What is SSURGO?

Overview:

Defining what SSURGO stands for and what it is. 

Requirements: 

• Field boundaries created.
• Crop Zones assigned.
• A management-zone region layer with a labeled group attribute on the field.
  • (only required if check blocks are needed)
• An existing Encirca Decision Zones layer under the crop zone.

Answer:

The Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) database is the traditional soil-mapping product developed by the USDA-Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) and cooperating state and land grant colleges. The survey has taken nearly 80 years to get to its current state. The SSURGO dataset is comprised of soil map units (polygons) and tabular soil data (attributes).

The soil survey is a fantastic resource for producers, but is known to have the following issues:

• Soil surveys were developed county by county, often by different soil-survey teams at different times (sometimes decades apart).
• States can have different soil type concepts compared to neighboring states. Additionally, some states or counties were surveyed at coarse resolutions while other states or counties were surveyed at higher resolution.
• Missing data, data quality, and spatial variability.
• Missing and imprecise data exists. Generally, inadequate data about soil properties was collected at the scale of the surveys. In some cases, the soil attributes are unpopulated in the database, some are expert estimates by soil scientists, and others are backed by limited lab data.

Related articles:
How does the quality of ERU compare to SSURGO?
How do I use SSURGO data instead of ERU?
How do I Create Test Blocks using the Management Zone Wizard?
How do I edit Field Details?