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Farmland Soils interpretation for the Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) database for the State of Connecticut

Frequently-asked questions:


What does this data set describe?

Title:
Farmland Soils interpretation for the Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) database for the State of Connecticut

Abstract:
Farmland classification identifies map units as prime farmland, farmland of statewide importance, farmland of local importance, or unique farmland. Includes Locally Important Farmland Soils for the towns of Ashford, Canterbury, Chaplin, Eastford, Lebanon, Milford, New Milford, and Norfolk. This data set is a digital soil survey and generally is the most detailed level of soil geographic data developed by the National Cooperative Soil Survey. The information was prepared by digitizing maps, by compiling information onto a planimetric correct base and digitizing, or by revising digitized maps using remotely sensed and other information.

This data set consists of georeferenced digital map data and computerized attribute data. The map data are in a soil survey area extent format and include a detailed, field verified inventory of soils and miscellaneous areas that normally occur in a repeatable pattern on the landscape and that can be cartographically shown at the scale mapped. A special soil features layer (point and line features) is optional. This layer displays the location of features too small to delineate at the mapping scale, but they are large enough and contrasting enough to significantly influence use and management. The soil map units are linked to attributes in the National Soil Information System relational database, which gives the proportionate extent of the component soils and their properties.

Supplemental information:
Digital versions of hydrography, cultural features, and other associated layers that are not part of the SSURGO data set may be available from the primary organization listed in the Point of Contact.

  1. How should this data set be cited?

    U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, 20070322, Farmland Soils interpretation for the Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) database for the State of Connecticut: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Fort Worth, Texas.

    Online links:
    Other citation details:
    ct600

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

    Bounding coordinates:
    West: -73.742071
    East: -71.781359
    North: 42.052474
    South: 40.959168

  3. What does it look like?

    http://www.cteco.uconn.edu/metadata/dep/browsegraphic/soilsfullviewfarmland.gif (GIF)
    Full view of Farmland Soils

    http://www.cteco.uconn.edu/metadata/dep/browsegraphic/soilsdetailviewfarmlandmapunit.gif (GIF)
    Detail view of Farmland Soils map unit polygon boundaries that includes prime, statewide important, and locally important farmland soils. Locally important farmland soils have been designated by the following Connecticut towns: Ashford, Chaplin, Eastford, Lebanon, and New Milford. Other towns may designate locally important farmland soils in the future. Note, farmland soil map unit boundaries will follow a town boundary in situations where a town that has designated locally important farmland soils is adjacent to a town that has not designated locally important farmland soils. For example, at the time this image was made, locally important farmland soils were not mapped for the Town of Hampton. Consequently, some of the boundaries of locally important farmland soils in the adjacent towns of Chaplin and Eastford follow the straight line of the Hampton town boundary.

    http://www.cteco.uconn.edu/metadata/dep/browsegraphic/soilsdetailviewfarmlandmapunitwithtown.gif (GIF)
    Detail view of Farmland Soils map unit polygon boundaries that includes prime, statewide important, and locally important farmland soils shown with town boundaries in green. Locally important farmland soils have been designated by the following towns: Ashford, Chaplin, Eastford, Lebanon, and New Milford. Other towns may designate locally important farmland soils in the future. Note, farmland soil map unit boundaries will follow a town boundary in situations where a town has designated locally important farmland soils adjacent to a town that has not designated locally important farmland soils. For example, at the time this image was made, locally important farmland soils were not designated for the Town of Hampton. Consequently, some of the boundaries of locally important farmland soils in the adjacent towns of Chaplin and Eastford follow the straight line of the Hampton town boundary.

    http://www.cteco.uconn.edu/metadata/dep/browsegraphic/soilsdetailviewfarmland.gif (GIF)
    Detail view of Farmland Soils symbolizing Prime, Statewide Important, and Locally Important Farmland Soils

  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?

    Beginning date: 20000602
    Ending date: 20070322
    Currentness reference:
    publication date

  5. What is the general form of this data set?

    Geospatial data presentation form: vector digital data

  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?

    1. How are geographic features stored in the data set?

      This is a Vector data set. It contains the following vector data types (SDTS terminology):
      • G-polygon (236557)

    2. What coordinate system is used to represent geographic features?

      The map projection used is Lambert Conformal Conic.

      Projection parameters:
      Lambert Conformal Conic
      Standard parallel: 41.200000
      Standard parallel: 41.866667
      Longitude of central meridian: -72.750000
      Latitude of projection origin: 40.833333
      False easting: 999999.999996
      False northing: 499999.999998

      Planar coordinates are encoded using coordinate pair.
      Abscissae (x-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 0.000125.
      Ordinates (y-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 0.000125.
      Planar coordinates are specified in survey feet.

