Gridded Soil Survey Geographic (gSSURGO) Database, Oregon Farmland

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. A file geodatabase has the capacity to store much more data and thus greater spatial extents than the traditional SSURGO product. This makes it possible to offer these data in statewide or even conterminous United States (CONUS) tiles. gSSURGO contains all of the original soil attribute tables in SSURGO. All spatial data are stored within the geodatabase instead of externally as separate shapefiles. Both SSURGO and gSSURGO are considered products of the National Cooperative Soil Survey (NCSS) partnership.

The gridded SSURGO (gSSURGO) dataset was created for use in national, regional, and statewide resource planning and analysis of soils data. The raster map layer data can be readily combined with other national, regional, and local raster layers, including the National Land Cover Database (NLCD), the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) Crop Data Layer (CDL), and the National Elevation Dataset (NED).

The gSSURGO Database is derived from the official Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) Database. SSURGO generally has the most detailed level of soil geographic data developed by the National Cooperative Soil Survey (NCSS) in accordance with NCSS mapping standards. The tabular data represent the soil attributes and are derived from properties and characteristics stored in the National Soil Information System (NASIS). The gSSURGO data were prepared by merging the traditional vector-based SSURGO digital map data and tabular data into statewide extents, adding a statewide gridded map layer derived from the vector layer, and adding a new value-added look up table (Valu1) containing “ready to map” attributes. The gridded map layer is a file geodatabase raster in an ArcGIS file geodatabase. The raster and vector map data have a statewide extent. The raster map data have a 10-meter cell size that approximates the vector polygons in an Albers Equal Area projection. Each cell (and polygon) is linked to a map unit identifier called the map unit key. A unique map unit key is used to link the raster cells and polygons to attribute tables.