How do you identify hydric soil?

In soils that are not saturated or inundated, sulfate is not reduced and there is no rotten egg odor. The presence of hydrogen sulfide is a strong indicator of a hydric soil, but this indicator occurs only in very wet portions of the landscape, in soils that contain sulfur-bearing compounds.

What is Mukey soil?

The mapunit key (mukey) field needs to be in the spatial data attribute table in order to use the Soil Data Viewer ArcGIS extension. It is also very useful when working with spatial and tabular data that contains more than one subset survey area. The mukey is unique nationally.

What is a hydric rating for soil?

The Hydric rating indicates the proportion of map units that meets the criteria for hydric soils. Map units are composed of one or more map unit components or soil types, each of which is rated as hydric soil or not hydric.

What color are hydric soils?

Mottled soil horizons form in locations where the water table fluctuates over the course of the year. Soils which contain brown or yellow mottles (spots or specks) within a grayish matrix are hydric soils when the mottling occurs within 18 inches of the surface.

Can you build a house on hydric soils?

Hydric soils are often organic (peat or muck) and not suitable construction material. If the area qualifies as a wetland, then it is subject to federal regulation, and any disturbance would require a permit from appropriate agencies, such as the Army Corps of Engineers.

Are hydric soils wetlands?

Wetland soils, also known as hydric soils, are soils which are saturated, flooded, or ponded long enough during the growing season to develop anaerobic conditions in the upper part that favor the growth and regeneration of hydrophytic vegetation ((USDA Soil Conservation Service 1985, as amended by the NTCHS in December …

What does Musym mean?

Map Unit Symbol
MUSYM is an abbreviation for Map Unit Symbol. It is a shortened string for the Map Unit Name. You should have also received a series of tables (either as text files, personal geodatabase, or FGDB) with the spatial data.

What is gSSURGO?

Gridded SSURGO (gSSURGO) is similar to the standard USDA-NRCS Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) Database product but in the format of an Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI®) file geodatabase. gSSURGO contains all of the original soil attribute tables in SSURGO.

Can you build on hydric soils?

If you purchase land to build, develop, or grow crops, then you must be aware of where the hydric soils are. These soils do not have enough oxygen. While you may be able to grow cattails, sedges, and water lilies, you won’t be able to farm or use the land as you otherwise intend.

How long does it take for soil to become hydric?

Technical Standard for Hydric Soils Saturation (or inundation) and anaerobic conditions must be present for at least 14 consecutive days. It should be noted that there is no growing season requirement, as it is assumed that anaerobic conditions only occur when soil microbes are active.

Are hydric soils good for farming?

Is hydric soil good for plants?

Undrained hydric soils that have natural vegetation should support a dominant population of ecological wetland plant species. These soils, under natural conditions, are either saturated or inundated long enough during the growing season to support the growth and reproduction of hydrophytic vegetation.

Where can I find ssurgo soil survey data?

SSURGO map data can be viewed in the Web Soil Survey or downloaded in ESRI® Shapefile format. The coordinate systems are Geographic. Attribute data can be downloaded in text format that can be imported into a Microsoft® Access® database. The following format is suggested for citing Web Soil Survey:

How does the hydric soils list work in SSA?

Soil Data Access (SDA) Hydric Soils List An SDA-populated select list is used to pick a state and SSA which enables creation of a “Hydric Soils Report” based upon those selections. The data is not static; it hits Soil Data Access Live.

How is hydric soil rated on a map?

Column Physical Hydric_Rating: A yes/no field that indicates whether or not a map unit component is classified as a “hydric soil”. If rated as hydric, the specific criteria met are listed in the Component Hydric Criteria table.

What do you need to know about the ssurgo database?

Description of SSURGO Database. The SSURGO database contains information about soil as collected by the National Cooperative Soil Survey over the course of a century.