72nd SWCS International Annual Conference July 30-August 2, 2017 Madison, WI

1. Using soil survey data to inform soil
health inventory and assessment
Maxine J. Levin, Michael Robotham, Diane E. Stott
United States Department of Agriculture
Natural Resource Conservation Service
2017 SWCS Annual Meeting-Madison WI

2. http://websoilsurvey.nr
cs.usda.gov

3. Soil Interpretations
US National Cooperative Survey
• Soil Properties—stable beyond 5-20 yr cycle of use &
management

4. Land Capability Class/Conservation Planning

5. Soil Health and Dynamic soil properties
•Aggregate stability
•Soil Compaction/Soil Density
•Percent Organic carbon
•Fertility
•Soil Biology
5

6. 6
Soil Survey Products
SSURGO
• New data downloads through
Web Soil Survey
Data & Software
gSSURGO
• New downloads through Geospatial Data
Gateway – new User Guide included plus
VALU Table Database

7. Soil Health Interpretations Team-NRCS
1) Identifying the dynamic soil properties that are most likely
to be of interest or import;
2) Providing expected natural ranges of the magnitude of
dynamic soil properties;
and 3) Providing a framework though which results from site-
specific assessments of the effects of management practices
or suites of management practices can be extrapolated
beyond specific locations.
7

8. Soil Property Interpretations available
as reports on Web Soil Survey
•Soil organic matter
•Bulk Density
•Aggregate Stability
8

9. Cornell
Soil Health Assessment
(Moebilus-Clune et al.,2015)
Chemical
Physical
Biological
Soil Chemical Composition- a standard soil test analysis
package measuring levels of pH and plant nutrients. Levels are
interpreted for sufficiency and excess.
Add On Indicators:
Salinity and Sodicity-Sodium absorption ratio (SAR)
Heavy Metals-Metals of concern measured by digestion with
concentrated acid at high temperatures
Available Water Holding Capacity
Surface Hardness
Subsurface Hardness
Aggregate Stability
INDICATORS OF THE COMPREHENSIVE ASSESSMENT-SOIL HEALTH
PHYSICALCHEMICAL
Organic Matter-measure of all carbonaeous material from
living organisms. Percent OM determined by of oven dried soil
lost on combustion in a 500o
C
Soil Protein-Extraction of OM with organically bound N with
citrate buffer under high temperature and pressure
Soil Respiration
Active Carbon-measured with potasium permanganate
oxidation with spectrophotometer
Add On Indicators:
Root Pathogen Pressure Rating -washed roots with visible
symptoms
Potentially Mineralizable Nitrogen- 7 day anerobic
incubation
BIOLOGICAL

10. Combining Soil Data Access with Custom Applications
Soil Data Access is a public site that
provides direct access to our detailed
soils database using custom applications.
In the example above, the user has
selected farm field polygons in their GIS
application. The selected polygons are
then used to form a spatial query. The
query is then sent as a request to the Soil
Data Access Tabular web service.
http://sdmdataaccess.nrcs.usda.gov/
Soil Data
Access
The Soil Data Access web service returns soils data to the user’s
application where it is converted to a GIS format and displayed.

11. Tools for Working
with Soils Data
The ‘Map Soil Properties and
Interpretations’ ArcTool allows users
to create statewide, regional or
even national soil maps using
gSSURGO databases. The method
of operation is very similar to that of
Soil Data Viewer and the tool works
with ArcGIS Desktop 10.1 or
greater.
Any soil property or soil
interpretation that can be mapped
by Soil Data Viewer or Web Soil
Survey can easily be mapped using
this ArcTool.
Shown to the right is a map of the
weighted average value for percent
sand for all components in the 0 to
25cm depth range.
For more information on other
related tools, search for the terms
‘NRCS gSSURGO’ using your web
browser.

12. Steps for Assessment for Soil Health Focus on the Farm
• Identify a resource concern for which soil health agriculture
techniques can have a positive impact.
• Identify background data that is needed to address the resource
concern.
• How would a farmer keep track of their geospatial soil data?
• Develop a plan for how assessment of soil health properties will be
used to address the resource concern.
• Determine the type and availability of specialized equipment
required to implement the plan.
• Evaluate and revise the plan after each cropping season

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16. Soil Suitability Index
• Soil indices can be created by combining properties.
• Indices can be made for a specific purpose such as: productivity index,
landslide potential, erosion potential, etc.
• After identifying specific resource concerns we can start applying soils
data to build these indices and apply them geospatially to the farming
landscape

17. 0 52.5 Kilometers
Corn-Soil Suitability Index - Example
Property Weight (%)
Slope 30
Soil Depth 20
SOM 15
Slope position 10
pH 5
CEC 5
Silt 5
Sand 5
Clay 5
Total 100
Phillip R Owens Purdue Extension, Soil
Scientist ARS Little Rock AR

18. Fragile Soil Index-
Interpretation for Resilience and Resistance

19. Soil Fragility Index
• Fragile soils are those that are easily degraded (most vulnerable to
degradation)
• Characteristics of fragile soils
– Low organic matter & stable aggregates
– On sloping ground
– In arid and semiarid regions
– Have sparse plant cover
– Have a shallow depth
• Metric for resistance and resilience
– Fragile soils are less able resist the
processes of degradation and they are
less able to recover after degradation
has occurred.
• Classes of fragility
– not fragile, slightly fragile, moderately fragile, fragile, very fragile, extremely fragile

20. Soil pH and Liming: A case for
variable rate technology

21. Factoring Cation Exchange
Capacity (CEC) into the equation
Chemical
aspects of
Soil Health

22. Precision Ag - Variable Rate of Biomass
• RUSLE2 soil erosion and soil quality model can also estimate the
residue available at harvest at sustainable soil loss levels; uses
SSURGO soils and site specific climate and cropping systems
planning information

23. National Commodity Crop Potential Index (NCCPI)
User Guide - National Commodity Crop
Productivity Index (NCCPI)” available
at the NRCS Soil Technical References
Website at:
http://soils.usda.gov/technical/
The model criteria relate directly
to the ability of soils,
landscapes, and climate to
foster crop productivity. All
criteria used in the index affect
crop culture and production and
are referred to as factors
affecting inherent productivity.

24. National Commodity Crop Productivity Index (NCCPI)

25. Proximal Sensing Tools
EMI-Electromagnetic
Induction

26. Camden, NJ
Community Garden – in ground
Camden site
Pb content 400 to 939 ppm
6-12” depth
High Pb associated with artifactual fill

27. Contact vs NonContact Measurements
Contact EC sensor
Selected coulters act as
transmitting electrodes
and others as receiving
electrodes. (Veris
Technologies, Salina,
Kansas)
NonContact EC Sensor
Less conductive sandy
surface soil reduces the field
strength as compared to the
unit on the right with more
clay in the soil profiler

28. Effects on Crop Yields
• Available Water holding Capacity (AWC)
• Salinity
• Cation exchange capacity (CEC)
• Porosity
• Depth to claypan or rock outcropping
• Temperature

29. X-ray Fluorescence
Applications

30. Benefits Digital Soil Health
Assessments
• More precise nutrient applications, including grid soil sampling,
yield monitoring, detailed soils information, remote sensing,
environmentally sensitive areas
• More precise pesticide applications, including scouting, remote
sensing, yield monitoring, detailed soils information,
environmentally sensitive areas
• Variable rate irrigation – useful with center pivot irrigation systems
• Minimize soil compaction and improve soil quality by controlling
wheel traffic
• Conservation practice installation - Auto steer tractors can be used
to follow a contour line or other alignment, such as a fence or
windbreak