      The horizontal datum used is North American Datum of 1983.
      The ellipsoid used is Geodetic Reference System 80.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378137.000000.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.257222.

      Vertical coordinate system definition:
      Altitude system definition:
      Altitude resolution: 1.000000
      Altitude encoding method: Explicit elevation coordinate included with horizontal coordinates

  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?

    Farmland Soils
     (Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service)

    OBJECTID
    Internal feature number. (Source: ESRI)
                      

    Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.

    SHAPE
    Feature geometry. (Source: ESRI)
                      

    Coordinates defining the features.

    AREASYMBOL
    Area Symbol - A symbol that uniquely identifies a single occurrence of a particualr type of area (e.g. Lancaster Co., Nebraska is NE109). (Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
                      

    Text value

    SPATIALVER
    Spatial Version - A sequential integer number used to denote the serial version of the spatial data for a soil survey area. (Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
                      

    Numeric value

    MUKEY
    Mapunit Key - A non-connatative string of characters used to uniquely identify a record in the Mapunit table. (Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
                      

    Text value

    MUSYM
    Mapunit Symbol - The symbol used to uniquely identify the soil map unit in the soil survey. (Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
                      

    Text value

    FRMLNDCLS
    The symbol used to identify the farmland soil map unit interpretation in the soil survey. (Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
                      

    ValueDefinition
    Prime Farmland Soils
    Prime Farmland Soils are those soils that have the best combination of physical and chemical characteristics for producing food, feed, forage, fiber, and oil seed crops, and are also available for these uses (the land could be cropland, pastureland, range-land, forestland, or other land, but not urban built-up land or water).  It has the soil quality, growing season and moisture supply needed to economically produce sustained high yields or crops when treated and managed, including water management, according to acceptable farming practices.
    Statewide Important Farmland Soils
    Statewide Important Farmland Soils are those soils that fail to meet one or more of the requirements of prime farmland, but are important for the production of food, feed, fiber, or forage crops. They include those soils that are nearly prime farmland and that economically produce high yields of crops when treated and managed according to acceptable farming methods.
    Locally Important Farmland Soils
    Locally Important Farmland Soils are those soils that are not prime or statewide importance and are used for the production of high value food, fiber or horticultural crops.
    Other
    Soils other than Farmland soils, including water features.

    ACRES
    Calculated area of polygon feature in acres. Note, ACRES values are not automatically updated after modifying feature geometry (shape). Values must be recalculated after features are edited, simplified, generalized, clipped, dissolved, etc. (Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
                      

    SHAPE.area
    SHAPE.len
    Entity and attribute overview:
    Map Unit Delineations are closed polygons that may be dominated by a single soil or miscellaneous area component plus allowable similar or dissimilar soils, or they can be geographic mixtures of groups of soils or soils and miscellaneous areas.
    
    The map unit symbol uniquely identifies each closed map unit delineation. Each symbol corresponds to a map unit name. The map unit key is used to link to information in the National Soil Information System tables.
    
    Map Unit Delineations are described by the National Soil Information System database. This attribute database gives the proportionate extent of the component soils and the properties for each soil. The database contains both estimated and measured data on the physical and chemical soil properties and soil interpretations for engineering, water management, recreation, agronomic, woodland, range, and wildlife uses of the soil.
    
    The National Soil Information System database contains static metadata. It documents the data structure and includes such information as what tables, columns, indexes, and relationships are defined as well as a variety of attributes of each of these database objects. Attributes include table and column descriptions and detailed domain information.
    
    The National Soil Information System database also contains a distribution metadata. It records the criteria used for selecting map units and components for inclusion in the set of distributed data.
    
    Special features are described in the feature table.  It includes an area symbol, feature label, feature name, and feature description for each special and ad hoc feature in the survey area.

    Entity and attribute detail citation:
    Soil Taxonomy: A basic system of soil classification for making and interpreting soil surveys.
    			
    Agricultural Handbook 436, 1999, USDA, SCS.
    
    Keys to Soil Taxonomy (current issue), USDA, SCS.
    
    National Soil Survey Handbook, Title 430-VI, part 647 (current
    issue), USDA, NRCS.
    
    Agricultural Handbook 18, Soil Survey Manual, 1993, USDA, SCS.
    
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Who produced the data set?

  1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)


  2. Who also contributed to the data set?

  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?

