% of your time on SDJR  Your remaining time will be spent working on already initiated update projects, evaluations, 01, etc….

What about field work?  SDJR is a database initiative  Projects that require field work are considered future MLRA projects  The short answer is there is no field work for SDJR

SDJR Timeline  FY12 ›MO staff assigns ownership of map units ›MO staff provides SDJR training ›MLRA SSOs evaluate map units Organize map units into proposed projects Begin identifying future projects ›MLRA SSOs complete at least one SDJR project Provide feedback to MO  FY13 ›SDJR officially begins ›Acre goals are set

Acre Goals  Who, when, and how acre goals are set is still to be determined  Goals will most likely be based on the map units that you own in NASIS  Same named or similar named map units included in goals????

Project Acre Goals  Each project will have an acre goal  Will be 20% of the total acres of map units included in your project  Populated in the Project Mapping Goal table

Progress Reporting  Progress will be reported for each SDJR project after QA and correlation are completed by the MO office  Progress is recorded in the Project Mapping Progress table as 20% of the map unit acres that were harmonized

Progress Reporting  The acres listed in the “Project Mapping Goal” table will not always equal the acres claimed in the “Project Mapping Progress” table ›All map units included in a proposed SDJR project will not always be harmonized ›In many instances, only some of the map units will be harmonizable ›Non-harmonizable map units will become future MLRA projects

Acre Goal and Progress Example Survey Area Map Unit Symbol Map Unit NameMap Unit Acres WA029Aa Alderwood fine sandy loam, 0 to 5 percent slopes 500 WA631Amc Alderwood gravelly loam, 0 to 15 percent slopes 1000 WA055AmB Alderwood gravelly loam, 3 to 8 percent slopes 200 WA645Aa Alderwood gravelly loam, 5 to 15 percent slopes 3000 WA6341 Alderwood gravelly loam, 6 to 15 percent slopes 1500 WA631AIC Alderwood gravelly sandy loam, 0 to 15 percent slopes 700 WA0671 Alderwood gravelly sandy loam, 0 to 3 percent slopes 3000 WA6671 Alderwood gravelly sandy loam, 0 to 3 percent slopes 2500 WA633AgB Alderwood gravelly sandy loam, 0 to 6 percent slopes 600 Total Acres for this project are 13,000 Project Name: SDJR – MLRA 2 - Alderwood 0-15 percent slopes Project Acre Goal will be: 13,000 * 0.20 = 2,600 acres

Acre Goal and Progress Example Survey Area Map Unit Symbol Map Unit NameMap Unit Acres WA029Aa Alderwood fine sandy loam, 0 to 5 percent slopes 500 WA631Amc Alderwood gravelly loam, 0 to 15 percent slopes 1000 WA055AmB Alderwood gravelly loam, 3 to 8 percent slopes 200 WA645Aa Alderwood gravelly loam, 5 to 15 percent slopes 3000 WA6341 Alderwood gravelly loam, 6 to 15 percent slopes 1500 WA631AIC Alderwood gravelly sandy loam, 0 to 15 percent slopes 700 WA0671 Alderwood gravelly sandy loam, 0 to 3 percent slopes 3000 WA6671 Alderwood gravelly sandy loam, 0 to 3 percent slopes 2500 WA633AgB Alderwood gravelly sandy loam, 0 to 6 percent slopes 600 Only able to harmonize the map units in red, which sum up to 6,400 acres Project Name: SDJR – MLRA 2 - Alderwood 0-15 percent slopes Progress Reported (acres claimed) will be: 6,400 * 0.20 = 1,280 acres

Roles and Responsibilities  National Headquarters ›Provide direction ›Set goals ›Track progress and post results ›Brief states on initiative

Roles and Responsibilities  National Soil Survey Center ›Establish and guide SDJR Technical Team ›Provide national training ›Ensure consistency ›Provide national oversight on progress ›Develop success metrics to monitor progress

Roles and Responsibilities  State Soil Scientist ›Inform State Conservationists, cooperators, and users about priorities and progress ›Help establish priorities ›Certify data ›Serve as member of Management Team

Roles and Responsibilities  MLRA Regional Office (MO1) ›Train and support MLRA SSOs in the SDJR initiative Provide SDJR data sets ›Conduct QA on all SDJR projects ›Ensure consistency across MLRA SSOs ›Make changes to official legends in NASIS

Roles and Responsibilities  MLRA Soil Survey Offices ›Evaluate map units within the MRLA SSA ›Propose SDJR projects and future MLRA projects Follow SDJR national instructions for managing projects Document evaluation findings ›Complete approved SDJR projects Generate up-to-date MLRA map units ›Conduct QC on all completed SDJR projects

Roles and Responsibilities  MLRA Management Team ›Review, approve, and prioritize proposed SDJR projects

Projects  Each map unit owned by your MLRA SSO will be evaluated in placed in one of these categories: 1.SDJR Projects 2.MLRA Projects 3.Non-projects

Projects  SDJR Projects ›Proposed projects ›Require no field work or spatial edits ›Similarly or identically named map units ›Will contain SDJR at the beginning of the project name SDJR – MLRA 2 – Alpha silt loam 0 to 8 % slopes

Projects  MLRA projects ›Future projects ›Any project that requires field work or spatial line edits is a MLRA project ›Will contain MLRA at the beginning of the project name MLRA – MLRA 2 – Beta loams

Projects  Non – Projects ›Unique map units will not be included in SDJR or MLRA projects, unless you know these map units require some type of future project work

Projects  As you evaluate and attempt to update map units in a SDJR project, you may identify the need for additional field work before any updating of some or all of the map units can occur  In these instances, those map units identified as needing field work are shifted to a future MLRA project and your evaluation findings (what work needs to be done) is included in the project descriptions

