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Soil properties data for Counties in the Contiguous United States

Entry ID: EOSWEBSTER_US_County_Data_7

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Summary

Abstract: This dataset provides agricultural lands soil property data for US Counties within the contiguous US. Variable include with this dataset include: high and low soil bulk density (g C/cm3 soil), high and low clay content (fraction), high and low soil organic carbon (g C/g soil), and soil pH.

Our source for the Soil organic carbon (SOC), clay content, and bulk density data was the US Environmental ... Protection Agency (EPA) [Imhoff JC, Carsel RF, Kittle JR, Hummel PR (1990) Data base analyzer and parameter estimator (DBAPE) interactive computer program user's manual. EPA/600/3-89/083, USEPA Environ. Res. Lab. Athens, GA 30613-7799]. They worked from a database developed by the Soil Conservation Service (now Natural Resource Conservation Service) [USDA Soil Conservation Service (1985) User manual for interactive soils databases: nation soil survey area database, soil interpretations record database, and plant name database. USDA SCS, Fort Collins, CO]. To find this and similar data now, visit the National Soils Data Access Facility web site: http://soils.usda.gov/

Our source for the pH data was the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Digital Soil Map of the World and Derived Soil Properties, Version 3.5, Nov. 1995, original scale 1:5 000 000). See [ http://www.fao.org/ ] for general FAO information and see [ http://www.fao.org/ag/agl/agll/index.stm ] for details on the soils data. We printed a pH map for the US, overlaid a state boundaries map, and then read off values for each region of each state. The coarse resolution of the map meant that most counties (and even many states) had only a single pH value.

High and low values are reported for each county, and represent the range in a particular soil property found in the county. Many counties have only a single value and it is reported as both the high and the low value. Values are from the database surface soil layer (defined as either 'the plow layer' or 'the A, E, Ab, and EB horizons of the solum'). Values are based only on soils for agricultural lands in the county, not all soils.

EOS-WEBSTER provides seven datasets which provide county-level data on agricultural management, crop production, livestock, soil properties, geography and population. These datasets were assembled during the mid-1990's to provide driving variables for an assessment of greenhouse gas production from US agriculture using the DNDC agro-ecosystem model [see, for example, Li et al. (1992), J. Geophys. Res., 97:9759-9776; Li et al. (1996) Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 10:297-306]. The data (except nitrogen fertilizer use) were all derived from publicly available, national databases. Each dataset has a separate DIF.

The US County data has been divided into seven datasets.

US County Data Datasets:

1) Agricultural Management
2) Crop Data (NASS Crop data)
3) Crop Summary (NASS Crop data)
4) Geography and Population
5) Land Use
6) Livestock Populations
7) Soil Properties

Related URL

Link: GET DATA

Description: EOS-WEBSTER Earth Science Information Partner (ESIP) provides terrestrial ecosystem research data via a web-based search, subset and order system.

Link: GET DATA

Description: National Soils Data Access Facility

Geographic Coverage

(Click for Interactive Map)

Spatial coordinates

N: 50.0

S: 26.0

E: -66.0

W: -124.0

Parent DIF

This data set description is a member of a collection. The collection is described in
EOSWEBSTER_US_County_Data

Temporal Coverage

Start Date: 1990-01-01

Stop Date: 1990-12-31

Location Keywords

CONTINENT > AFRICA

Science Keywords

HUMAN DIMENSIONS > INFRASTRUCTURE > BUILDINGS

HUMAN DIMENSIONS > INFRASTRUCTURE > CULTURAL FEATURES

ISO Topic Category

BIOTA

ELEVATION

Ancillary Keywords

ADMINISTRATIVE BOUNDARIES

DRAINAGE

Data Set Progress

COMPLETE

Originating Center

WRI

Data Center

World Resources Institute

Data Center URL: http://www.wri.org/
Dataset ID: ADS_WRI

Data Center Personnel
Name: WRI PUBLICATIONS WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE Phone: 1-202-729-7600 Fax: 1-202-729-7686 Contact Address: 10 G Street NE City: Washington, DC Postal Code: 20002 Country: USA

Distribution

Distribution Media: CD-ROM

Distribution Format: PC ARC/INFO

Fees: US

Creation and Review Dates

Last DIF Revision Date: 2010-11-05

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