    U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service
    State Soil Scientist
    USDA - Natural Resources Conservation Service
    Connecticut State Office
    344 Merrow Road, Suite A
    Tolland, Connecticut 06084-3917
    USA

    860-871-4047 (voice)
    860-871-4054 (FAX)
    kip.kolesinskas@ct.usda.gov
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Why was the data set created?

Farmland classification identifies the location and extent of the most suitable land for producing food, feed, fiber, forage, and oilseed crops. SSURGO depicts information about the kinds and distribution of soils on the landscape. The soil map and data used in the SSURGO product were prepared by soil scientists as part of the National Cooperative Soil Survey.

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How was the data set created?

  1. Where did the data come from?

    SCS1 (source 1 of 19)

    U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, 1962, Soil Survey of Hartford County: U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C..

    Type of source media: paper
    Source scale denominator: 20000
    Source contribution:
    information for soil map unit delineations, special soil feature locations, and data on soil properties

    SCS2 (source 2 of 19)

    U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, 1983, Soil Survey of New London County: U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C..

    Type of source media: paper
    Source scale denominator: 15840
    Source contribution:
    information for soil map unit delineations, special soil feature locations, and data on soil properties

    SCS3 (source 3 of 19)

    U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, 1966, Soil Survey of Tolland County: U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C..

    Type of source media: paper
    Source scale denominator: 15840
    Source contribution:
    information for soil map unit delineations, special soil feature locations, and data on soil properties

    NRCS1 (source 4 of 19)

    U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, 1996, Soil Survey of Tolland County: U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C..

    Type of source media: paper
    Source scale denominator: 12000
    Source contribution:
    information for soil map unit delineations, special soil feature locations, and data on soil properties

    SCS4 (source 5 of 19)

    U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, 1981, Soil Survey of Windham County: U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C..

    Type of source media: paper
    Source scale denominator: 15840
    Source contribution:
    information for soil map unit delineations, special soil feature locations, and data on soil properties

    SCS5 (source 6 of 19)

    U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, 1981, Soil Survey of Fairfield County: U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C..

    Type of source media: paper
    Source scale denominator: 15840
    Source contribution:
    information for soil map unit delineations, special soil feature locations, and data on soil properties

    SCS6 (source 7 of 19)

    U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, 1979, Soil Survey of New Haven County: U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C..

    Type of source media: paper
    Source scale denominator: 15840
    Source contribution:
    information for soil map unit delineations, special soil feature locations, and data on soil properties

    SCS7 (source 8 of 19)

    U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, 1979, Soil Survey of Middlesex County: U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C..

    Type of source media: paper
    Source scale denominator: 15840
    Source contribution:
    information for soil map unit delineations, special soil feature locations, and data on soil properties

    SCS8 (source 9 of 19)

    U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, 1970, Soil Survey of Litchfield County: U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C..

    Type of source media: paper
    Source scale denominator: 15840
    Source contribution:
    information for soil map unit delineations, special soil feature locations, and data on soil properties

    NRCS2 (source 10 of 19)

    U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, unpublished Material, Soil Survey of Connecticut.

    Type of source media: paper
    Source scale denominator: 12000
    Source contribution:
    information for soil map unit delineations, special soil feature locations, and data on soil properties

    CTDEP1 (source 11 of 19)

    Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, unpublished material, multiple digital hydrography subset: Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, Hartford, Connecticut.

    Type of source media: digital spatial data
    Source scale denominator: 24000
    Source contribution:
    Hydrographic features to include double line streams and area features greater than 3 acres in size were subset from USGS 1:24000 scale Digital Line Graphs updated to 1985 and 1990 imagery by NRCS and used as a template for soils digitizing

    CTDEP2 (source 12 of 19)

    Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, 1986, multiple aerial photographs: AeroGraphics Corporation, Bohemia, New York.

    Type of source media: paper
    Source scale denominator: 12000
    Source contribution:
    base material for field mapping and soils/land use updates

    CTDEP3 (source 13 of 19)

    Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, 1990, multiple aerial photographs: AeroGraphics Corporation, Bohemia, New York.

    Type of source media: paper
    Source scale denominator: 12000
    Source contribution:
    base material for field mapping and soils/land use updates

    CTDEP4 (source 14 of 19)

    Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, unpublished material, multiple inked overlays: Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, Hartford, Connecticut.

    Type of source media: stable base material
    Source scale denominator: 15840
    Source contribution:
    digitizing source

    USGS1 (source 15 of 19)

    U.S. Geological Survey, 1980, multiple orthophotographic enlargements: U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia.

