Skip to main content

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Beta

Catalog datasets represent a fraction of data in use by active WMA projects. The team is working on including more datasets to provide a complete view of data-in-use. Let us know how your experience is!

Datasets

SSURGO: Soil Survey Geographic Database

Domain: Soils

Variables: SSURGO soil characteristics

Spatial Resolution: 1:12,000; 1:63,360

Temporal Frequency: NA

Temporal Coverage: 2016

Spatial Extent: United States and the Territories; Commonwealths; and Island Nations

Source: NRCS

Update Type: Static

Update Frequency: NA

Update Detail: NA

Access:

Description:

The SSURGO database contains information about soil as collected by the National Cooperative Soil Survey over the course of a century. The information can be displayed in tables or as maps and is available for most areas in the United States and the Territories, Commonwealths, and Island Nations served by the USDA-NRCS. The information was gathered by walking over the land and observing the soil. Many soil samples were analyzed in laboratories. The maps outline areas called map units. The map units describe soils and other components that have unique properties, interpretations, and productivity. The information was collected at scales ranging from 1:12,000 to 1:63,360. More details were gathered at a scale of 1:12,000 than at a scale of 1:63,360. The mapping is intended for natural resource planning and management by landowners, townships, and counties. Some knowledge of soils data and map scale is necessary to avoid misunderstandings.
The maps are linked in the database to information about the component soils and their properties for each map unit. Each map unit may contain one to three major components and some minor components. The map units are typically named for the major components. Examples of information available from the database include available water capacity, soil reaction, electrical conductivity, and frequency of flooding; yields for cropland, woodland, rangeland, and pastureland; and limitations affecting recreational development, building site development, and other engineering uses.
SSURGO datasets consist of map data, tabular data, and information about how the maps and tables were created. The extent of a SSURGO dataset is a soil survey area, which may consist of a single county, multiple counties, or parts of multiple counties. SSURGO map data can be viewed in the Web Soil Survey or downloaded in ESRI Shapefile format. The coordinate systems are Geographic. Attribute data can be downloaded in text format.

Citation:

Soil Survey Staff, Natural Resources Conservation Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Web Soil Survey, accessed [YYYY-MM-DD] at https://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/