National Soil Information System Soil Databases National Soil Information System The term “NASIS” has any faces. The National Soil Information System consists of a series of soil databases that are used to store soils data from the point of collection to the point of delivery. This talk is organized in three basic sections – Product Delivery, Product Management, and Product Development National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Soil Survey? A soil survey describes the characteristics of the soils in a given area, classifies the soils according to a standard system of classification, plots the boundaries of the soils on a map, and makes predictions about the behavior of soils. The different uses of the soils and how the response of management affects them are considered. The information collected in a soil survey helps in the development of land-use plans and evaluates and predicts the effects of land use on the environment. SSM Chapter 1 National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Soil Survey Pedon Description Lab Data Properties Think about the properties you collect for a pedon description. Do those properties aid you in population of aggregated data at the component level? Interpretations National Soil Information System

Soil Survey What properties do you extract from a pedon description?? Think about it while we finish… National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System What is a Pedon? Pedon.—The pedon is presented in Soil Taxonomy (Soil Survey Staff, 1975) as a unit of sampling within a soil. The limits on the area of a pedon establish rules for deciding whether to consider one or two or more kinds of soil within a small-scale pattern of local lateral variability. A pedon is regarded as the smallest body of one kind of soil large enough to represent the nature and arrangement of horizons and variability in the other properties that are preserved in samples. (SSM Ch. 2, page 1) National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Why Pedon? During field operations, many soils are investigated by examining the soil material removed by a sampling tube or an auger. For rapid investigations of thin soils, a small pit can be dug and a section of soil removed with a spade. All of these are samples of pedons. Knowledge of the internal properties of a soil is derived mainly from studies of such samples. They can be studied more rapidly than entire pedons; consequently, a much larger number can be studied in many more places. For many soils, the information obtained from such a small sample describes the pedon from which it is taken with few omissions. For other soils, however, important properties of a pedon are not observable in the smaller sample, and detailed studies of entire pedons may be needed. Complete study of an entire pedon requires the exposure of a vertical section and the removal of horizontal sections layer by layer. Horizons are studied in both horizontal and vertical dimensions. (SSM Ch. 3, page 1) National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Terminology Site? Pedon? Transect? Site Association? National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Site The Site describes the location information and characteristics of a particular geographic location. A site may be a specific location such as a point where a soil profile description is taken, or it may have some spatial area that is chosen to be treated as a single point. Various kinds of data such as soil profile descriptions, lab data, vegetative data, etc. may be linked to a site. National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Pedon The Pedon contains information collected at the time a soil profile description is made. It has data that relates to the profile as a whole. A description of a pedon is commonly based on examination of a profile, and the properties of the pedon are projected from the properties of the profile. National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Transect The Transect is used to record groupings of pedons that are the stops along transects. It is common to employ transects to estimate the composition of map units. The first aspect of composition is to identify the taxonomic components because they are the things that we have learned to identify and recognize. National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Site Association The Site Association is used to record some natural or artificial grouping of sites. Various types of groupings may be recorded as needed by the user. Examples might include sites that are included in a special soil temperature or soil moisture study. National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System PedonPC PedonPC is designed as a pedon data entry software package that allows for the management of pedons, field notes, transect, and photographs. National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System PedonPC National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System PedonPC on the Tablet National Soil Information System

Entering Pedons into NASIS See Soil Survey Lab Information Manual, page 4 The Site table contains the location (spatial) information for the Pedon. It is critical the every Pedon point have the lat/long captured and populated. Note the User Site ID has a specific format. That format can be found in the Soil Survey Laboratory Manual page 4. The first two characters are the Calendar Year, the next two are the state code followed by the county FIPS code, this is followed by a sequential numbering of the pedons within the given year. National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Site Child Tables The Site table has many child tables. The Site Observation table identifies the date in which the site was observed or entered. The Site Observation table provides the ability to return to the specific site multiple time and record the dates in which the site was visited. The purpose is to be able to track water table studies, temperature studies, or even vegetative studies. In this scenario it allows for the ability to describe the pedon in 1957 and then again in 2001. This was a county typical pedon location that was revisited during an update. National Soil Information System

