This page is for those of you who are just not sure what kind of data you need. We answer your questions here and point you in the right direction to get what you need. There is a listing of each of the products that we deal with and how you can get them.

Don't be afraid to ask a question. That is the way to learn. Please contact us.

We deal in ESRI© spatial data exchange formats and AutoCAD© formats, web based soil survey reports, downloadable county-wide interpretation maps that you can print, and even printable soil survey maps like the ones that will be published. Click on one of the items above for further information.

If you are still unsure what you need, answer the questions within the popup window and we'll point you in the right direction:

There are several products put out by ESRI. All ESRI software can import the ARC exchange formats (*.e00 files). Not all these products can export .e00 files. ARCVIEW 3.x likes shapefiles but can also import .e00 files using the Import71 program found at the ARCVIEW startup level. ARCGIS can use shapefiles and e00 imports, but likes it own geodatabase storage method. ARC/INFO prefers .e00 files, it is the easiest to import into a coverage in ARC/INFO.

All of our data is provided in .e00 formats, and now we have started exporting shapefiles to help those bring data into Soil Data Viewer.

Importing data into ESRI products.

ARCVIEW 3.x --

1. After saving the file to the place on your computer, you must UNZIP the file and place it in your
   working directory.
2. Click on START, and navigate into where your ARCVIEW is located .Within the list where you
   start ARCVIEW you will find a program called IMPORT7_1. Click on that and select the soils
   e00 file to import. Select where you wish to place the imported files, then click OK.
3. You have imported the spatial line data. You now need to import the attribute data.

ARCGIS / ARCVIEW 8.x --

1. After saving the file to the place on your computer, you must UNZIP the file and place it in your
   working directory.
2. Click on START, and navigate into where your ARCGIS is located. Within the list where you
   start ARCMAP you will find a program called TOOLBOX. Click on that.
3. TOOLBOX will start up. If you have downloaded the .e00 format, click on "Importing to.." either "coverage" or "geodatabase". It is your choice.
4. A popup window will appear and you need to select the file to import and name the directory and filename of the exported file. (Note: You can run a batch program to import a number of files).
5. You have imported the spatial line data. You now need to import the attribute data.

If you are using a shapefile, then you do not need to import it into ARVIEW 3.x, but will need to import it into ARCGIS or ARCVIEW 8.x

The AutoCAD format is called a DXF file. These files can be brought into AutoCAD, but associated the attribute data is more difficult. The soil labels are in what is called DXF-TEXT and should be readable after import.

We are unfamiliar with AutoCAD in its features. If someone wishes to fill the blanks in on how to import the data (step-by-step), associate the attribute data, etc. Please email us.

Introducing a Web Based Soil Survey for all currently digitized counties for Pennsylvania. Check the Digital Survey Status Map for exact digital coverage. Penn State University and USDA-NRCS colaborated to provide this needed service. Click on SoilMAP to try it out.

A If you are using ArcVeiw 3.x then this is the procedure.

1.) Import the e00 exchange file using IMPORT 71.
2.) Add Theme --- go to the directory where your import is, click on the folder of the imported file. This folder should open into three files, "polygon", "arc", "labelpoint". Select the "polygon" to add a polygon theme to your view.
3.) Make sure that the theme you just added is active. (there is highlighted box around it).
4.) Select Theme, then select "Convert to Shape file", and add it as a Theme to your view.
5.) Select File, then Extensions. Select Projection Utility Wizard and Geoprocessing, then click OK.
6.) Select File, then Project Utility Wizard.

a.) Browse through your directories until you see the shapefile that you just created. Once you find it, select it. Then hit NEXT.
b.) Here is where you have to select the projection. Select "projected", name =
"NAD_1983_UTM_Zone_18N" (for eastern half of state ..._17N for the western half), and Units = "meters". Then hit NEXT.
c.) A window will pop up now questioning if you want to save your coordinate system for this shapefile, click yes. YOUR DONE

7.) Now you need to reproject it after you've defined the projection. Click on FILE, then Projection
Utility Wizard. (in order to change Datums you need to do this step, If you keep the same NAD83 datum in your stateplane then you do not have to do step 7 and 8.)

a.) Browse through your directories until you see the shapefile that you just created. You will notice that now the coordinate system is not "unknown" and lists the UTM projection. Then hit NEXT.
b.) Here is where you have to select input projection. Everything should be what you defined above. Then hit NEXT.
c.) Here is where you have to select the output projection. Select "geographic", name =
"GCS_North_America_1983", and Units = "degree" if it is not already selected. Then hit NEXT.
d.) A window will pop up now questioning where and what you want to save the file as. Put is in your working folder. Hit NEXT
e.) Then a window will pop up defining your projection. Click Finish if matches what you input. Then your computer will reproject the shapefile and ask if you want to add it.