    Type of source media: stable base material
    Source scale denominator: 15840
    Source contribution:
    base material for compilation - original orthophotoquad scale 1:24000

    USGS2 (source 16 of 19)

    U.S. Geological Survey, 1995, multiple 3.75 minute digital orthophoto quadrangles: U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia.

    Type of source media: CD-ROM
    Source scale denominator: 12000
    Source contribution:
    digital base material for 1:12000 review

    NRCS3 (source 17 of 19)

    U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, 2004, Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) database for the Connecticut Statewide Update, Subset 1: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, National Cartography and Geospatial Center, Fort Worth, Texas.

    Type of source media: online
    Source scale denominator: 24000
    Source contribution:
    SSURGO data for revision of spatial data

    NASIS (source 18 of 19)

    U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, 2005, National Soil Information System (NASIS) data base: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Fort Collins, Colorado.

    Type of source media: database
    Source contribution:
    attribute (tabular) information

    Soils_Farmland_Poly (source 19 of 19)

    U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, 20070322, Farmland Soils interpretation for the Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) database for the State of Connecticut: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Fort Worth, Texas.

    Online links:
    Other citation details:
    ct600

    Type of source media: disc
    Source scale denominator: 12000
    Source contribution:
    Includes all farmland soil polygon features for Connecticut in GeoDatabase feature format.

  2. What changes have been made?

    Date: 2001 (change 1 of 16)
    Field procedures for the second order soil survey included plotting of soil boundaries determined by field observation and by interpretation of remotely sensed data. Boundaries were verified at closely spaced intervals, and the soils in each delineation were identified by traversing and transecting the landscape. The classification and map unit names were progressively reviewed December 1993 and August 2001.

    Data sources used in this process:
    • CTDEP2, CTDEP3, NRCS2

    Date: 1994 (change 2 of 16)
    Hartford County, Connecticut, had a previously published soil survey, 1962, at a scale of 1:20000. Landuse was updated to 1990, limited mapping was performed in areas where significant changes in classification occurred, and mapunits were correlated to the Connecticut legend.

    Data sources used in this process:
    • SCS1

    Date: 1994 (change 3 of 16)
    New London County, Connecticut, had a previously published soil survey, 1983, at a scale of 1:15840. Landuse was updated to 1985/1986. Mapunits were correlated to the Connecticut legend. Small mapunits less than 3 acres and narrow drainage ways may have been combined with adjacent units.

    Data sources used in this process:
    • SCS2

    Date: 1994 (change 4 of 16)
    Tolland County, Connecticut, had a previously published soil survey, 1966, at a scale of 1:15840. The original survey was developed mainly for agricultural interpretations, therefore, wooded areas were not mapped as detailed as open areas. Approximately 75% of the county was remapped to current standards during the period from 1985 to 1994. The new data was published in 1996. Mapunits were correlated to the Connecticut legend.

    Data sources used in this process:
    • SCS3, NRCS1

    Date: 1994 (change 5 of 16)
     Windham County, Connecticut, had a previously published soil survey, 1981, at a scale of 1:15840. Landuse was updated to 1985/1986. Mapunits were correlated to the Connecticut legend. Small mapunits less than 3 acres and narrow drainage ways may have been combined with adjacent units.

    Data sources used in this process:
    • SCS4

    Date: 2001 (change 6 of 16)
    Fairfield County, Connecticut, had a previously published soil survey, 1981, at a scale of 1:15840. Landuse was updated to 1990. Mapunits were correlated to the Connecticut legend. Small mapunits less than 3 acres and narrow drainage ways may have been combined with adjacent units.

    Data sources used in this process:
    • SCS5

    Date: 2001 (change 7 of 16)
    New Haven County, Connecticut, had a previously published soil survey, 1979, at a scale of 1:15840. Landuse was updated to 1990. Mapunits were correlated to the Connecticut legend. Small mapunits less than 3 acres and narrow drainage ways may have been combined with adjacent units.

    Data sources used in this process:
    • SCS6

    Date: 2001 (change 8 of 16)
    Middlesex County, Connecticut, had a previously published soil survey, 1980, at a scale of 1:15480. Landuse was updated to 1990, limited mapping was performed in areas where significant changes in classification occurred, and mapunits were correlated to the Connecticut legend.

    Data sources used in this process:
    • SCS7

    Date: 2001 (change 9 of 16)
    Litchfield County, Connecticut, had a previously published soil survey, 1970, at a scale of 1:15840. The original survey was developed mainly for agricultural interpretations, therefore, wooded areas were not mapped as detailed as open areas. Approximately 75% of the county was remapped to current standards during the period from 1994 to 2001.  Mapunits were correlated to the Connecticut legend.