NASIS Pedon Object Link the Site and Pedon together with the same ID Once again, an edit setup is in use and the purpose is to tailor the screen to fit the needs of the user. The Pedon is linked to the Site via the User Site ID and the Site Observation columns. For simplicity the User Pedon ID is a duplicate of the User Site ID. The Pedon table contains information about the hole in the ground. National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System AnalysisPC AnalysisPC is designed as a software package for analyzing pedon data. This tool have built in queries for statistics of pedons and transects. National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System AnalysisPC In order to use AnalysisPC, you gotta have Pedons in the database National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Building Components An individual component of a map unit represents the collection of polypedons or parts of polypedons that are members of the taxon or a kind of miscellaneous area. Parts of polypedons are common when phases are used to divide a taxon. It is common to employ transects to estimate the composition of map units. The first aspect of composition is to identify the taxonomic components because they are the things that we have learned to identify and recognize. These can be translated or interpreted as responses or properties or whatever has an acceptable relationship. SSM Chapter 2 p. 7 National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System What is a “Component”? An individual component of a map unit represents the collection of polypedons or parts of polypedons that are members of the taxon or a kind of miscellaneous area. National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System What is a “Component”? Map Units of Soil Surveys (NSSH 627.03(b)(4)) Components, whether major or minor, meet the following criteria: exist in most delineations, add to the understanding of the map unit, are contrasting to all other components in the map unit (do not list similar soils as components), and allow for useful and significant soil data and interpretations to the users. Documented components that do not meet the above criteria are similar or nonrecurring or isolated features of the map unit. If appropriate, recognize nonrecurring, contrasting components with special or ad hoc features, or point or linear map unit delineations. What is a component? It is an aggregation of Pedon data. NASIS was originally designed from the “ground up”. After the pedons are entered, the data is analyzed and from that data a Component is built. National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System What is a “Component”? Map Units of Soil Surveys (NSSH 627.03(b)(5)) The composition and purity of map units are important in the interpretation of soil maps. Most delineations of a map unit include dissimilar soils or miscellaneous areas of minor extent that are not identified in the map unit name but may be included in the database for the unit. Practical field mapping methods cannot delineate these components at the selected scale of mapping. But they may be associated with a specific landform segment different from that of the named components of the map unit. Some of these components could be delineated if smaller management units were needed. A component should be dissimilar to other components. National Soil Information System

Things I learned living in Texas You only own four spices – salt, pepper, Tabasco and Ketchup You think the first day of deer season is a national holiday You find 100 degrees a “bit warm” You know all four seasons: Almost summer, summer, still summer and Christmas National Soil Information System

What is the “National Soil Information System”? NASIS is the NRCS’ soils inventory (collection to publication) database system NASIS is one part of NRCS resource information system NASIS is a set of soil survey concepts NASIS is a data management system (software) The National Soils Information System encompasses a database system, a single database as a part of the entire NRCS natural resources database system, a set of soil survey concepts and a software interface used to populate the transactional soils database. National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Definition and Purpose (638.00) (a) Soil data systems aid the collection, storage, manipulation, and dissemination of soil information. Soil data systems consist of multiple automated soil applications or modules that stand alone or interact with each other to provide information. (b) The National Cooperative Soil Survey (NCSS) collects, manages, interprets, and disseminates soil survey information using a dynamic soil information system from which many different products can be made. The NCSS is charged with developing the soils inventory of the United States. That begins with the collection of data and ends with the delivery of that data. NASIS was designed to accomplish the collection, storage, manipulation and dissemination so soils data. National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System NRCS Information System NASIS PLANTS ESIS Climate Data NASIS is one part of the NRCS Resource Database System. DOQs Spatial National Soil Information System

“National Soil Information System” Concepts NASIS is also a soil survey “concept”. It includes the collection of point data, aggregation to map unit data, development of the spatial databases and the guidance documents used to create the product. National Soil Information System

