Attributes
Key fields from nine commonly used SSURGO tables were compiled to create the 173 attribute fields in this layer. Some fields were joined directly to the SSURGO Map Unit polygon feature class while others required summarization and other processing to create a 1:1 relationship between the attributes and polygons prior to joining the tables. Attributes of this layer are listed below in their order of occurrence in the attribute table and are organized by the SSURGO table they originated from and the processing methods used on them.
Map Unit Polygon Feature Class Attribute Table
The fields in this table are from the attribute table of the Map Unit polygon feature class which provides the geographic extent of the map units.
Area Symbol
Spatial Version
Map Unit Symbol
Map Unit Table
The fields in this table have a 1:1 relationship with the map unit polygons and were joined to the table using the Map Unit Key field.
Map Unit Name
Map Unit Kind
Farmland Class
Interpretive Focus
Intensity of Mapping
Iowa Corn Suitability Rating
Legend Table
This table has 1:1 relationship with the Map Unit table and was joined using the Legend Key field.
Project Scale
Survey Area Catalog Table
The fields in this table have a 1:1 relationship with the polygons and were joined to the Map Unit table using the Survey Area Catalog Key and Legend Key fields.
Survey Area Version
Tabular Version
Map Unit Aggregated Attribute Table
The fields in this table have a 1:1 relationship with the map unit polygons and were joined to the Map Unit attribute table using the Map Unit Key field.
Slope Gradient - Dominant Component
Slope Gradient - Weighted Average
Bedrock Depth - Minimum
Water Table Depth - Annual Minimum
Water Table Depth - April to June Minimum
Flooding Frequency - Dominant Condition
Flooding Frequency - Maximum
Ponding Frequency - Presence
Available Water Storage 0-25 cm - Weighted Average
Available Water Storage 0-50 cm - Weighted Average
Available Water Storage 0-100 cm - Weighted Average
Available Water Storage 0-150 cm - Weighted Average
Drainage Class - Dominant Condition
Drainage Class - Wettest
Hydrologic Group - Dominant Condition
Irrigated Capability Class - Dominant Condition
Irrigated Capability Class - Proportion of Map Unit with Dominant Condition
Non-Irrigated Capability Class - Dominant Condition
Non-Irrigated Capability Class - Proportion of Map Unit with Dominant Condition
Rating for Buildings without Basements - Dominant Condition
Rating for Buildings with Basements - Dominant Condition
Rating for Buildings with Basements - Least Limiting
Rating for Buildings with Basements - Most Limiting
Rating for Septic Tank Absorption Fields - Dominant Condition
Rating for Septic Tank Absorption Fields - Least Limiting
Rating for Septic Tank Absorption Fields - Most Limiting
Rating for Sewage Lagoons - Dominant Condition
Rating for Sewage Lagoons - Dominant Component
Rating for Roads and Streets - Dominant Condition
Rating for Sand Source - Dominant Condition
Rating for Sand Source - Most Probable
Rating for Paths and Trails - Dominant Condition
Rating for Paths and Trails - Weighted Average
Erosion Hazard of Forest Roads and Trails - Dominant Component
Hydric Classification - Presence
Rating for Manure and Food Processing Waste - Weighted Average
Component Table – Dominant Component
Map units have one or more components. To create a 1:1 join component data must be summarized by map unit. For these fields a custom script was used to select the component with the highest value for the Component Percentage Representative Value field (comppct_r). Ties were broken with the Slope Representative Value field (slope_r). Components with lower average slope were selected as dominant. If both soil order and slope were tied, the first value in the table was selected.
Component Percentage - Low Value
Component Percentage - Representative Value
Component Percentage - High Value
Component Name
Component Kind
Other Criteria Used to Identify Components
Criteria Used to Identify Components at the Local Level
Runoff Class
Soil loss tolerance factor
Wind Erodibility Index
Wind Erodibility Group
Erosion Class
Earth Cover 1
Earth Cover 2
Hydric Condition
Hydric Rating
Aspect Range - Counter Clockwise Limit
Aspect - Representative Value
Aspect Range - Clockwise Limit
Geomorphic Description
Non-Irrigated Capability Subclass
Non-Irrigated Unit Capability Class
Irrigated Capability Subclass
Irrigated Unit Capability Class
Conservation Tree Shrub Group
Grain Wildlife Habitat
Grass Wildlife Habitat
Herbaceous Wildlife Habitat
Shrub Wildlife Habitat
Conifer Wildlife Habitat
Hardwood Wildlife Habitat
Wetland Wildlife Habitat
Shallow Water Wildlife Habitat
Rangeland Wildlife Habitat
Openland Wildlife Habitat
Woodland Wildlife Habitat
Wetland Wildlife Habitat
Soil Slip Potential
Susceptibility to Frost Heaving
Concrete Corrosion
Steel Corrosion
Taxonomic Class
Taxonomic Order
Taxonomic Suborder
Great Group
Subgroup
Particle Size
Particle Size Mod
Cation Exchange Activity Class
Carbonate Reaction
Temperature Class
Moist Subclass
Soil Temperature Regime
Edition of Keys to Soil Taxonomy Used to Classify Soil
California Storie Index
Component Key
Component Table – Weighted Average
Map units may have one or more soil components. To create a 1:1 join, data from the Component table must be summarized by map unit. For these fields a custom script was used to calculate an average value for each map unit weighted by the Component Percentage Representative Value field (comppct_r).
