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Definition and Description of Soil Survey

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Definition and Description of Soil Survey

Soil survey is a systematic study of the soil of an area including classification and mapping of the properties and the distribution of various soil units. Systematic soil survey has been carried out for over one hundred years. As in other applied sciences, conceptual and technological advances are making soil survey more reliable, cheaper and useful.

Soil survey is of great significance for any nation to provide an inventory of the national soil resource so that public policies may be more wisely planned and executed. They form an important aspect in worldwide programmes for developing ration all and use plans.

The basic objective of soil surveys is the same for all kinds of land, but the number of map units, their composition, and the detail of mapping vary with the complexity of the soil patterns and the specific needs of the users.

Thus, a soil survey is designed for the soils and the soil-related problems of the area. Soil surveys increase general knowledge about soils and serve practical purposes. They provide soil information about specific geographic areas needed for regional or local land use plans. These plans include resource conservation for farms and ranches, development of reclamation projects, forest management, engineering projects, as well as other purposes.

 

Important facts to know

· Soil survey is a systematic study of the soil of an area including classification and mapping of the properties and the distribution of various soil units

· Soil Survey is a systematic examination, description, classification, and mapping of the soils in a given area

· Soil survey is of great significance for any nation to provide an inventory of the national soil resource so that public policies may be more wisely planned and executed

· Soil survey is designed for the soils and the soil-related problems of the area.

· Soil surveys increase general knowledge about soils and serve practical purposes

 

Definition of Soil Survey

According to Brady and Weil (1996), Soil Survey is “a systematic examination, description, classification, and mapping of the soils in a given area.” Soil survey, soil mapping, is the process of classifying soil types and other soil properties in a given area and geo-encoding such information.

Soil survey is a systematic study of the soil of an area including classification and mapping of the properties and the distribution of various soil units.

Sources of information in soil survey Soil Survey applies the principles of soil science, and draws information heavily from;

· Geomorphology

· Theories of soil formation

· Physical geography

· Analysis of vegetation

· Land use patterns

Also, Sources of primary data for the soil survey are usually by;

· Field sampling and

· Remote sensing.  

Remote sensing principally uses aerial photography, but LiDAR and other digital techniques are steadily gaining popularity. In the past, a soil scientist would take hard-copies of aerial photography, topo- sheets, and mapping keys into the field with them.

Today, a growing number of soil scientists bring a ruggedized tablet computer and GPS into the field with them. The tablet may be loaded with digital aerial photos, LiDAR, topography, soil geo data bases, mapping keys, and more.

 

Description of Soil Survey

A soil survey describes the characteristics of the soils in a given area, classifies the soils according to a standard system of taxonomy, plots the boundaries of the soils on a map, stores soil property information in an organized database, and makes predictions about the suitability and limitations of each soil for multiple uses as well as their likely response to management systems. The information collected in a soil survey helps in the development of land use plans and can be used to evaluate and predict the effects of land use on the environment. Soil survey, soil mapping, is the process of classifying soil types and other soil properties in a given area and geo-encoding such information.

The term soil survey may also be used to describe the published results. In the United States, these surveys were once published in book form for individual counties by the National Cooperative Soil Survey. Today, soil surveys are no longer published in book form; they are published to the web and accessed on NRCS Web Soil Survey where a person can create a custom soil survey. This allows for rapid flow of the latest soil information to the user.

In the past it could take years to publish a paper soil survey. Today it takes only moments for changes to go live to the public. Also, the most current soil survey data is made available on the Download Soils Data tab at NRCS Web Soil Survey for high end GIS users such as  professional consulting companies and universities.

 Conclusion

Soil surveys increase general knowledge about soils and serve practical purposes. They provide soil information about specific geographic areas needed for regional or local land use plans. These plans include resource conservation for farms and ranches, development of reclamation projects, forest management, engineering projects, as well as other purposes.

 

 

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