Lab Manuscript text Pedon NASIS database Range Forest Soil Map Crops Public Data CustomerProducts Field Data Collection Plant Data Lab Manage Soil Data Soil Survey Report Manuscript text Pedon NASIS database Soil Data SSURGO Range Analyze/ Summarize Forest CST Climate Data NASIS is also a database management system that allows for the collection and storage of field data, the ability to analyze and summarize the data and incorporate extraneous data thereby producing customer driven products. Soil Map FOTG DOQs Crops NASIS as the “Data Management System” Custom Reports National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System WHY NASIS ? We need to be able to deliver data in a timely manner (10 years to publish?) We need to improve data integrity, quality, and consistency (good “field” data) We need the ability to modify our data base by adding new soil properties as they become a priority NASIS came about as a result due to concerns on the time it historically took to begin and publish a soil survey. In some instances it took many years to create the survey and just as many years to publish the data. NASIS was needed in order to improve the delivery of soils information. NASIS was also created to improve the data. The data in many manuscripts was delivered based on a series concept. NASIS was created so that the field soil scientists could populate the properties there were found for the given component for a given map unit. A database was needed that provided validation of the quality of data. In addition, the database needed the ability to add data elements as they became a priority. National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System eFOTG Resource Data Gateway Product Development On-line Soil Surveys Electronic Soil Surveys Web Soil Survey Spatial Data (Dig Units) Soil Data Mart(s) Soil Data Warehouse Soil Staging Server NASIS Transaction Database Product Development is the primary responsibility of the Project staff. The databases include the spatial and the attribute data. The Pedon and the Laboratory Information System are also used in the population of the map unit level data. Soil Data Access Pedon LIMS NRI Models & Applications -- RUSLE2, WinPST, WEPS, etc National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System “NASIS” - database NASIS software is a data management tool NASIS software does not enforce program policy or procedures NASIS software does not make correlation decisions - humans do “NASIS” database is “transactional” Simple rules for the NASIS database and software. National Soil Information System

NASIS - data management “NASIS” provides capability to : query data add/delete data search database interpret data report data and interpretation results edit data calculate and validate data ensure data integrity export data List of capabilities for the NASIS database National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Where should the data come from? National Soil Information System Spatial Data (Dig Units) NASIS Transaction Database The field staff play the most important role in the delivery of the soils information. The collection and analysis of data is critical to the product success. If there is a “weak link” in the National Soil Information System, it would be in stressing the importance of proper collection, compilation, analysis, population and dissemination of the soils data. Proper procedures in the correlation of map units and components are necessary. The field staff must identify the components within a map unit, the properties for each component and the interpretations for that component and how they influence the map unit design. Pedon LIMS National Soil Information System

Things I learned while in Texas Iced tea is appropriate for all meals and you start drinking it when you’re two. We do like a little tea with our sugar. “Backwards and forwards” means “I know everything about you”. The word “jeet” is actually a phrase meaning “Did you eat?” You don’t PUSH buttons, you MASH EM National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System NASIS Objects National Soil Information System

What is a “Datamapunit”? NSSH 639.02(b) The Data Mapunit Object The data mapunit object is a record or a collection of records concerning composition, physical, chemical, morphological, and interpretation properties and performance for a map unit and each of its components. A data mapunit object is a set of data records and as such is not related to any geographic area or map unit delineation unless linked to a delineated area in a soil survey area legend. These records are used to document map unit characteristics and create reports of soil properties and interpretations. Data mapunit objects are created as needed and retained as part of the historical records. What is a Datamapunit? It is the “Data” for the “Mapunit”. What is a Datamapunit? It is the “Data” for the “Mapunit”. National Soil Information System

What is a “Datamapunit”? Graphically, the DMU object includes the DMU table as the parent table. National Soil Information System

What is a “Datamapunit”? National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System What is a “Component”? Map Unit “Component” – the lowest level spatial entity for which a range of soil property data is stored. It has known extent, but unknown spatial location, except by relative topographic position in the map unit. What is a component? National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System What is a “Component”? Map units can have unlimited components, and components can have unlimited horizons. (with freedom comes responsibility) “Inclusions” are contrasting components of minor extent Soil property ranges are not limited to series or other taxonomic class limits. Soil Properties and Soil Qualities (618.03), Technical Note #4 What is a “component” in NASIS? What are the rules? National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System What is a “Component”? Soil Properties and Qualities Definition and Purpose (NSSH 618.00) Soil properties are measured or inferred from direct observations in the field or laboratory. Soil properties include, but are not limited to, particle-size distribution, cation exchange capacity, and salinity. Soil qualities are behavior and performance attributes that are not directly measured. They are inferred from observations of dynamic conditions and from soil properties. Soil qualities include, but are not limited to, corrosivity, natural drainage, frost action, and wind erodibility. Soil properties and soil qualities are the criteria used in soil interpretation rating guides, as predictors of soil behavior, and for classification and mapping of soils. The soil properties entered should be representative of the soil for the dominant land use for which interpretations will be based. Note that the purpose of identifying a “component” within a map unit is to identify the associated set of properties AND the component interpretations. That is why the component is identified for the given map unit. The “sharing” of DMUs MUST be tempered with the fact of map unit design. Map unit design takes into account the components of the map unit and the components properties AND interpretations. National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System What is a “Component”? Policy and Responsibilities (618.01) Soil property data are collected, tested, and correlated as part of soil survey operations. These data are reviewed, supplemented, and revised as necessary. The soil survey project office is responsible for collecting, testing, and correlating soil property data and interpretive criteria. The MLRA office is responsible for the development, maintenance, quality assurance, correlation, and coordination of the collection of soil property data that are used as interpretive criteria. This includes all data elements listed in part 618. The National Soil Survey Center is responsible for the training, review, and periodic update of soil interpretation technologies. The state soil scientist is responsible for ensuring that the soil interpretations are adequate for the field office technical guide and that they meet the needs of federal, state, and local programs. The project office has the primary responsibility to collect, test and correlate soil properties and interpretations. National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System What is a “Component”? Soil Properties and Soil Qualities (618.03) Previous databases of soil survey information used metric or English units for soil properties and qualities. The National Soil Information System (NASIS) transferred English units to metric units on conversion, except for crop yields in the database. All future edits and entries in NASIS will use metric units, except yields and acreage. Ranges of soil properties and qualities, posted in the NASIS database for map unit components, may extend beyond the established limits of the taxon from which the component gets its name, but only to the extent that interpretations do not change. However, the representative value (RV) is within the range of the taxon. NASIS is a METRIC database. As such, all data should be collected in Metric. A component is not a OSD, it is not a series. A component is a conglomeration of the named series and closely similar soils. As such the ranges, Lows and Highs, can vary outside the series ranges, however, the RV must fall within the range of the taxon. National Soil Information System