8.) Now you need to change the datums. Click on FILE, then Projection Utility Wizard. (in order to change Datums you need to do this step, If you keep the same NAD83 datum in your stateplane then you do not have to do step 7 and 8.)

a.) Browse through your directories until you see the shapefile that you just created. You will notice that now the coordinate system is not "NAD_1983_UTM_Zone_18N" and lists the projection you just completed. Then hit NEXT.
b.) Here is where you have to select input projection. Everything should be what you defined above. Then hit NEXT.
c.) Here is where you have to select the output projection. Select "geographic", name =
"GCS_North_America_1927", and Units = "degree" if it is not already selected. Then hit NEXT.
d.) A window will pop up now questioning where and what you want to save the file as. Put is in your working folder. Hit NEXT
e.) Then a window will pop up defining your projection. Click Finish if matches what you input. Then your computer will reproject the shapefile and ask if you want to add it.

9.) Now you need to reproject it to stateplane NAD27. Click on FILE, then Projection Utility Wizard.

a.) Browse through your directories until you see the shapefile that you just created. You will notice that now the coordinate system lists the projection. Then hit NEXT.
b.) Here is where you have to select input projection. Everything should be what you defined above. Then hit NEXT.
c.) Here is where you have to select the output projection. Select "projected", name =
"NAD_1927_Pennsylvania_North", and Units = "foot_US" if it is not already selected. Then hit NEXT. (use "NAD_1927_Pennsylvania_South" for those counties in the southern half of the state. Also if you are keeping the NAD_1983 datum use "NAD_1983_Pennsylvania_South")
d.) A window will pop up now questioning where and what you want to save the file as. Put is in your working folder. Hit NEXT
e.) Then a window will pop up defining your projection. Click Finish if matches what you input. Then your computer will reproject the shapefile and ask if you want to add it.

Now you are really done!!!! (Tim Craul, Soil Scientist, SSURGO Specialist)

There are several distinct kinds of data that can be used for background imagery for soils data.

1. There is the orthophotographic image in either TIF Digital Orhto Quarter Quads (DOQQ's) or the MrSID full quad mosaic Digital Ortho Quad (DOQ). The datum's of these items are NAD83 so they should match the soils data. The resolution is 1m.
2. The Digital Raster Graphic (DRG) is a TIF file of a scanned opaque done by USGS. You need to be careful, the collar or neat line surround these quads are in North American Datum of 1927 using the Clarke 1866 spheroid. They will be shifted from any NAD83 datum data. They come with full page and cropped collars.
3. The TERRABYTE imagery was developed from LandSAT Thematic Mapper images that were classified in false color. The resolution is 30m.
4. There is SPOT Satellite imagery available in 10m panchromatic and 10m natural color. Unless you are a registered user, you can only download the non-georeferenced imagery and geo-reference yourselves.

To check out more about these data layers, drop by PASDA.

The other data layers that might be needed for locating oneself are roads and streams. PASDA has several versions of road and stream networks available. Most of the roads and streams networks are in NAD27 so you will need to take that into consideration. There are other layers that work well with soils data.

There are geology layers for every county on the PASDA site.

There are surface layers such as Digital Elevation Models (DEM's) also put out by USGS. These data set are mostly in NAD27, but there are some newer revised ones in NAD83, so be careful.

There is also a neat service by PASDA that is very useful for gathering all the layers that you might need to complete a GIS project. It is the PASDA Data Access Wizard. Just select the data you need and you can either download the entire data set or clip the data using another boundary such as a county or watershed and get it in a projection that you can use.

The Map Compilation and Digitizing Center has developed a State and County boundary layer that will be used for all soils coverages. We are making this available so that you can "clip" other layers to match the soils layers.

USDA-NRCS "Official" Soil Survey County and State Boundary layer for Pennsylvania. The data is in a geographic projection of NAD 83 datum.

For personnel assistance dealing with NRCS and Farm Services programs, or local maps for NRCS cooperators that are unavailable on this site, stop by your local USDA Service Center. The following directory will help you locate the office nearest you.

