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Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) Database

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) - National Cartography and Geospatial Center (NCGC) previously archived and distributed the Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) Database. Only file downloads were available from this site. This limited the amount of soil survey information that could be accessed. The NRCS-NCGC also supplied SSURGO data to the United States Department of Agriculture - Service Center Agencies (Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Rural Development) Geospatial Data Gateway. While the Gateway provides file downloads, a customer can also order SSURGO data on CD-ROM or DVD. The NRCS Soil Survey Division recognized that increased functionality for access of soil survey information was needed. In December 2003, the Soil Data Mart web application came online. The SSURGO data were migrated to the Soil Data Mart in 2004.

The Soil Data Mart provides a mechanism to access our official data. It does not physically store the pre-packaged datasets, but instead generates them in real-time as requests are made by a customer. The Soil Data Mart will only provide access to the current version of data for a soil survey area. The home page of the Soil Data Mart provides a list of additional functionalities other than data delivery. This list will be updated when new functionalities are added.

Currently, the Soil Data Mart only has file download capability for data delivery. If a CD-ROM or DVD is needed, access the Geospatial Data Gateway. The cost is $50 for a single CD-ROM or $100 for a single DVD disk which may contain one or more soil survey areas, depending on file size.

Completion of the SSURGO data digitizing is scheduled for 2008. For this reason, not all survey areas are available in digital format at this time. If the survey area is not listed, please check the status map below for your area or contact your State Soil Scientist for additional information.

This map requires Acrobat Reader.

Status Map of Soil Surveys Available from the Soil Data Mart (revised daily) (PDF; 1.25 MB)

Recommended Data Citation

Soil Survey Staff, Natural Resources Conservation Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) Database for [Survey Area, State]. Available online at http://soildatamart.nrcs.usda.gov accessed [month/day/year].