Building Components in NASIS Pedon entry into NASIS is useful only if they pedons are linked to the components. Pedon data is used to support the aggregation of map units components. Pedons are linked to a component via the Component Pedon table. Only pedons used to support the named component are entered. National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System What is a “Component”? Map units can have unlimited components (with freedom comes responsibility) Just because you can populate every “component” found in a map unit does not make it practical for the customer. Go back and read slide 57. National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System What is a “Horizon”? National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System What is a “Horizon”? Components can have unlimited horizons. (with freedom comes responsibility) National Soil Information System

What is included in a Horizon? National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Populating NASIS Horizons are grouped into layers based on similar properties and nomenclature The Horizon table is an aggregation of all the Pedon data. A typical pedon can be used to identify the horizons and depths and the aggregation used to identify the ranges. Or the Pedons can be analyzed to identify the combination of horizons into layers. Since many horizons are split on colors and since horizon color is not entered into the aggregated data, then it is appropriate to combine horizons of like properties into layers. National Soil Information System

NASIS Population Concepts Representative values are designated for many soil properties, as well as high and low values. National Soil Information System

Things I Learned in Texas A possum is a flat animal that sleeps in the middle of the road. There are 5,000 types of snakes and 4,998 of them live in Texas There are 10,000 types of spiders and all of them live in Texas. If it grows, it will stick ya. If it crawls, it will bite cha. National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System What is a Map Unit? National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System What is a “Map Unit”? Map Units of Soil Surveys (NSSH 627.03) (a) Definition A map unit is a collection of areas defined and named the same in terms of their soil components or miscellaneous areas or both. Each map unit differs in some respect from all others in a survey area and each map unit has a symbol that uniquely identifies the map unit on a soil map. Each individual area, point, or line so identified on the map is a delineation. The project office specifically designs map units to meet the needs of the major users in each major land resource area. Map units in adjoining survey areas are comparable especially within the same major land resource area. What is a map unit? National Soil Information System

What is a “Map Unit” (cont’d)? Use any class of soil taxonomy, miscellaneous areas, and accompanying terms to name map units. A map unit has specified kinds of soil or miscellaneous areas (map unit components), each with a designated range in proportionate extent. Map units include one or more kinds of soil or miscellaneous area. Miscellaneous areas are areas that have little or no recognizable soil. The approved list is in Exhibit 627-1. What is a map unit? National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System What is a “Map Unit”? From the SSM Chapter 2: A map unit is a collection of areas defined and named the same in terms of their soil components or miscellaneous areas or both. Each map unit differs in some respect from all others in a survey area and is uniquely identified on a soil map. Each individual area on the map is a delineation…. The kinds of map units used in a survey depend primarily on the purposes of the survey and the pattern of the soils and miscellaneous areas in the landscape. The pattern in nature is fixed and it is not exactly the same in each delineation of a given map unit. In soil surveys these patterns must be recognized and map units designed to meet the major objectives of the survey. It must be remembered that soil interpretations are made for areas of land and the most useful map units are those that group similarities. The point to emphasize is that a map unit contains a similar components and map unit design focus’ on soil interpretations. National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System What is a “Map Unit”? In Spatial: A geographical distribution map of 4 map units National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System What is a “Map Unit”? Map unit table in NASIS. National Soil Information System