    Data sources used in this process:
    • SCS8

    Date: 2001 (change 10 of 16)
    Hydrography was transferred from 1:15840 acetates to the 1:15840 orthophotographs as a reference only for soil delineations. This data was not digitized from the orthophotographs, but digitally subset from USGS DLGs. Field maps and published atlas sheets were ratioed to approximately 1:15840 when necessary and then manually compiled using imagery transfer techniques to 1:15840 orthophotograph enlargements. Slight adjustments were made to soil boundaries near hydrography for clarity. These adjustments occurred along narrow floodplains, shorelines, and other areas of fluctuating water levels. Water bodies for Litchfield County were adjusted from the aerial photography during remapping. Special soil features were compiled on film overlays and manually digitized using GRASS 4.1.3 and ArcInfo 8.2. Soil delineations were digitized using one of the following procedures:
    
    1) Soil delineations were inked on 7mil overlays and scanned at 300dpi. Utilizing ProVec software, data were edited and converted to vector format. Data was then imported into ARC/INFO 3.4D and georeferenced to Connecticut State Plane feet - NAD 27. Each quadrangle has sixteen tics, therefore, data was transformed by ninths maintaining Root Mean Square (RMS) less than .003. The hydrography template was imported, vectors edited and labels created.
    
    2) Soil delineations were manually digitized using ARC/INFO 3.2.1. Data were registered in Connecticut State Plane coordinates maintaining RMS less than .003. Weed and fuzzy tolerances maintained at 3. Data were transferred to ARC/INF0 6.0 for approximate edgematching and label editing, exported to DLGs, and imported to GRASS 4.1.3. Data was projected to UTM coordinates NAD 27 and edited for node to node edgematching.
    
    Soil special features were manually digitized by using one of the following software products, GRASS 4.1.3 or ArcInfo 8.2. Compilation, digitizing, and quality control were performed by soil scientists and cartographic technicians at the Connecticut Natural Resources Conservation Service. Digital scanning and vector conversion was performed by private contractor. Digital editing was performed at the Connecticut Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection - Natural Resources Center. Digital soils delineations were visually verified using background digital orthophotograph imagery at 1:12000 to ensure accuracy at this scale.  Organic soils, bedrock controlled soils and other easily identified features were utilized to ensure vertical integration and accurate soil delineation placement. Digital review for adherence to SSURGO standards was performed by the Missouri NRCS Digitizing Unit. Edits were made in ArcEdit. The survey area boundary was replaced with the boundary arcs from adjacent surveys, where possible. A new ARC/INFO coverage reflecting these edits was produced and reviewed for adherence to SSURGO standards by Missouri NRCS Regional Digitizing Unit staff. The certified data were uploaded to the Soil Data Warehouse for archiving and distribution.

    Data sources used in this process:
    • SCS1, SCS2, SCS3, NRCS1, SCS4, SCS5, SCS6, SCS7, SCS8, NRCS2, CTDEP1, USGS1, CTDEP4, USGS2, NRCS3

    Date: 2005 (change 11 of 16)
    The National Soil Information System data base was developed by Natural Resources Conservation Service soil scientists according to national standards.

    Data sources used in this process:
    • NRCS1

    Date: 2005 (change 12 of 16)
    The previously certified digital data of the Connecticut Statewide Update, Subset 1, were updated for
    incorporation into the Connecticut statewide survey. Boundaries were replaced with the boundary arcs from adjacent subsets of Connecticut
    as well as other adjacent surveys.  The updated data were incorporated into the statewide digital data, and a new ARC/INFO coverage reflecting these edits was produced with ARC/INFO 7.2.1 and reviewed for adherence to SSURGO standards by Missouri NRCS Regional Digitizing Unit staff.

    Data sources used in this process:
    • NRCS1, NRCS2

    Date: 20050715 (change 13 of 16)
    The Natural Resources Conservation Service State Soil Scientist or delegate, upon completion of data quality verification, determined that the tabular data should be released for official use. A selected set of map units and components in the soil survey legend was copied to a staging database, and rating values for selected interpretations were generated. The list of selected interpretations is stored in the database table named sainterp.

    Data sources used in this process:
    • NASIS

    Date: 20050715 (change 14 of 16)
    The Natural Resources Conservation Service State Soil Scientist or delegate verified that the labels on the digitized soil map units link to map units in the tabular database, and certified the joined data sets for release to the Soil Data Warehouse. A system assigned version number and date stamp were added and the data were copied to the data warehouse. The tabular data for the map units and components were extracted from the data warehouse and reformatted into the soil data delivery data model, then stored in the Soil Data Mart. The spatial data were copied to the Soil Data Mart without change.