Soils data is the most complex type of spatial data. Not only does soils change horizontally across the landscape, but they are variable vertically. In order to capture this variation, the databases needed for soils are very detailed and difficult for non-soil scientists to understand. We are going to give a little lecture on soils to help you out. These are some truths that you need to know.

• Soils are derived from parent material on various landforms, acted on by flora, fauna, and climate over a period of time.
• A soil mapping unit consists of a suite of soils interacting together on a particular soil/landscape which the main component soil, making up around 75 percent of the area, is what is used to name the mapping unit. It doesn't mean that is the only soil within the delineated map unit polygon.
• The scale of mapping determines the detail of the mapping units. If you change the scale at which the soil map is viewed from what it was originally mapped at, you have in effect changed the base mapping concept for the soil mapping unit placement. Any accuracy of the soil delineations has been lost.
• Soil horizon depth, texture, thickness, even their very existence varies horizontally.
• Interpretations of the soil can not be limited to just one horizon in some vertical sequence. The entire profile needs to be looked at for a determination.

Working with old Tab Delimited Data:

The tabular data in earlier versions (not the new NASIS 5.0 SSURGO download) is located in the
"tab" directory that accompanies the spatial data. These files are text delimited. It is very easy to bring into MS Excel.

1. First open Excel and then opening the file in question. (NOTE == If you find that there is a row of dashes under the header row, delete the entire row of dashes).
2. Excel will consider the column under the dashes as a text column and not the numbers that you want.
3. The import wizard will ask you for what kind of delimiter is being used. It is either "tab" or "pipe" delimited. Select the correct one so that columns appear separating the data.
4. Then after the data is imported, save the file in DBaseIV format. ArcView 3.2 will read that. ArcView 8.1 should also read it, but it likes MS ACCESS better.

You will need the SSURGO Data User's Guide to help explain area weighting, and volume weighting of the horizons for best results. Penn State has put together a nice tutorial on how to correctly use digital soils data at www.gis.psu.edu/outreach/modules/soils.html

Working with New NASIS Data:

The new NASIS soils data (NASIS stands for National Soils Information System) has some interesting features. There are templates that are needed to bring this data into a MS Access database. These templates can be found at the NASIS web site.

This is an excerpt from the USDA-NRCS NASIS Template Instructions:

Before you can import the data produced by a SSURGO Export, the data must be extracted from the final zipped file produced by the SSURGO Export process. See the previous section for these instructions. You must also have a copy of the template Access database on your PC, and Access must be installed on your PC.

Once you have satisfied these requirements, use the following steps to import data into the template Access database:

1. Open the template Access database.
2. If the template database is currently empty, the Import Dialog form will automatically be displayed.
3. If any data has previously imported into this database, you will need to select the "Macros" tab in the Database Window, and then execute the macro named "Import", either by double clicking it or by selected it and then clicking the "Run" button.
4. In the blank on the form titled "Import Legend", fill in the fully qualified path of the directory that contains the extracted export data. Remember to include the drive letter reference as part of this path name. Enter only the name of the directory that contains the extracted export files. Do not enter the name of a particular file. Note that the extracted export data and the template Access database do not have to reside in the same directory.
5. Click the "OK" button.

Once the import process starts, the view is switched to the "Tables" view, and the highlight moves around as the data is being imported.

Errors During the Import Process

If there is an error during the import process, the import process terminates and a dialog box is displayed. Any errors that occur during the import process are logged to a file named "nasiserr.txt" in the root directory of the C drive. Please have the contents of this file available before calling the Soils Hotline.

An error will occur if you attempt to import legends, map units or components that already reside in the database.

An error will also occur under either of the following two conditions. One, the import process cannot find the file that identifies the version of the data you are attempting to import. Two, the import process finds that file, but the version recorded in that file does not match the version of the Access database into which you are attempting to import data. The name of this file is "version.txt". This file is bundled together with the other ASCII delimited files that make up the complete set of export data.

NASIS Information and NEW SSURGO Data Schema

The Soil Data Mart has the complete information needed for the new SSURGO download from NASIS.

We have generated some pre-made interpretation maps in PDF format for the general Public. They are interpretation maps, County General Soils Maps, Major Land Resource Maps, and other assorted cartographic exercises.

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The following is the generation of all soils in Pennsylvania and their farmland designation.

Prime Farmland Soils and Soils of Statewide Importance.