How is a “map unit” and it’s data linked? The map unit data (DMU) is linked to the map unit through the “Correlation “ table. The DMU row can be copied and pasted into the Correlation table for the appropriate map unit. The “correlation” table links the map unit to the DMU – the map unit’s “data” National Soil Information System

Linking Sites to Map Units Each Site must be linked to the map unit in which it occurs. This link is made in the Site Area Overlap which is used to identify the Non-MLRA Soil Survey Area legend in which you are located. In the Site Mapunit Overlap table that specific legend and specific map unit is identified via choice lists (based on the Site Area Overlap table). National Soil Information System

Things I learned in Texas You measure distance in minutes or hours You switch from heat to AC in the same day All the festivals across the state are named after a fruit, vegetable, grain, insect or animal You know what a “DAWG” is You carry jumper cables, for your own car National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System What is a Legend? National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System What is a “Legend”? Legend Development and Data Collection Definition and Purpose (NSSH 627.00) Soil survey legend development and documentation are those activities conducted in the field that organize, gather, describe, and delineate data needed to provide current and accurate soil maps and interpretations. The purpose of soil survey legend and documentation procedures is to ensure the collection of meaningful and essential field data in the course of field activities. These data ensure that the objectives of the soil survey are met. Policy and Responsibilities (627.01) The soil survey project office is responsible for legend development and field data collection. The project office also initiates studies for soil performance data collection. Legends National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System What is a “Legend”? A legend in NASIS and the appropriate tables in the “Legend Object” National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System What is an “Overlap”? MLRA119 MLRA118A MLRA133B MLRA131B MLRA131D The term “overlap” is a difficult concept to grasp. An example here is the use of a soil survey area boundary map with the MLRA boundary map overlaid on top. The MLRA is an Overlap of the soil survey area. In the inset, the soil survey area AR119 is “overlapped” by 4 MLRA area. National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System What is an “Overlap”? Overlaps or intersections of survey areas and other types of areas can be recorded In NASIS, that spatial representation of the overlaps is populated int eh Legend Area Overlap table. National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System What is an “overlap”? In addition to the MLRA Overlap of a soil survey area, the map units within a soil survey can be identified within each overlap. The example above provides a graphical representation of the map units within each MLRA. National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System What is an “Overlap”? That spatial representation is populated in NASIS by populating the map units within the Map unit Area Overlap for each MLRA. National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System What is an “area” National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System What is an “area”? There is a list of National “Area Types” for use in managing the spatial areas. The two Area Types that are used for “legends” are the MLRA Soil Survey Area and the Non-MLRA Soil Survey Area. These two Area Types are used for Official data. Area Types can be created locally, however at no time are the national Area Types to be duplicated. National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System What is a “survey area” Soil Survey Area Designation (NSSH 608.02) (a) Definition A soil survey area is a geographic (spatial) area that has a size and shape defined for efficient field operations and timely release of a final product(s). A soil survey area is an administrative unit for project management (staffing and equipment), progress reporting, and production of a final product(s). Size and shape are selected to allow for completion of an initial survey project within 3 to 5 years, and within 2 to 4 years for an update survey. Maintenance projects involving field operations require less than 2 years with adequate staffing. Traditionally, the soil survey area was synonymous from both the administrative and the conceptual and technical perspective. The Major Land Resource Area (MLRA) is now the conceptual and technical basis for soil survey legend development to meet interpretive needs and for all related classification, correlation, and quality assurance functions. National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System What is a “survey area” The Soil Survey Office territories become the “survey area”. National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Populating NASIS Datamapunit – 6 records 4 child tables Component - 148 records 34 child tables Horizon - 295 records 13 child tables What is the “Minimum Data Set” National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Populating NASIS What is the “Minimum Data Set”? National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Properties ?? Lab Data Pedon Description What properties do you extract from a pedon description that are populated in the component and horizon table?? Now, tell me … Properties Take a look at your current 232 you use to capture data. What soil properties do you enter on a pedon description form that is used to populate properties in the aggregated component and its horizons? What comes to mind? Depths? Color? Texture? Structure? How about pH? Is this information you need to populate Sand, Silt, Clay, Rock Fragments, O.M., Bulk Density, Water Content, Ksat, AWC? Does your 232 have a place to populate Sand and Clay content? Does it have a cell for estimating BD or Ksat? The Pedon Description as used in the initial soil surveys had one primary purpose: to describe the soil in order to classify and place a series name – basically to group like soils. The Pedon Description in the update should include the ability to capture soil properties necessary to populate the soils database. Complementing the pedon description is the lab characterization data. Carefully consider what you collect and how you collect soil properties. Identify the needs of the database as part of the evaluation of an update survey. Interpretations National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Examples Interpretations ?? Properties ?? K factor ? Septic tank Adsorption fields? Texture ? I use this slide to bring home a basic understanding between soil properties and soil interpretations. Typically, the first response to “what soil properties are captures on a pedon description is “soil texture”. Texture is an interpretation of Sand, Silt and Clay. Permeability S, Si, C water table rocks flooding, etc Silt, VF Sand, Sand > 0.1mm, OM, Structure, Permeability Sand, silt and clay National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Required Manual Entry Sand and fractions (Low, RV, High) Silt (Low, RV, High) Clay (Low, RV, High) Coarse Fragments (L, RV, H) Organic Matter (L, RV, H) Bulk Densities (1/3, 15, OD, .1 for S, LS) Water States (Ksat, AWC, WT, etc) National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Resource Data Gateway On-line Soil Surveys Electronic Soil Surveys eFOTG Product Management Web Soil Survey Spatial Data (Dig Units) Soil Data Mart(s) Soil Data Warehouse Soil Staging Server NASIS Transaction Database The State Soil Scientists are responsible for certifying the data within their state. After certification, the data is exported from NASIS to the staging server. At the staging server, the attribute data is verified to the spatial data and after passing validations, the data is forwarded to the Soil Data Warehouse. Once in the SDW, the data is versioned and time stamped. The most recent version is forwarded to the SDM. Soil Data Access Pedon LIMS NRI Models & Applications -- RUSLE2, WinPST, WEPS, etc National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Product Management Staging Server Designed to merge the spatial and attribute databases Allows SSS to manage interpretations and metadata Soil Data Warehouse Storage “archive” database Time stamps all databases Most recent database sent to Soil Data Mart National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Staging Server Used to send spatial and attribute data to the Soil Data Warehouse National Soil Information System

