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Contents 1 Land Use 1.1 WMS-Accessible Land Use Data 1.2 USGS National Map Viewer 1.3 Web GIS 1.4 EPA 1.5 USGS 2 Soil Type Data 2.1 EPA 2.2 NRCS - State Soil Geographic (STATSGO) Database 2.3 NRCS - Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) Database 2.3.1 Soil Data Mart 2.3.2 Geospatial Data Gateway 3 Land Use Overview 4 Soil Type Overview 5 Land Use Tips 6 Soil Type Tips

Land Use

WMS-Accessible Land Use Data

Obtain a land use grid directly from WMS using the Get Data tool

WMS offers an option to download NLCD land use data for anywhere in the United States and CORINE data for anywhere in Europe using the Get Data or the Get Data from Map tools. This is the recommended method to get land use data into WMS unless you have other land use sources that may be more recent or better quality.

USGS National Map Viewer

Obtain Data from USGS National Map Viewer Application

The national map viewer has several land use data sources (impervious areas, land use types, vegetation types, etc.) from various dates. All land use sources are in GeoTIFF format and can be read into WMS as raster GIS data and then converted to a land use grid. The land use grid can the be used to compute composite runoff parameters such as Curve Number and to assign parameters to 2D grids for distributed hydrology.

Web GIS

Land use data from WebGIS

WebGIS offers land use/cover shapefiles in Geographic and UTM coordinates at no cost.

• Additional help obtaining land use data from WebGIS
• View a text file containing the Land Use / Land Cover codes and their definitions
• Help with creating a land use table for Curve Number computation within WMS

EPA

Obtain the HUC number for your watershed

The EPA provides the "Locate Your Watershed" site to help users determine their region's HUC.

Obtain the land use data from the EPA HUC index

The EPA offers land use shapefiles.

• Additional help obtaining land use data from the EPA
• BASINS Metadata website

USGS

Obtain land use data from the USGS

The USGS offers land use data in GIRAS format for ARC/INFO.

• Additional help obtaining land use data from the USGS?
• More information about USGS land use data.

Soil Type Data

EPA

Obtain the HUC number for your watershed Obtain land use and soil type data from the EPA HUC index

The EPA offers land use and soil type shapefiles.

• Additional help obtaining soil type data from the EPA?
• BASINS Metadata website.

NRCS - State Soil Geographic (STATSGO) Database

Obtain STATSGO soil type data from the NRCS

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) supports the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). A website they have developed is the National Cartography and Geospatial Center (NCGC). Supplied on this website are numerous links and descriptions of geospatial datasets. Through these links it is possible to acquire soil type data maps from the two main soils databases; STATSGO, and SSURGO.

State Soil Geographic (STATSGO) Database

Details:

• Database product files in three formats:
  1. USGS Digital Line Graphs (DLG-3)
  2. ArcInfo 7.0 Coverage
  3. GRASS 4.13 Vector
• Coordinate systems are:
  1. Albers Conical Equal - Area: Continental U.S. and Alaska
  2. UTM Zone 4: Hawaii
  3. UTM Zone 19: Puerto Rico
• Resolution at 1:250K scale, except Alaska (1:1M).
• Complete coverage of U.S. and includes Puerto Rico.
• Data files are downloadable in zip file compression.
• Downloads are free (no cost).

• Additional help obtaining soil type data (STATSGO format) from the NRCS

NRCS - Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) Database

It is possible to obtain SSURGO data from the NRCS by two methods. The first is the Soil Data Mart. The other is through the Geospatial Data Gateway. Both are accessible on the NCGC website.

Soil Data Mart

Obtain SSURGO soil type data from Soil Data Mart

Soil Data Mart is a data request site supported by the United Sates Department of Agriculture (USDA) through the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). From Soil Data Mart you can place orders requesting certain soil survey maps. It specifically caters to only soil data needs.

Details:

• Database products available in three forms:
  1. Tabular
  2. Spatial
  3. Template Database
• Spatial products downloads provided in three formats:
  1. ArcView Shapefile
  2. ArcInfo Coverage
  3. ArcInfo Interchange
• Coordinate systems are available in a variety of projections:
  1. Geographic
  2. Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM)
  3. State Plane
• Typical scale resolution between 1:16K and 1:64K.
• Files can be downloaded only one survey at a time.
• Data files are acquired in zip file compression.
• Downloads are free (no cost).

• Additional help obtaining soil type data (SSURGO format) from Soil Data Mart

Geospatial Data Gateway

Obtain SSURGO soil type data from the Geospatial Data Gateway

The Geospatial Data Gateway is a site sponsored by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) through the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Numerous databases are available by means of the Geospatial Data Gateway including; transportation, census, land use / land cover, soil type, ortho imagery, elevation, and topographic maps. Description below applies to SSURGO soil type data only.

Details:

• Database product files in three formats:
  1. ESRI Shape File
  2. ESRI Coverage
  3. ESRI ASCII Export
• Coordinate systems are available in a variety of projections:
  1. Geographic
  2. Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM)
  3. State Plane
• Typical scale resolution between 1:16K and 1:64K.
• Extensive coverage of U.S. (scheduled for completion in 2008).
• Data files are downloadable in zip file compression.
• Downloads are free (no cost).

• Additional help obtaining soil type data (SSURGO format) from the Geospatial Data Gateway

Land Use Overview

Of the many methods to estimate infiltration, the NRCS Curve Number (CN) method is one that is commonly used. For watersheds with multiple soil types and land uses, a composite CN (CCN) must be calculated to estimate the infiltration losses. The USDA/NRCS supplies tables so that a CCN can be determined from soil type, land use, moisture condition, and hydrologic condition. In hydrology, land use (also known as cover crop or land cover) refers to the way in which the land is being used and/or its condition. Land uses can be urban or agricultural/rural. Examples of these include streets, industrial areas, commercial areas, row crops, meadows, pasture/range and woods.

Soil Type Overview

For watersheds with multiple soil types and land uses, a composite CN (CCN) must be calculated to estimate the infiltration losses. The NRCS (part of the USDA) supplies tables so that a CCN can be determined from soil type, land use, moisture condition, and hydrologic condition. In hydrology, soil type can be classified in many ways. The USDA classifies them according to their infiltration rate and are referred to as either A, B, C, or D soils. Soil type A has a high infiltration rate whereas soil type D usually consists of clays that are nearly impermeable (low infiltration) and produce higher volumes of runoff.

Land Use Tips

• How do I obtain land use data from the EPA?
• How do I obtain land use data from the USGS?
• How do I format land use data (coordinate system, clipping) for use in WMS?
• How do I decompress data files?
• How do I import EPA land use data into WMS?
• How do I create a land use table for composite CN calculations?

Soil Type Tips

• How do I obtain soil type data from the EPA?
• How do I obtain STATSGO soil type data from the NRCS?
• How do I obtain SSURGO soil type data from Soil Data Mart?
• How do I obtain SSURGO soil type data from the Geospatial Data Gateway?
• How do I format soil type data (coordinate system, soil attribute, clipping) for use in WMS?
• How do I decompress data files?
• How do I import EPA soil type data into WMS?
• How do I create a land use table for composite CN calculations?
• How do I create a soil type runoff coefficient table for composite RC calculations?
• How do I obtain soil type data from the NRCS - STATSGO?
• How do I obtain soil type data from the NRCS - SSURGO?
• How do I use soil type data with GSSHA?