    Data sources used in this process:
    • NASIS

    Date: 20090515 (change 15 of 16)
    Data was downloaded from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service Soil data mart as a shapefile format in UTM Zone 18, North American Hemisphere (NAD83) coordinates. A farmsoi_a_ct600 file was generated using Soil Data Viewer 5.2 which determined the prime and statewide important classification. Using ArcMap 9.2 software, soil features for the towns of Ashford, Chaplin, Eastford, Lebanon, and New Milford were extracted from the statewide shapefile. The extracted data was stored as a shapefile for each town. Each of these towns designated locally important farmland soils. Soil Mapunits for each town shapefile file were determined to meet the locally important farmland criteria and assigned the corresponding FrmlndCls attribute. The farmsoi_a_ct600 shapefile was then updated into include the data from these town shapefiles, resulting in a statewide farmland soils polygon feature class that includes prime, statewide important, and locally important farmland soils in towns where locally important farmland soils are designated. As needed, the process of adding locally important farmland soils to the statewide shapefile is repeated when towns decide to designate locally important farmland soils.

    Data sources used in this process:
    • NASIS

    Data sources produced in this process:
    • farmsoi_a_ct600

    Date: 20090701 (change 16 of 16)
    Convert to GeoDatabase Feature Class format - Defined new Feature Class named Soils_Farmland_Poly; and imported the attribute definitions, loaded features and imported metadata from farmsoi_a_ct600.shp shapefile. Periodically, the Soils_Farmland_Poly feature class is updated a version of the statewide farmsoi_a_ct600.shp shapefile that include updated farmland soil information for towns that have designated locally important farmland soils.
    
    Spatial Reference Properties for Feature Class:
    
    Coordinate System: NAD_1983_StatePlane_Connecticut_FIPS_0600_Feet
    XY Domain MinX: 100000; MaxX: 2247483.645
    XY Domain MinY: 200000; MaxY: 2347483.645
    Precision: 1000

    Person responsible for change:
    Howie Sternberg
    State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection
    79 Elm Street
    Hartford, Connecticut 06106
    USA

    860-424-3540 (voice)

    Data sources used in this process:
    • farmsoi_a_ct600

    Data sources produced in this process:
    • Soils_Farmland_Poly

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How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?

  1. How well have the observations been checked?

    Attribute accuracy is tested by manual comparison of the source with hard copy plots and/or symbolized display of the map data on an interactive computer graphic system. Selected attributes that cannot be visually verified on plots or on screen are interactively queried and verified on screen. In addition, the attributes are tested against a master set of valid attributes. All attribute data conform to the attribute codes in the signed classification and correlation document and amendment(s).

  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?

    The accuracy of these digital data is based upon their compilation to base maps that meet National Map Accuracy Standards at a scale of 1 inch equals 1,000 feet. The difference in positional accuracy between the soil boundaries and special soil features locations in the field and their digitized map locations is unknown. The locational accuracy of soil delineations on the ground varies with the transition between map units.
    
    For example, on long gently sloping landscapes the transition occurs gradually over many feet. Where landscapes change abruptly from steep to level, the transition will be very narrow. Soil delineation boundaries and special soil features generally were digitized within 0.01 inch of their locations on the digitizing source. The digital map elements are edge matched between data sets. The data along each quadrangle edge are matched against the data for the adjacent quadrangle. Edge locations generally do not deviate from centerline to centerline by more than 0.01 inch.

  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?

    A map unit is a collection of areas defined and named in terms of their soil components or miscellaneous areas or both. Each map unit differs in some respect from all others in a survey area and each map unit has a symbol that uniquely identifies the map unit on a soil map. Each individual area, point, or line so identified on the map is a delineation.
    
    Soil Scientists identify small areas of soils or miscellaneous areas that have properties and behavior significantly different than the named soils in the surrounding map unit. These minor components may be indicated as special features. If they have a minimal effect on use and management, or could not be precisely located, they may not be indicated on the map.
    
    A map unit has specified kinds of soils or miscellaneous areas (map unit components), each with a designated range in proportionate extent. Map units include one or more kinds of soil or miscellaneous area. Miscellaneous areas are areas that have little or no recognizable soil.
    