Things I learned living in Texas Going to Wal-Mart is a favorite past time known as “goin’ Wal-Martin” or “off to Wally World” You describe the first cool snap (below 70 degrees) as “good chicken stew weather” Fried catfish is the “other white meat” You understand these sayings and pass them to your Texas friends and whose who just wish they were from Texas National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System eFOTG Resource Data Gateway Product Delivery On-line Soil Surveys Electronic Soil Surveys Web Soil Survey Spatial Data (Dig Units) Soil Data Mart(s) Soil Data Warehouse Soil Data Viewer Soil Staging Server NASIS Transaction Database The NASIS has three components, the first being product delivery. Many product delivery systems have been developed for customers. All products hinge off the delivery of the data to the Soil Data Mart. Product Delivery, Product Management and Product Development will be discussed in more detail. Soil Data Access Pedon LIMS NRI Models & Applications -- RUSLE2, WinPST, WEPS, etc National Soil Information System

Product Delivery - Historical Average 2000 manuscripts published per survey with half still in storage Historically, the initial soil survey produced a manuscript detailing the soils information for the soil survey area. This manuscript contains the Detailed Soils maps, General Soils maps and authored sections that explains the soil map unit descriptions, taxonomic soil descriptions and tables of soil properties and interpretations. National Soil Information System

Product Delivery - Historical The Historical manuscripts have been in the process of being scanned and placed on the soils web site. This will preserve the historical information for use in future updates. National Soil Information System

Product Delivery - Historical Adobe pdf versions of soil surveys are now available on CD-ROM and on the Soils web site. An example of the Adobe portable document format (pdf) files posted to the web site and available fo r the customer to download. National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Product Delivery - SDM Soil Data Mart The Soil Data Mart is the anchor of the soils delivery system. The SDM web site allows customer the ability to access the Official Soils Data and print reports or to download data for any given survey area in America and its territories. National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Product Delivery - SDM Soil Data Mart The Soil Data Mart is the anchor of the soils delivery system. The SDM web site allows customer the ability to access the Official Soils Data and print reports or to download data for any given survey area in America and its territories. National Soil Information System

Product Delivery - eFOTG The Electronic Field Office Technical Guide utilizes the SDM reports. As the official site for soils information, the SDM is used by eFOTG to keep all soils information current for NRCS planners. National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Product Delivery - GDG The Geospatial Gateway is another method of allowing the customer to download soils data from the SDM. The advantage of the GDG is the ability to download multiple datasets at once. National Soil Information System

