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NSSH Part 651
Advance Soil Survey Information
Definition and Purpose
(651.00)
- Advance soil survey information is information that has been
gathered but is not yet published to the Soil Data Mart. The purpose
of providing advance soil survey information is to furnish users with
soil maps, interpretations, and other data prior to final correlation
of the data.
- Soil data posted to the Soil Data Mart is official soil
information, typically correlated, but nevertheless certified for use
by the State Soil Scientist in participation with the State Technical
Guide Committee for USDA programs.
- Interim reports are considered obsolete with the advent of the
Soil Data Mart and Web Soil Survey. Interim reports were defined as
reports that were prepared and produced after the final correlation
memorandum was signed and before the soil survey is published.
Progressively correlated soil information is now publicly accessed
through the Soil Data Mart and Web Soil Survey prior to the completion
of the soil survey.
Policy and Responsibilities (651.01)
- Advance soil survey information for private lands is available for
review by the public in Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
offices and in the appropriate agency for public lands. Some of these
data may be posted to the Soil Data Mart at the discretion of the
State Soil Scientist or agency.
- The party requesting the data normally bears the cost of
preparation or reproduction, or both. The state conservationist or the
appropriate head of the lead agency is responsible for determining how
to finance and where to reproduce advance soil survey information.
General (651.02)
- The users requesting advance soil information generally are of two
types: (1) those who are cooperators in conducting the soil survey and
have signed the memorandum of understanding and (2) those who are not.
- Advance soil survey information is part of the technical
assistance provided to conservation district cooperators. Conservation
district cooperators are entitled to this technical assistance as a
result of memoranda of understanding other than the memorandum of
understanding that is specific to a soil survey area. The NRCS General
Manual, Title 180, Parts 401.22 and 401-40 through 401-42, provide
more information. Soil survey information is encouraged to be
correlated progressively and placed on the Soil Data Mart as it is
updated or developed. Placing soil survey information onto the Soil
Data Mart removes the information from the status of advance soil
survey information.
- Interested individuals of either type can study and review copies
of the field sheets, composite overlays, or digitized copies of field
sheets and attribute data from which interpretations or conservation
plans are prepared. They may purchase copies of these materials and
copies of soil survey spatial and attribute databases according to
procedures established in the state.
Restrictions (651.03)
- A soil map with interpretations that were prepared specifically
for use in developing a conservation plan for a district cooperator
may not be made available except under certain circumstances. The NRCS
General Manual, Title 120, Part 408, and National Instruction 120-310,
provide more information.
- Advance soil survey information requires special labeling.
Part 651.05 of this section discusses the
requirements for labeling field sheets. These requirements also apply
to composite overlays and digitized products that are provided outside
the Soil Data Mart and Web Soil Survey.
- Information identified as sensitive to national security as
identified by the Department of Defense, Homeland Security, or other
Federal authority in any directive included in the MOU or other
working agreement is not to be provided (see
part 606.01).
Providing Quality Assurance, Quality
Control, and Review (651.04)
To ensure a quality product, map unit names, field sheets, composite
overlays, digitized products, and interpretation tables and text are
reviewed to ensure the information is legible and easily read and
consistent with adjoining areas. An identification legend, a feature and
special symbols legend, and supporting explanatory material must
accompany all advance soil survey field sheets and digitized soil maps.
Labeling of Advance Soil Survey
Information (651.05)
- Advance soil survey information is labeled with the names of the
cooperating agencies; the United States Department of Agriculture,
Natural Resources Conservation Service; the month and year it was
prepared, and any necessary precautionary notes. These notes need not
follow any specific format or be in finished form, but they must be
legible. Part 607.02(b) provides more
information on labeling field sheets. All field sheets in advance soil
survey information are labeled “ADVANCE COPY SUBJECT TO CHANGE.”
- The text of all advance soil information and the electronic
products contain a statement that warns that the information is not
official NRCS information. For example, “Information in this report is
unofficial data subject to change upon completion, correlation, and
publication to the Soil Data Mart; therefore, the user is cautioned
that some map units may be discontinued, others combined, or the name
of some changed and, as a result, soil suitability ratings and
interpretations are likely to change. This information is not valid
for USDA programs.”
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