The Cooperative Soil Survey Partnership
User Privacy Statement?
What’s in this database?
How were sampling sites selected?
Use of data for teaching, research and publication.
Are you interested in site-specific data?
Need help?

   The Cooperative Soil Surveys in Missouri and Texas are ongoing projects with the following mission:
       To continue the development of science-based soil system information, customized to meet user needs for natural resource management.
    The soil survey is a collaborative effort among several Federal and State agencies in Missouri.

Top User Privacy Statement.
    Data on users is collected for internal use only, and will NEVER be transferred to any other organization, public or private. We protect all private information from "web spiders," etc. to protect users from viruses, worms, and spam. Only your name, and no other information, will appear on a pulldown menu on the login screen. If you are uncomfortable with having your name on a pulldown menu, you are welcome to use a pseudonym. You may receive emails from the web master to advise you of your system password, or of important changes and/or developments in this system's capabilities. Your information will be used for NO OTHER PURPOSE-PERIOD!

Top What’s in this database?
    This is a database of laboratory data from soil profiles (pedons) sampled during the course of the National Cooperative Soil Survey in Missouri. The database includes:
       1) pedons that represent the central concept of a soil series,
       2) pedons that represent regional properties of a soil series but not necessarily the central concept of the entire series distribution,
       3) pedons that represent the central concept of a map unit but not of a series,
       4) pedons sampled to bracket a range of properties within a series or landscape, and
       5) pedons sampled for other purposes or as part of investigative work, that are not representative of any particular series.
       6) pedons that are unusual and do not represent soil properties over a wide area.
    To support the soil survey program, all data are retained in the database. Users unfamiliar with a given soil should consult a soil scientist to determine how well a given pedon represents its soil series.
    To contact a soil scientist, call 573-876-0907 (NRCS, Columbia, MO) or 573/751-4932 (MDNR, Jefferson City, MO). You will be directed to a regional NRCS or MDNR soil scientist most familiar with your area of interest.

Top How were sampling sites selected?
    Soil surveys have been conducted on a county-by-county basis in Missouri over the past 40 years. During the course of each survey, soil scientists selected pedons that were thought to be representative of specific soil series or map units. Surveys that were conducted prior to the establishment of the Soil Characterization Laboratory generally did not have access to laboratory facilities. As a result, few or no data are available for some counties. Recently mapped counties have an abundance of data. During the Modernization Phase of the soil survey, soil scientists will be sampling to fill these “data voids” in the older soil surveys.
    Most sampling sites were selected based on the expert knowledge of soil scientists. In some cases, sites were sampled along transects, but the transect locations were selected based on expert knowledge. Statistical sampling techniques have not been used in the Missouri soil survey. Therefore, any analyses applied to these data should not employ assumptions of random selection.

Top Use of data for teaching, research and publication.
    These data were not collected in a way that supports statistical analysis (see 'How were sampling sites selected?').
    These data were acquired in the context of the cooperative soil survey in Missouri. The soil survey is a publicly-funded enterprise, so in a general sense, the data are public domain. However, the Soil Characterization Laboratory is supervised and managed by a tenure-track faculty at the University of Missouri-Columbia, and the data represent a considerable investment of “academic” time. Using data for classroom teaching or for student projects is encouraged, but an acknowledgement of the source is appropriate.
    If data are intended for use in a publication, or for research or modeling that will lead to publication, proper academic ethics require that you contact the curator of the Missouri Soil Characterization Laboratory data base, Mr. Paul Koenig and receive permission for data use for these purposes. Contact information will be added for other Characterization Laboratories as they come online

Top Are you interested in site-specific data?
    The soil landscape varies considerably in time and space, and soil variability is a function of many conditions, including depositional dynamics of the parent materials, land use, and other considerations.  Interpreting either the soil or its setting from point data is a problematic endeavor. These data are best applied when the user requires a general knowledge of the soil that has been mapped and sampled. These data are not appropriate for specific soil uses at precise locations. Such uses include suitability of a home site for on-site wastewater treatment. A qualified soil scientist should conduct an on-site soils investigation for these uses.
    If you are interested in general soil conditions at a particular point on the landscape, you should not necessarily choose the nearest sampled pedon to the point of interest. In general, these data are best used in conjunction with soil survey maps. A given pedon is likely to represent the series within the soil survey map unit from which it was sampled. Soil conditions often change dramatically over short distances, as shown by different map units on a soil map. Therefore, soil properties at a point even a short distance from a sampled pedon may be very different from the sampled pedon, especially if the point is in a different soil survey map unit than the sampled pedon.
    If you wish to obtain data for soils at a specific site, we recommend that you first determine the soil survey map unit your site is in. Then, query the database for the soil series in the map unit name. From these selected pedons, you may then choose the sampled pedon(s) closest to your site.
    Soil properties at your site may differ from the sampled pedon(s) you have selected. If you are uncertain about the applicability of these data to your specific site and project, please call 573-876-0907 (NRCS, Columbia, MO) or 573/751-4932 (Jefferson City, MO). You will be directed to a regional NRCS or MDNR soil scientist most familiar with your area of interest.

Top Need help?   We are here to help you!
    To contact a soil scientist in Missouri, call 573-876-0907 (NRCS, Columbia, MO) or 573/751-4932 (Jefferson City, MO). You will be directed to a regional NRCS or MDNR soil scientist most familiar with your area of interest. We will be adding Texas contacts soon.
    To send a question via email, click here, (or at the bottom of every page on this web site). Your email will be forwarded to a regional NRCS or MDNR soil scientist most familiar with your area of interest.