    Specific National Cooperative Soil Survey standards and procedures were used in the classification of soils, design and name of map units, and location of special soil features. These standards are outlined in Agricultural Handbook 18, Soil Survey Manual, 1993, USDA, NRCS; Agricultural Handbook 436, Soil Taxonomy, 1995, USDA, NRCS; and all Amendments; Keys to Soil Taxonomy, (current issue) USDA, NRCS; National Soil Survey Handbook, title 430-VI,(current issue) USDA, NRCS.
    
    The actual composition and interpretive purity of the map unit delineations were based on data collected by scientists during the course of preparing the soil maps. Adherence to National Cooperative Soil Survey standards and procedures is based on peer review, quality control, and quality assurance. Quality control is outlined in the memorandum of understanding for the soil survey area and in documents that reside with the Natural Resources Conservation Service state soil scientist. Four kinds of map units are used in soil surveys: consociations, complexes, associations, and undifferentiated groups.
    
    Consociations - Consociations are named for the dominant soil. In a consociation, delineated areas use a single name from the dominant component in the map unit. Dissimilar components are minor in extent. The soil component in a consociation may be identified at any taxonomic level. Soil series is the lowest taxonomic level. A consociation that is named as a miscellaneous area is dominantly that kind of area and minor components do not significantly affect the use of the map unit. 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.
    
    Complexes and associations - Complexes and associations consist of two or more  dissimilar components that occur in a regularly repeating pattern. The total amount of other dissimilar components is minor extent. The following arbitrary rule determines whether complex or association is used in the name. The major components of an association can be separated at the scale of mapping. In either case, because the major components are sufficiently different in morphology or behavior, the map unit cannot be called a consociation. In each delineation of 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.
    
    Undifferentiated groups - Undifferentiated groups consist of two or more components that are not consistently associated geographically and, therefore, do not always occur together in the same map delineation. These components are included in the same named map unit because their use and management are the same or very similar for common uses. Generally they are grouped together because some common feature, such as steepness, stoniness, or flooding, determines their use and management. If two or more additional map units would serve no useful purpose, they may be included in the same unit. Each delineation has at least one of the major components, and some may have all of them. The same principles regarding the proportion of minor components that apply to consociations also apply to undifferentiated groups. The same principles regarding proportion of inclusion apply to undifferentiated groups as to consociations.
    
    Minimum documentation consists of three complete soil profile descriptions that are collected for each soil added to the legend, one additional per 3,000 acres mapped; three 10 observation transects for each map unit, one additional 10 point transect per 3,000 acres.
    
    A defined standard or level of confidence in the interpretive purity of the map unit delineations is attained by adjusting the kind and intensity of field investigations. Field investigations and data collection are carried out in sufficient detail to name map units and to identify accurately and consistently areas of about 3 acres.

  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?

     Certain node/geometry and topology GT- polygon/chain relationships are collected or generated to satisfy topological requirements (the GT-polygon corresponds to the soil delineation). Some of these requirements include: chains must begin and end at nodes, chains must connect to each other at nodes, chains do not extend through nodes, left and right GT-polygons are defined for each chain element and are consistent throughout, and the chains representing the limits of the file are free of gaps. The tests of logical consistency are performed using vendor software. All internal polygons are tested for closure with vendor software and are checked on hard copy plots. All data are checked for common soil lines (i.e., adjacent polygons with the same label). Edge locations generally do not deviate from centerline to centerline by more than 0.01 inch. The Soil Survey of Connecticut is bordered on the north by the State of Massachusetts; to the east by the State of Rhode Island; to the south by Long Island Sound and to the west by the State of New York. Feature edges in this soil survey are not matched to those in Westchester County, New York, Putnam County, New York, Dutchess County, New York, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, Hampden and Hampshire Counties, Western Part, Massachusetts, Hampden and Hampshire Counties, Eastern Part, Massachusetts, and the State of Rhode Island soil surveys. Acceptable joins as outlined in Revisions to the National Soils Handbook, dated 8/27/97 were achieved with all of the surrounding surveys. Feature labels do not always match, but soil interpretations are similar enough to achieve an acceptable join. Map units in this survey that join map units in adjacent surveys share a common component, common stoniness class, and common slopes. Differences across state lines occurred relative to map unit design and scales used in mapping. Typically, map units designed for a scale of 1:12000 are comprised of consociations, complexes, and undifferientiated units. Complexes and undifferentiated units are comprised of two or more components. In areas where these complexes or undifferentiated units join a consociation (one named component), this is an acceptable join if the adjoining map units share a common component, common stoniness class, and common slopes thus resulting in similar soil interpretations. An exception is made for adjoining organic soils, which are considered to match. The scale is used to determine how much detail can be shown on the map. To deal with the limitations of scale, some map units were designed to cover two stoniness classes and two slope classes. Where map units that are very stony join extremely stony, they will be considered a acceptable join since each stoniness class is commonly an inclusion in the other during the mapping process. Non-stony map units must match non-stony map units. Overlapping slope ranges will be considered as matching. 

