Obtaining Soil Type (STATSGO) Data from the NRCS

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is a governmental agency which supports the preservation of natural resources and environments through the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

Soil type mapping is a major aspect of maintaining natural environments.  Soil type data is supplied in two key forms; one of these is the State Soil Geographic (STATSGO) Database, and the other is the Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) Database.  STATSGO data is defined on a state-wide level, whereas SSURGO is county-wide survey data.

Currently, STATSGO data is available for the entire United States as well as Puerto Rico.  It is possible to access STATSGO information on the National Cartography and Geospatial Center (NCGC) website.  This site is managed by the NRCS.

To download STATSGO soil type data from the NRCS:

  1. Go to the NCGC homepage at http://www.ncgc.nrcs.usda.gov/.  Or choose the Click Here button next to "to obtain STATSGO soil type data from the NRCS".

  2. Click the STATSGO link on the left side of the page, under the Quick Access heading.  This will take you to the STATSGO database home.

  3. Click the Download STATSGO Data link under the section titled Database Access.  You will be taken to a list of states.

  4. Choose the state you want by clicking on its link.  That state's data document downloads will open.

  5. Select the DOS / Windows Data option below the ARC / INFO Coverages header. It should initialize the download immediately.

  6. Save the file to your computer.

  7. Decompress the zip file (need help decompressing?)

Now you have the STATSGO soil type data for the area that you requested.  Now you can open up ArcView and import the coverage data.  It will be in the folder ...UT / SPATIAL as "UT".  Your data should look similar to the picture below.

 

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