The WSS - a fantastic resource for Environmental Science students

The Web Soil Survey is a project put on by the USDA in order to help people understand and promote the sustainable use of the soils around them. The product of the project is an interactive web resource that allows anyone to select an area of interest and look into the soil data that is available for that region. I chose to highlight a region that encompasses Great Falls Park, VA but goes outside the boundaries slightly. It is possible to import a shapefile of the park boundary with a few simple steps using ArcGIS or a similar GIS program.

Here is the link to my Great Falls Park 'Area of Interest'. It was really easy to create with the AOI polygon tool.

Area of Interest - Virginia's Great Falls Park (with a little overlap) (Photo credit: C. Pollack 2019)

Area of Interest in blue from zoomed out view of DC Metro area. (Photo credit: C. Pollack 2019)

Then the magic happened when I selected Soil Map!

(Photo credit: C. Pollack 2019)

 The Area of Interest (AOI) I created was divided into many smaller sections according to soil properties. Then when I clicked over to the Soil Data Explorer, I could filter the map according to any number of data features that are stored in the WSS. For example, here is a look at my AOI with the regions identified according to suitability for paths and trails. There is a description that tells about the criteria for the coloring, as well as a legend for the colors, both of which can be toggled on and off.

Here is a look at the AOI based on susceptibility for soil erosion. The blue portions of the area are made up of soils that are more susceptible to sheet and rill erosion from water.

Finally, here is a look at the suitability for roads in the AOI. The red areas have soils that are not conducive to constructing and sustaining roads. The description points out that the color ratings are based on slope, rock fragments at the surface, plasticity index, and water table level among other things.

Within the Soil Data Explore tab there are other tabs to explore and I found the Soil Properties and Qualities to be perfect for the soil science we investigate in my IB Environmental Systems class.

This screenshot shows a close up of the AOI according the the percent clay, and based on the menu on the left, you can see that many other textures and property features of soil are searchable.

The final feature of the WSS that I want to mention (although there are many others!) as so valuable to my needs as a high school environmental science teacher is the ability to create reports so easily. 

This screenshot shows a report of the Chemical Soil Properties of the AOI.

 This is a figurative goldmine of data for students to use as practice for processing, analyzing, drawing meaningful conclusions, and determining significance in correlation.