Soil Survey is an attempt to decipher the very complex natural spatial variations of soil/landscapes at a certain scale of mapping.

For an understanding of soils and their digital representation, one first must have a few definitions.

soil / landscapes = A landscape that has a suite of soils interacting together in a set pattern that is repeatable on similar landscapes.

map unit = A landscape that has a suite of soils interacting together in a set pattern that can be mapped on similar landscapes. NOTE : All mapping units are soil / landscapes, but not all soil / landscapes are mapping units.

polygon = The digital name for a spatial soil delineation of a mapping unit.

MUSYM = The field name within the spatial data that holds the mapping unit label.

consocitation = Consociations are named for the dominant soil. In a consociation, delineated areas are dominated by a single soil taxon and similar soils. At least one half of the pedons in each
delineation are of the same soil component so similar to the named soil that major interpretations are not affected significantly. The total amount of dissimilar inclusions of other components in a map unit generally does not exceed about 15 percent if limiting and 25 percent if nonlimiting. A single component of a dissimilar limiting inclusion generally does not exceed 10 percent if very contrasting.

association = See Below:

complex = Complexes and associations are named for two or more dissimilar components with the dominant component listed first. They occur in a regularly repeating pattern. The major components of a complex cannot be mapped separately at a scale of about 1:24,000. The major components of an association can be separated at a scale of about 1:24,000. In each delineation of either a complex or an association, each major component is normally present, though their proportions may vary appreciably from one delineation to another. The total amount of inclusions in a map unit that are dissimilar to any of the major components does not exceed 15 percent if limiting and 25 percent if nonlimiting. A single kind of dissimilar limiting inclusion usually does not exceed 10 percent.

nodes = The x,y location in digital space where a vector starts and stops.

vertex = The x,y location in digital space where a vector changes its direction.

raster = Raster format means that the map is made up of pixels, where each pixel contains information of that x,y point.

vector = Vector format is where a line (vector) encompasses an area (polygon) in digital space through nodes and vertices that contains information of that x,y area and its association with adjacent areas (polygons).

map object = Map object is a polygon that resides in its own space oblivious to adjacent or surrounding objects that contains information of that space.

soil series = The lowest classification of a soil. Soil series are typically given names of places. (ie. Hagerstown, Hazleton, Delaware)

soil attributes = The data that contains the z direction of a mapping unit as well as its interpretations, composition, and physical and chemical properties.

Drop by the NASIS Interpretative Reports page for the country. Just follow the directions and you can generate any interpretations table that that is typically available in the published soil survey report.

There are several places to determine how we digitize soil surveys into the electronic spatial data that you can then make maps, perform queries of the database, and even learn something of the soil patterns typically found on the landscape.

The first place to look is the National Soil Survey Handbook, Part 647 (NSH). This is the official instruction manual for the required standards for soil survey digitizing for USDA-NRCS.

We have developed our own SSURGO Procedures Manual for use in Pennsylvania. It holds the actual procedures to meet the NSH standards. These procedures were developed through trial and error since 1995 to finally lead to the best map compilation center in the county.

The first step is the compilation phase the captures the published soil survey, typically mapped on un-georeferenced base maps such as photo-mosaic aerial photos, or poorly rectified analog orthophotographs. The procedure we use is called "visual cartometric transfer". Both quality control and quality assurance are performed at the completion of each step.

Section 4.1 - Visual cartometric transfer

This method of compilation involves manually repositioning map features from a source map onto a more accurate base map. Features on both the base map and the source map are visually matched. In the case of soil maps, the base maps generally are orthophotographs and the source map’s are reduced mylar soil survey published field sheets or field sheets from the survey update. For digitizing purposes, a single matte, stable base mylar (compilation sheet) that is punch registered and secured by a registration bar or pins and DRAFTING TAPE (non-sticky) to the base map. The source map is then placed behind the mylar compilation sheet and landmarks such as hedgerows, road intersections, water bodies, and man-made features are lined up to provide the coordinates to transfer the soil line accurately to the compilation sheet.

The second step is the scanning of the compilation sheet by very accurate drum scanners. Then we can edit, convert from raster lines to vector lines, then finally attribute the resulting polygons. There is staff run quality control conducted on each portion of the digital data development phase.

The third step is the joining with surrounding soil survey areas, review of the data, legend corrections, correlation documentation, etc. This is referred to as "Soil Business" or by the rank and file employees, "The paperwork phase".

The last step is the writing of the proper format, quality assurance and finally archiving.