Soil Surveys: What are the trails we walk made of?

Image Source: National Park Planner

If you are interested in soil, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Web Soil Survey is for you! This website provides soil data and information produced by the National Cooperative Soil Survey for more than 95 percent of US counties. 

The purpose of a soil survey is to describe the types of soils that exist in a determined area. But why does this matter? This is useful in determining what types of projects can be carried out in an area, if the land is viable for farming (as well as which specific crops might thrive there), and to determine if certain conservation measures should be considered for specific regions. 

Below is the soil survey of the Rock Creek Park area. Because it is a large area, it is difficult to see all the soil delineations. However, in the zoomed-in version of the map (directly below the larger soil map), you can get a better idea of the different soil segments. Within the Web Soil Survey, you can download information about the types of soil present in the area of interest. There are 61 types of soils described in Rock Creek Park, the most prevalent being manor loam - marked MbD on the map. 

Because urban and soil runoff are often described as threats to Rock Creek Park, I decided to take a look at the erosion hazard map under the soil data explorer tab. Below you can see the map generated, where red and orange areas show regions of very severe and severe erosion (respectively), and the green regions show areas of light to moderate erosion. Of the 2,523.8 acres captured in the area of interest, 1,425.7 acres showed severe signs of soil erosion – 56.5 percent of the area. This confirms that erosion and runoff are major threats to the park's health. 

This was my first time using the Web Soil Survey tool, and I will say that it is not intuitive. The home page outlines the four basic steps to navigating the site, but it is most helpful to watch a few video tutorials to learn the nuances of using the site. One tip for beginners – when you are outlining your area of interest (AOI), double click to complete the outline of your area. It took me a few tries to figure this out! As you work your way through the different maps you can produce, you can save them to your cart. When you are finished, you can download a soil report for your area of interest with detailed information about the various information you explored. This would be particularly useful if you were organizing this information for a client. I believe the Web Soil Survey tool is most helpful for farmers and those in construction because of the incredible amount of information the site offers about the viability of different types of crops, as well as development plans.