Explore by question

What do you want to learn about your land?

Soil databases are complicated. Your question does not have to be. Choose a familiar situation and SoilDB Web will reveal the maps, profiles, properties, and interpretations behind it.

Explore my soil

Begin with what is beneath you

These experiences build on data already available in the prototype.

Try data

Start here

What soil is under me?

Discover the mapped soils in your area, how much of each component may be present, and how the profile changes with depth.

  • Map-unit names and symbols
  • Major soil components
  • A doorway into every other question
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SSURGO map units
Start with
County or survey code
Explore mapped soils
Try data

Garden and yard

Get to know my garden soil

Look beneath the surface at representative texture, pH, organic matter, and available water capacity through the soil profile.

  • Sand, silt, and clay by depth
  • pH and organic matter
  • Estimated water storage
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Horizon properties
Important
Not a soil test
Explore soil layers
Try it

Side by side

Compare two places

Put two survey areas beside one another and compare their mapped diversity, common characteristics, and recorded horizon properties.

  • Map-unit and component counts
  • Drainage and hydrologic groups
  • Median recorded profile properties
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Three SDA datasets
Summary
Descriptive, not ranked
Compare two survey areas

Home and water

See how soil can shape a site

High-interest screening questions based on official soil interpretations.

Try it

Water pathway

Where will rainwater go?

Explore whether mapped soils tend to absorb water readily, shed it as runoff, or transmit it slowly through the profile.

  • Hydrologic soil group
  • Drainage and water-storage clues
  • Slope, runoff, and ponding clues
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Map-unit water attributes
Demand
Top national rating
Follow the water story
Try it

Wetness clues

Why is this spot always wet?

Bring together mapped hydric components, drainage, seasonal water table, flooding, and ponding indicators.

  • Hydric component percentage
  • Water-table depth and timing
  • Flooding and ponding frequency
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Components + wetness attributes
Important
Not a wetland determination
Investigate wetness clues
Next build

Home-site screening

What should I know before building?

Review mapped limitations related to basements, foundations, shallow excavation, expansive soils, water, and bedrock.

  • Dwellings with and without basements
  • Depth to water and bedrock
  • Shrink-swell and corrosion factors
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get_SDA_interpretation()
Important
Screening, not engineering
Preview profile data
Next build

Site screening

Septic system first look

Understand the mapped soil factors behind septic absorption-field limitations before arranging professional site evaluation.

  • Absorption-field interpretation
  • Restrictive layers and wetness
  • Permeability-related properties
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Septic interpretations
Important
Site testing still required

Land and nature

Connect soil to place, plants, and time

Broader soilDB services can turn static records into stories and observations.

Next build

Working land

Is this important farmland?

See farmland classification, capability class, and the mapped limitations that influence agricultural use.

  • Prime and important farmland classes
  • Irrigated and nonirrigated capability
  • Underlying limitations
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SDA interpretations
Demand
Top-three national rating
Planned

Soil story

Meet my named soil

Turn a soil-series name into a readable profile, origin story, typical landscape, and map of where else it occurs.

  • Typical pedon and classification
  • Parent material and setting
  • National series extent map
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fetchOSD() + seriesExtent()
Start with
Series name
Planned

Soil through time

How wet is nearby soil today?

Find nearby monitoring stations and chart measured soil moisture, temperature, precipitation, and snow through time.

  • Daily or hourly measurements
  • Multiple sensor depths
  • Historical comparison
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fetchSCAN()
Important
Station, not parcel data
Planned

Restoration and habitat

What natural community fits here?

Connect map units to ecological sites and the plant communities, landscape processes, and management concepts associated with them.

  • Rangeland and forest ecological sites
  • Component-level associations
  • Links to ecological-site descriptions
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get_SDA_coecoclass()
Useful for
Restoration planning
Planned

Outdoor use

Is this suitable for a trail or campsite?

Explore limitations involving slope, wetness, erosion, traffic, surface texture, and seasonal equipment access.

  • Paths, trails, and camp ratings
  • Rutting and erosion hazards
  • Reasons behind each limitation
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Recreation interpretations
Start with
Map or field boundary

Start exploring

Find the soil survey areas in your county.

Choose a code, inspect the mapped data, and follow the evidence behind it.

Open query lab