Project Descriptions  Narrative statements that details history, location, acreage, reasoning for project, expected workload, theories, etc…  All projects must have a description  There are examples of project descriptions in the SDJR National Instructions, Exhibit D

Project Descriptions  Proposed SDJR projects ›Each SDJR project is a NASIS database update project ›Descriptions are expected to be relatively shorter and concise since the workload will be somewhat straight forward and similar for each project  Future MLRA projects ›Each MLRA project will be unique ›Descriptions are expected to be relatively longer and thorough since you will need to carefully outline the unique issues and expected workload

National Instructions  A harmonization road map  Supplemented with the following guides: ›National Soil Survey Handbook 608, 609, 610, & 627 ›Soil Survey Manual Chapter 2 ›NASIS 6.0 Training Materials Chapter 14 – Managing Update Projects ›MO1 Technical Note 38 & 40

National Instruction Workflow Get Project Approval 1) Inventory and assess map units 2) Populate proposed projects in NASIS 3) Proposed SDJR projects reviewed 4) Approved project is developed Manage Approved Projects 5) Create spatial distribution maps 6) Compile historical information 7) Enter pedons into NASIS 8) Review old map units and data map units (GIS analysis) 9) Populate new MLRA DMU 10) Document the map unit and data map unit 11) Identify future projects 12) Update OSD and KSSL pedons QA and QC 13) QC 14) QA 15) Correlation 16) SSURGO Certification 17) Progress reporting

National Instruction Workflow Obtain Project Approval 1.Inventory and assess map units owned by your MLRA SSO ›Use the Excel spreadsheet to group similar and identical named map units into proposed SDJR projects, future MLRA projects, or non-projects ›Propose priorities based on acres or use and management concerns

2.Populate projects in NASIS ›NASIS 6.0 Training Materials - Chapter 14 contains detailed instructions on how to populate the Project object ›For both proposed SDJR and future MLRA projects, populate the following fields in the Project table: Project Name Project Description Approval – All projects are initially “Not Approved” MLRA SSO Area Symbol MLRA SSO Area Name State Responsible National Instruction Workflow Obtain Project Approval

2.Populate projects in NASIS ›For all map units grouped into a project, populate the following fields in the Project Mapunit table: National Mapunit Symbol Mapunit Name Mapunit Status National Instruction Workflow Obtain Project Approval

3.Proposed SDJR Projects reviewed ›MO SDQS will review proposed projects and provide feedback to the MLRA SSO ›After MO SDQS review, the MLRA SSO will notify the MLRA management team, which will then review, approve, and prioritize project plans ›Future MLRA projects are not reviewed by the management team at this time National Instruction Workflow Obtain Project Approval

4.Approved Project is developed ›MLRA SSOL will change project to “Approved” ›In the Project Land Category Breakdown table, populate: Land Category Land Category Acres – The total of land category acres must equal the total of map unit acres ›In the Project Mapping Goal Update NRCS Acres Goal – Must equal 20% of the total acres in The Project Land Category Breakdown table Fiscal Year National Instruction Workflow Obtain Project Approval

4.Approved Project is developed ›In the Project Staff table, populate: NASIS User Name Project Leader? ›Begin populating the Project Milestone table according to national instructions ›Create new MLRA DMU(s) and map unit(s) and add new map unit(s) to the Project Mapunit table National Instruction Workflow Obtain Project Approval

5.Create spatial distribution maps ›Thematic maps of project map units 6.Compile historical information ›Manuscripts, laboratory data, university data, official soil survey records, pedons, and expert knowledge National Instruction Workflow Manage Approved Projects

7.Enter pedons into NASIS ›Locate OSD and all TUDs in manuscripts Make sure OSD classification is up to date Review classifications of TUDs – Confirm that TUDs are within OSD concept – Map units using TUD’s outside the range of the OSD as the RV pedon need be turned into future projects Enter all TUDs and OSD into NASIS Enter additional pedons into NASIS National Instruction Workflow Manage Approved Projects

7.Enter pedons into NASIS Link TUD and OSD to component through the Component Pedon table in new MLRA DMU and identify the RV pedon Populate minimum data for all pedons 8.Review old map units, DMUs, and conduct GIS analysis ›Conduct surface analysis ›Read map unit descriptions ›Review minor components Check to see if spot symbols identify potential minors ›Review component data National Instruction Workflow Manage Approved Projects

9. Populate new MLRA DMU ›Use MO1 Technical Note 40 ›100% component composition ›Full population of major and minor components unless unnamed hydric minors are present Exhibit B in the national instructions provides a minimum data set for unnamed hydric minors National Instruction Workflow Manage Approved Projects

10. Document map unit and data mapunit ›Use Mapunit History table to document correlation ›Use Mapunit Text to store description of the map unit concept 11. Identify future projects 12.Update KSSL pedon/site information and OSD National Instruction Workflow Manage Approved Projects

13. Quality Control ›Responsibility of MLRA SSO ›Refer to MO1 Technical Note Quality Assurance ›Responsibility of the MO ›SDQS certifies quality assurance in the Data Mapunit Certification History table and the Project Milestone table National Instruction Workflow QA and QC

15. Correlation ›Legends are updated with new map units Publication symbols will not be changed ›Old map units are changed from correlated to additional 16. SSURGO Certification ›Responsibility of the State Soil Scientist National Instruction Workflow QA and QC

17. Progress Reporting ›After SSURGO Certification, the MLRA SSOL will populate the Project Mapping Progress table with acres claimed 20% of the acres harmonized ›The completion date is populated in the Project Milestone table by the MLRA SSOL ›The MO leader will notify the state conservationist of the changes made National Instruction Workflow QA and QC