Google Earth Community: Soil Survey Observation Points

KMZ File Updated March 2008 - new locations and folder added.

This KMZ file has three folders - one showing the location of soil profile photos taken mainly in SE New England, another shows the partial location of soil data points in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, the third shows the location and links to data collected on subaqueous soils in Rhode Island by the mapcoast.org partnership.

The USDA-NRCS (http://soils.usda.gov/) has been mapping and inventorying the Nations soil resource for over 100 years as part of the National Cooperative Soil Survey. During the course of a County soil survey, a tremendous amount of data is collected. This data is used to provide the land-use interpretations and soil properties contained in the published soil survey. Most of this data collected is typically kept on file in the county office and never made available to users of soils data.

The Plymouth County, Massachusetts soil survey has been making most of the data collected available via the web (nesoil.com). The Soil Survey Study Site folder shows the location and URL links to the data for observations. Points with a "P" link to a soil (pedon) description from the site, an "L" links to complete laboratory analysis of the soil, a "rain" symbol is for water table data, and the thermometer symbol is used for soil temperature data. Most of the data is crossed linked so clicking a point will also show the other data (lab point will link to the description).

This file is not a product of the USDA-NRCS.

Edited by Soil_Man (03/15/08 12:08 PM)