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How can someone get a copy of the data set?

Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?

Access constraints: None
Use constraints:
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, should be acknowledged as the data source in products derived from these data.

This data set is not designed for use as a primary regulatory tool in permitting or citing decisions, but may be used as a reference source. This is public information and may be interpreted by organizations, agencies, units of government, or others based on needs; however, they are responsible for the appropriate application. Federal, State, or local regulatory bodies are not to reassign to the Natural Resources Conservation Service any authority for the decisions that they make. The Natural Resources Conservation Service will not perform any evaluations of these maps for purposes related solely to State or local regulatory programs.

Photographic or digital enlargement of these maps to scales greater than at which they were originally mapped can cause misinterpretation of the data. If enlarged, maps do not show the small areas of contrasting soils that could have been shown at a larger scale. The depicted soil boundaries, interpretations, and analysis derived from them do not eliminate the need for onsite sampling, testing, and detailed study of specific sites for intensive uses. Thus, these data and their interpretations are intended for planning purposes only. Digital data files are periodically updated. Files are dated, and users are responsible for obtaining the latest version of the data.

Distributor 1 of 2 <Next>

  1. Who distributes the data set?

    U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, National Cartography and Geospatial Center
    501 West Felix Street, Building 23, P.O. Box 6567
    Fort Worth, Texas 76115

    800 672 5559 (voice)
    817 509 3469 (FAX)

  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?

    State of Connecticut SSURGO

  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

    Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, no warranty expressed or implied is made by the Agency regarding the utility of the data on any other system, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty. The U.S. Department of Agriculture will warrant the delivery of this product in computer readable format, and will offer appropriate adjustment of credit when the product is determined unreadable by correctly adjusted computer input peripherals, or when the physical medium is delivered in damaged condition. Request for adjustment of credit must be made within 90 days from the date of this shipment from the ordering site.
    
    The U.S. Department of Agriculture, nor any of its agencies are liable for misuse of the data, for damage, for transmission of viruses, or for computer contamination through the distribution of these data sets. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, or marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.)

  4. How can I download or order the data?

    • Availability in digital form:


    • Data format:
      spatial in format ArcView shapefile Size: 323.077
      Network links:URL:http://SoilDataMart.nrcs.usda.gov/

      Data format:
      spatial in format ARC/INFO coverage Size: 323.077
      Network links:URL:http://SoilDataMart.nrcs.usda.gov/

      Data format:
      spatial in format ARC/INFO interchange file Size: 323.077
      Network links:URL:http://SoilDataMart.nrcs.usda.gov/

      Data format:
      keys and attributes in format ASCII Size: 323.077
      Network links:URL:http://SoilDataMart.nrcs.usda.gov/

    • Cost to order the data: There is currently no direct charge for requesting data or for retrieval via FTP.


    • Special instructions:

      Visit the above mentioned Internet Web Site, select state or territory, then select individual soil survey area of interest. Spatial line data and locations of special feature symbols are in ESRI ArcGIS (ArcView,ArcInfo) shapefile, coverage and interchange (i.e., export) formats. The National Soil Information System attribute soil data are available in variable length, pipe 
      delimited, ASCII file format.

    • How long will it take to get the data?

      Typically within four hours

  5. Is there some other way to get the data?

  6. What hardware or software do I need in order to use the data set?


Distributor 2 of 2 <Back>

  1. Who distributes the data set?

    Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
    79 Elm Street
    Hartford, Connecticut 06106-5127
    USA

    860-424-3540 (voice)
    860-424-4058 (FAX)

  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?

  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

  4. How can I download or order the data?

    • Availability in digital form:


    • Data format:
      spatial in format Esri Feature Class
      Network links:http://www.ct.gov/deep

  5. Is there some other way to get the data?

  6. What hardware or software do I need in order to use the data set?

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Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 20111209

Metadata author:
Kip Kolesinskas
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service
State Soil Scientist
USDA - Natural Resources Conservation Service
Connecticut State Office
344 Merrow Road, Suite A
Tolland, CT 06084-3917

860-871-4047 (voice)
860-871-4054 (FAX)
kip.kolesinskas@ct.usda.gov

Metadata standard:
FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata(FGDC-STD-001-1998)

Metadata extensions used:
  • http://www.esri.com/metadata/esriprof80.html

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