Welcome to the website for the National Cooperative Soil Survey Lab Data Mart. This application provides several avenues for accessing data within the NCSS Characterization Database through:

Searching for sample locations via the Locator Map and view NCSS Characterization Data reports.
Simple or advanced queries submitted directly on this application and view, print, and download query results.
Downloading the entire NCSS characterization database and companion pedon (morphological) database in several formats.
Webservices and custom application queries in the linked Soil Data Access application.

If you are a first-time user, please read the Data Usage information before accessing the database. Sign up for the E-mail Updates on the NCSS Lab Data Mart. Subscribe to “Soil Application Alerts”

Basic Search of Database

Advanced Search

Site Information

Query by Site Information
The query entry choices are accumulative. All selections entered on this page are processed as one query. The "Clear All Search Criteria" button, which is located at the top of the page, clears all choices. Make your selections carefully. Poor selections may return no results or excessive results. If you have difficulty, we suggest you query by country, state, and county. This method offers an array of data from the selected area of interest.

Site Area Selection by Political Subdivision
We recommend this method. Selecting a site by country, state, and county is one of the best ways to query the database. Most of the data in the database can be accessed by this method.

No Selection Displayed
If no selection is available (for example, your county is not displayed), the database may not contain any data for that particular area. Try choosing available pedons using another method, for example, by state. Then peruse your results for possible entry errors. Remember, no selection is displayed if no data is available in the database for that choice or if the data is not indexed by that choice.

Help for Errors
If you discover an error in the functioning of this website, please contact our web coordinator. If you discover an error in the soils data, please contact one of our soil scientists. Click on the “Contact Us” button for contact information.

For assistance from the Soils Hotline, call (402) 437‑5378 or (402) 437‑5379 or email usdafpacbc@servicenowservices.com.

Country

State/Governmental Units

County

Lab Pedon Number

Query by Lab Pedon Number

Lab pedon numbers are created by and for the laboratory. The standard form for a lab pedon number from the Kellogg Soil Survey Lab is: nnLxxxx

where:

nn = Two digit number for the year the pedon was sampled. (Examples: 78, 92, 04, 40),

L = Letter (N, P, C, or A),

N—Current NSSC laboratory pedon,
P—Old NSSC laboratory pedon (1978 through 2000),
C—Old Riverside laboratory pedon (1967 through 1977),
A—Old Beltsville, Mandan, and Lincoln laboratories and other Soil Survey Investigations Report data (1930 through 1966), and

xxxx = Four digit number assigned by laboratory on receipt of sample. (Reset each fiscal year.)

Example lab pedon numbers: 40A0030, 78P0032, 67C0030, 03N0040.

When entering a query, the asterisk (*) character can be used as a wildcard to replace any number. For example, 78P002* or **P0030. Please be careful if using the asterisk character. An overly broad query can request the complete database.

If you do not know the exact lab pedon number, we suggest you query by country, state, and county. This method provides an array of data from the area of interest. The advanced query method is also available, but it requires more knowledge to use. If you want to use the advanced query method, we suggest you review the user manual.

For assistance from the Soils Hotline, call (402) 437‑5378 or (402) 437‑5379 or email usdafpacbc@servicenowservices.com.

User Pedon ID

Query by User Pedon ID

Although many variations exist, the standard form of the user pedon ID is: LnnSS-fff-####

where:

L = Project Type Identification Character (S, C, R, I, or O),

S—Standard,
C—Characterization,
R—Reference,
I—Investigation,
O—Other,

nn = Two (or four) digit number for the year the pedon was sampled,

SS = Two letters indicating Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) identifier for state or country,

fff = Three digit FIPS code for county (these codes can be viewed using the site area option), and

#### = Alphanumeric text field for assigned county pedon identification.

For additional information regarding the user pedon ID, see the “Field Book for Describing and Sampling Soils, Version 3.0.”

User pedon ID examples: S04NE-153-00109, 78MN113022, Anderson Site10, CA041191-S2, Barton Flats (BF) Pit 1, and 87CA019041G. This field may take many variations, and a query will work only if an exact (including spaces and dashes) user pedon ID is entered.

Note that confusion between pedon ID and site ID is common. Both are displayed on the characterization data sheet. Also, remember that you can only enter one user pedon ID per query.

When entering a query, the asterisk (*) character can be used as a wildcard to replace any character or group of characters. For example, *NE* or *NE*109. Please be careful if using the asterisk character. An overly broad query can request the complete database.

If you do not know the exact user pedon ID, we suggest you query by country, state, and county. This method provides an array of data from the area of interest. The advanced query method is also available, but it requires more knowledge to use. If you want to use the advanced query method, we suggest you review the user manual.

For assistance from the Soils Hotline, call (402) 437‑5378 or (402) 437‑5379 or email usdafpacbc@servicenowservices.com.

Soil Series Classification Type

Query by Soil Series

The standard form for soil series is: LLLLLLLLLL

where:

L = Alphanumeric character (A-Z and 0-9). The maximum number of characters is limited by the entry space available (around 60).

Soil series examples: Holdrege, Miami, and Summit.

The query results can be restricted by selecting a classification type (correlated, sampled as, SSL) from the choice box on the left. Note: Only one series name can be entered per query. When entering a query, the asterisk (*) character can be used as a wildcard to replace any letter or group of letters. For example, Holdr* and *rege. The percent character (%) can be used as a wildcard to replace any single letter. For example, Holdr%ge, M%%mi, and Summ%t. Please be careful if using the wildcard characters, especially the asterisk. An overly broad query can request the complete database.

If you are not successful finding the data you want when searching by series, we suggest you query by country, state, and county. This method provides an array of data from the area of interest. The advanced query method is also available, but it requires more knowledge to use. If you want to use the advanced query method, we suggest you review the user manual.

For assistance from the Soils Hotline, call (402) 437‑5378 or (402) 437‑5379 or email usdafpacbc@servicenowservices.com.

Soil Series Name

Download National Cooperative Lab Characterization and Companion Databases

Nearly all data in the Kellogg Soil Survey Laboratory and the associated pedon data are available for download. Customers can download SQLite, Access, GeoPackage, and ESRI File Geodatabases.

Soil Data Access

You can access NCSS Characterization Data through the Soil Data Access (SDA) application and SDA webservices. Use the SDA query page to submit custom SQL queries through the SDA application and receive instant or e-mailed tabular results in xlm, html, or text format. A suite of SDA webservices are available to meet a variety of customer needs. The pedon data associated with the NCSS Characterization data are not available through SDA.

Helpful Links

FAQs

Report Creation User Manual

Soil Survey Laboratory Manuals

New Features

Known Issues and Bugs

Loading...

Locator Map

Clicking on the interactive map allows you to locate pedons spatially. Clicking on a specific pedon location accesses data about the pedon.