Product Delivery – SSURGO Template The MS-Access based “SSURGO Template” is a product that allows the customer to download data for their own use. It has multiple uses, one being the ability to produce the same manuscript reports that are available on the SDM and two, the ability to use Soil Data Viewer to create thematic maps for soil survey map units. National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Product Delivery - SDV The Soil Data Viewer allows the GIS user to create map unit level aggregated maps of soil properties, qualities and interpretations. The GIS users does not need a formal understanding of the database structure since the SDV is designed to provide multiple methods of aggregation for development of thematic maps. The GIS user can choose from the Dominant Component, Dominant Condition, Least Restrictive and the Most Restrictive on most soil data elements. National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Product Delivery - SDV An example of the maps produced and the interface for the SDV software. National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Product Delivery - WSS Released in August 2005, Web Soil Survey became an instant success. This product allows the non-GIS user to create their own thematic maps. On May 25, 2007, Web Soil Survey 2.0 will be released with new enhancements. National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Web Soil Survey The one enhancement with the greatest potential will be the development of the soil survey manuscript based on the user’s Area Of Interest. This is an example of the custom Soil Reports that will be created using WSS 2.0 National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System WSS In one year of production, visits to the web site increased at a consistent rate. From August 2005 to August 2006 visits had grown to average 2100 per day, and growing. National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System WSS – First Year Web Soil Survey was released in August 2005 providing easy user access to soil survey maps and tables for about 3/4 of the country and is currently receiving about 1,500 visits per day.  At this rate the number of visitors in the first year will exceed the number of soil survey copies printed in the last 8 years and the number of first year unique visitors will exceed the number soil survey copies printed in the last 6 years.  Additional functionality and information will be added to Web Soil Survey over the next year, reducing the number of hard copies that will need to be printed and decreasing the time it takes to make the information available to the public. Note the expectations of WSS in it’s first year. At an average of 1500 visits per day in January 2006, the expectation was that one years worth of WSS product delivery would exceed the previous 8 years of hard copy manuscript delivery. From the previous slide, note that in August 2006, average visits per day had already exceeded the expected 1500 per day to become 2100 visits per day in its first year. Delivery of soil survey products from WSS has far surpassed the delivery of hard copy manuscripts. est. 3300 surveys * ~1K ea. = 3.3M books since ~1957 National Soil Information System

WSS Average visits per day WSS use has been increasing since inception. Currently there is an average of 4500 users per day. National Soil Information System

Product Deliver - Soil Data Access The newest delivery product in the National Soil Information System is the Soil Data Access. The site is Soil Data Mart SQL Access: http://sdmdataaccess.nrcs.usda.gov It is designed for “power users”, those who understand the ability to query the database for either spatial or attribute data. The target customer are those using soils data for modeling or developing interpretations. National Soil Information System

Soil Data Access – Newest Product This is an example of the Structured Query Language for querying the particle size elements and texture for the state of Iowa. National Soil Information System

Soil Data Access – Newest Product The resulting report is delivered via an immediate html report in a browser window or via a text file download. Similar capabilities can be used for querying the spatial data. National Soil Information System

Things I learned living in Texas “Onced” and “Twiced” are words. It is not a “shopping cart”, it is a “buggy” “Jaw-P?” means “Did all y’all go the bathroom?” People actually grow and eat okra. “Fixinto” is one word There is no such thing as “lunch”. There is “dinner” and then there is “supper”. National Soil Information System

NASIS Data Where did it come from? National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System NASIS Data Compare the NASIS database to the manuscript. What becomes obvious is the lack of data in the database. National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Soils-5 National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System NASIS Data Where did it come from? National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Why Soil Survey? National Soil Information System

Product Delivery - Historical There are many surveys with multiple products. 1905, 1932 and 1979 surveys for Dallas County, Alabama – is there a trend? National Soil Information System

NASIS Database Components Queries Reports Validations Calculations Interpretations Edit Setups Global Editing National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Queries Two Questions: 1. What data am I looking for ? 2. What table is the data located ? National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Reports Reports are available for many different purposes National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Calculations National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Order of Calculations Particle size estimator (use lab or estimated sand, silt and clay before considering) Percent passing sieves/rock fragments Water content CEC/ECEC Atterberg limits (ll and pi) Unified AASHTO AASHTO group index AWC National Soil Information System

