Shapefiles - Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) Database – Kentucky NRCS Oct. 4, 2010
The KY NRCS soils staff has recently updated all soils data statewide - most of the significant changes
in to the data involved updates to ‘Hydric’ ratings and ‘Hydrologic Group’ ratings; and a ‘Parent
Material’ attribute has been added.
A total of 85 Soil Survey Areas cover Kentucky. SSURGO GIS shapefiles are provided for all 85
SSURGO Areas, plus individual county shapefiles have been ‘clipped’ for those counties that are part of
multi-county SSURGO areas. All data are current as of October 4, 2010.
Datasets are provided by single-county areas and multi-county areas and are broken out into sub-
directories by county FIPS code or Soil Survey code. For reference purposes, users are encouraged to
view the 4 .PDF files included with the data.
The intent is to provide NRCS SSURGO Soils Data in a „ready to go – easy to use format‟
All shapefiles include attributes for a basic set of common soil characteristics – along with sets of
ArcGIS Version 9.2 ‘Layer’ files for viewing/displaying the datasets. The ‘Layer’ files provide a
common set of standardized symbology for each set of shapefiles – allowing the display of numerous
thematic soils maps, along with legends, labels, etc.
By adding the available ‘Group’ layer files, the entire set of thematic soils maps for the area will be
displayed together with pre-set symbology. To utilize pre-set symbology in ArcMap – ‘Add Data’ and
select desired Group ‘.lyr’ file:
Example: “KY073 Group – Soils Thematic Maps.lyr”
Included in each ‘Group’ Layer file are the following thematic maps/layer files (which may also be
loaded individually):
- Soils – Mapunit polygon outlines, with mapunit symbol labels
- Soils Thematic Map – Depth to Fragipan (if present)
- Soils Thematic Map – Depth to Lithic Rock (if present)
- Soils Thematic Map – Depth to Paralithic Rock (if present)
- Soils Thematic Map – Drainage Class
- Soils Thematic Map – Farmland Classification
- Soils Thematic Map – Flooding Frequency
- Soils Thematic Map – Highly Erodible Land
- Soils Thematic Map – Hydric Classification (updated summer, 2010!)
- Soils Thematic Map – Hydrologic Group (updated Sept, 2010)
- Soils Thematic Map – Land Capability Class
- Soils Thematic Map – Parent Material (new)
- Soils Thematic Map – Pasture Hay Suitability Group
- Soils Thematic Map – Septic Tank Absorption Suitability
- Soils – Special Features (points) (if present)
NOTE: The county-level/survey-level Layer files should be stored „as is‟ along with the associated
shapefiles – since all Layer files were saved within ArcMap using „relative path names to data sources‟
SSURGO Website: http://soils.usda.gov/survey/geography/ssurgo/
Questions?: steve.crabtree@ky.usda.gov ph. 859.224.7400
Attribute Information
The associated GIS attribute database for the SSURGO datasets include attributes for a basic set of
common soil characteristics. Numerous soil attributes were revised in 2010, and are current as of
October 4, 2010. The following attribute fields are included:
Field Name Description
AREASYMBOL SSURGO Area code
MUKEY Mapunit Key code (unique for/by each corresponding SSURGO
AREASYMBOL)
MUNAME Mapunit Name
MUSYM Mapunit Symbol
DRAINAGEDC Drainage class, dominant condition
HYDGROUPDC Hydrologic Group, dominant condition
FLDFRQCLDS Flooding Frequency Class, dominant condition
NIRRCLDC Non-Irrigated Capability Class, dominant condition
FARMCLAC Farmland Classification, all components
HYDRICAP Hydric rating, absence/presence
HELWATAC Highly Erodible Land rating, by water, all components
SEPTICDC Septic Tank Absorption Fields rating, dominant condition
H_ROCK_IN Depth to Lithic (Hard) Rock, inches
S_ROCK_IN Depth to Paralithic (Soft) Rock, inches
FRAGIP_IN Depth to Fragipan zone, inches
NRCS_AREA KY NRCS Administrative Area
PHG Pasture and Hayland Suitability Group
PHG_DESCR Pasture and Hayland Suitability Group, brief description
PHG_TEXT Pasture and Hayland Suitability Group, complete description
ParMatNm Parent Material Name
Acres
10-4-2010 “README SSURGO – Shapefiles.doc”