Slope Gradient - Low Value
Slope Gradient - Representative Value
Slope Gradient - High Value
Slope Length USLE - Low Value
Slope Length USLE - Representative Value
Slope Length USLE - High Value
Elevation - Low Value
Elevation - Representative Value
Elevation - High Value
Albedo - Low Value
Albedo - Representative Value
Albedo - High Value
Mean Annual Air Temperature - Low Value
Mean Annual Air Temperature - Representative Value
Mean Annual Air Temperature - High Value
Mean Annual Precipitation - Low Value
Mean Annual Precipitation - Representative Value
Mean Annual Precipitation - High Value
Relative Effective Annual Precipitation - Low Value
Relative Effective Annual Precipitation - Representative Value
Relative Effective Annual Precipitation - High Value
Days between Last and First Frost - Low Value
Days between Last and First Frost - Representative Value
Days between Last and First Frost - High Value
Range Forage Annual Potential Production - Low Value
Range Forage Annual Potential Production - Representative Value
Range Forage Annual Potential Production - High Value
Initial Subsidence - Low Value
Initial Subsidence - Representative Value
Initial Subsidence - High Value
Total Subsidence - Low Value
Total Subsidence - Representative Value
Total Subsidence - High Value
Crop Productivity Index
Esri Symbology
This field was created to provide symbology based on the Taxonomic Order field (taxorder). Because some map units have a null value for soil order, a custom script was used to populate this field using the Component Name (compname) and Map Unit Name (muname) fields. This field was created using the dominant soil order of each map unit.
Esri Symbology
Horizon Table
Each map unit polygon has one or more components and each component has one or more layers known as horizons. To incorporate this field from the Horizon table into the attributes for this layer, a custom script was used to first calculate the mean value weighted by thickness of the horizon for each component and then a mean value of components weighted by the Component Percentage Representative Value field for each map unit.
K-Factor Rock Free
Esri Soil Order
These fields were calculated from the Component table using a model that included the Pivot Table Tool, the Summarize Tool and a custom script. The first 11 fields provide the sum of Component Percentage Representative Value for each soil order for each map unit. The Soil Order Dominant Condition field was calculated by selecting the highest value in the preceding 11 soil order fields. In the case of tied values the component with the lowest average slope value (slope_r) was selected. If both soil order and slope were tied the first value in the table was selected.
Percent Alfisols
Percent Andisols
Percent Aridisols
Percent Entisols
Percent Gelisols
Percent Histosols
Percent Inceptisols
Percent Mollisols
Percent Spodosols
Percent Ultisols
Percent Vertisols
Soil Order - Dominant Condition
Esri Popup String
This field contains a text string calculated by Esri that is used to create a basic pop-up using some of the more popular SSURGO attributes.
Map Unit Key
The Map Unit Key field is found throughout SSURGO and provides a primary link between the geographic and tabular data.
Map Unit Key
Map Unit Crop Yield Table
The Map Unit Crop Yield Table has a 1:1 relationship with the map unit polygons. Selected attributes from this table were extracted and joined to the table using the Map Unit Key field. All values are in Bushels/Acre except for cotton which is in pounds/acre.
Corn – nonirrigated
Corn – irrigated
Cotton – nonirrigated
Cotton – irrigated
Soybeans – nonirrigated
Soybeans – irrigated
Wheat – nonirrigated
Wheat – irrigated
Value Added Look Up Table (gSSURGO)
The fields in this table have a 1:1 relationship with the map unit polygons and were joined to the table using the Map Unit Key field.
The first 5 fields from this table provide access to the National Commodity Crop Productivity Index (NCCPI) Version 3 - weighted average index for major components. NCCPI is a model that uses inherent soil properties, landscape features and climatic characteristics to assign ratings for dry-land commodity crops. This index ranks soil productivity from 0.1-1.0 with more productive soils having higher values.
NCCPIv3 – Corn
NCCPIv3 – Soy
NCCPIv3 – Cotton
NCCPIv3 – Small Grains
NCCPIv3 – All
Other fields from the Value Added Look Up Table:
Root Zone Depth – earthy major components - cm
Root Zone Available Water Storage – earthy major components - mm
Droughty Soil Landscapes – earthy major components - this attribute uses a value of 1 for drought vulnerable soils and 0 for non‐ droughty soils.
Potential Wetland Soil Landscapes - the proportion of the map unit that is potentially a wetland. Values of 999 indicate a map unit that is primarily water.
Horizon Table
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity (KSAT) - This field was calculated by selecting the least transmissive horizon of the dominant component for each map unit. The values are in units of Micrometers per second (μm/s).
Comments (37)
Can we download the previous data? Such as the soil survey in 2000?
Sorry we don't have archives of this, maybe NRCS has a copy? This dataset is continually improved with more knowledge so it might not be useful to have a survey from 2000, if you're trying to make a comparison.
The download for "Lower Little Arkansas, Oklahoma" (Hydrologic Unit 11140109) is not working. Is there an alternative place to grab these data?
Downloaded ok manually using https://soilspackage-useast.s3.amazonaws.com/2024/LowerLittleArkansas,Oklahoma_11140109.ppkx (have to add the comma)
Is it possible download data for multiple study-area's at once?
You can only download one at a time.
The source metadata link is dead now. Please confirm the source metadata. Is it here: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/data-and-reports/ssurgo/stats2go-metadata ?
The broken link is fixed.
Web Soil Survey is updated every year on October 1st. You can download an Area of Interest or county shapefiles along with reports from Web Soil Survey. State wide or CONUS file geodatabases are available for download for gSSURGO and gNATSGO. There are also CONUS grid and tabular CSV files available for download.