Particle size estimator Verify results! taxonomic particle size total clay (rv) total sand (rv) texture class (rv) National Soil Information System

Rock fragments and sieves rock fragment volume (l,rv,h) in Horizon Fragment Table rock fragment kind in Horizon Fragment Table rock fragment size (l,rv,h) in Horizon Fragment Table rock fragment hardness in Horizon Fragment Table total sand (l,rv,h) total clay (l,rv,h) total silt (l,rv,h) very fine sand (l,rv,h) fine sand (l,rv,h) medium sand (l,rv,h) coarse sand (l,rv,h) very coarse sand (l,rv,h) one-third bar bulk density (rv) organic matter (rv) National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Water content (calculates oven-dry bulk density, 1/10 bar water for sandy soils, 1/3 bar water, 15 bar water, and satiated water) organic matter (rv) rock_frag_greater_than_10_in (rv) rock_frag_3_to_10_in (rv) % passing #10 sieve (rv) one-third bar bulk density or one-tenth bar bulk density (rv) total clay (rv) linear extensibility percent (rv) texture class or texture_modifier_and_class (rv) National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System CEC/ECEC organic matter (l,rv,h) pH in water (l,rv,h) pH in CaCl (for organic layers) (l,rv,h) total clay (l,rv,h) clay sized carbonate (l,rv,h) total silt (l,rv,h) taxonomic family mineralogy taxonomic order taxonomic CEC-activity class National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Atterberg limits organic matter (l,rv,h) linear extensibility percent (l,rv,h) total clay (l,rv,h) clay sized carbonate (l,rv,h) National Soil Information System

Unified and AASHTO (report only) % passing #4 sieve (rv) % passing #10 sieve (rv) % passing #40 sieve (rv) % passing #200 sieve (rv) liquid limit (rv) plastic limit (rv) total clay (rv) organic matter (rv) National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Interpretations A soil survey describes the characteristics of the soils in a given area, classifies the soils according to a standard system of classification, plots the boundaries of the soils on a map, and makes predictions about the behavior of soils. National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Interpretations EVALUATION PROPERTY RULE “soil is too sloping” “soil has limitations for playing fields” “slope” 1 2 4 6 8 10 12 Relative Impact SLOPE % START OR TOO SLOPING TOO WET FLOODING EXEC SQL SELECT component slope_gradient_r FROM component WHERE … A Rule is a logic diagram that describes the relationship between the evaluations and other rules that make up the rule. A Rule produces a numerical value based on fuzzy mathematics operating on the numerical values from evaluations and other rules. A Rule processes the evaluation results into rating classes (interpretive values). We discussed Properties and Evaluations in a general sense. Now, moving into the NASIS environment, let us identify where the properties and Evaluations are located. An Evaluation takes the property value retrieved or calculated from the database, ranks it using approximate reasoning, and graphs its membership in a class. An evaluation produces a numerical result from 0 to 1. A Property is an SQL-like statement that retrieves a specific soil value from the database, or calculates a soil property (AWC, permeability). National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Interpretations (RVs) You can record representative values for some data, in addition to high and low values. (Actual data) Interpretations are generated from the actual data that represent the soil component. (Interactions) Interpretations can deal with interactions, such as the interaction of slope and water table where, as slope increases, the limitations associated with water table decrease. (Weighting) Interpretations can now deal with relative weights, such as when slope may have more importance to the interpretation than depth to water table. National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Rule Interpretations National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Evaluation Interpretations National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Interpretations Property National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System NASIS Editing NASIS is a “read only” database Data must be “owned” to be edited Records are “checked out” Records are “edited” Edits are “Uploaded to National Database” Records are “checked in” National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Global Editing Find/Replace populates one cell of data throughout the “selected set” Global Paste copyies at the child table and pastes at the parent table Ctrl+C is copy cell Shift+V is paste a cell Be acutely aware of your selected set National Soil Information System

National Soil Information System Find/Replace National Soil Information System

Populating NASIS – Global Paste Copy the child record, then move to the parent and highlight the rows that the edit is to be made. Then click on the Paste Inserting Rows. Copy the child record, then move to the parent and highlight the rows that the edit is to be made. Then click on the Paste Inserting Rows. National Soil Information System

Focus Concentrate on collecting property data Compare field collected data to database properties Utilize spatial databases to focus work on areas in need of update Emphasize the collection of the following estimated properties on field descriptions Sand (and fractions) Silt Clay Coarse fragments Organic Matter Bulk Density Water States (Ksat, WT, AWC, etc)