Research Guides: Soil Science: Government Publications

Government Publications

The major U.S. government agencies providing soil science information are the USDA and the USGS. A unique type of resource in this area is soil surveys.

U.S./Federal

USGS Publications Warehouse This link opens in a new window
The USGS Publications Warehouse contains: Full text and maps for over 40,000 USGS publications, citations for over 70,000 USGS publications, and USGS numbered series from as early as 1880. Biological series released by the Fish and Wildlife Service and National Biological Survey prior to creation of the Biological Resources Division in USGS are included in this database. Non-USGS series publications authored by USGS employees are currently NOT included.
[Coverage: 1880-present]

National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) - Soil Surveys
Portal to: historical state surveys that have been digitized; and the Web Soil Survey (WSS) produced by the National Cooperative Soil Survey.

EPA National Service Center for Environmental Publications This link opens in a new window
The National Service Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP) provides access to thousands of popular EPA documents. For additional EPA resources, see the EPA National Library Catalog.

Climate Data Online
National Centers for Environmental Information, NOAA. “Climate Data Online (CDO) provides free access to NCDC's archive of global historical weather and climate data in addition to station history information. These data include quality controlled daily, monthly, seasonal, and yearly measurements of temperature, precipitation, wind, and degree days as well as radar data and 30-year Climate Normals.”

California

UC Davis California Soil Resource Lab
Includes SoilWeb Apps. The “UC Davis Soil Resource Laboratory … research covers many aspects of soil science including: soil genesis and morphology; rangeland soils; hydropedology; water quality and constructed wetlands; soil-landscape relationships and modeling; watershed-scale digital soil mapping and quantitative pedology; repackaging soil survey into interactive decision support tools; and soil survey related outreach, including one of the first online soil surveys, SoilWeb.

International

Harmonized World Soil Database
A raster database that combines existing regional and national updates of soil information worldwide with the information contained within the 1:5 000 000 scale FAO-UNESCO Soil Map of the World (FAO, 1971-1981). Display or query composition in terms of soil units, and soil parameters (organic Carbon, pH, water storage capacity, soil depth, cation exchange capacity of the soil and the clay fraction, total exchangeable nutrients, lime and gypsum contents, sodium exchange percentage, salinity, textural class and granulometry).
FAO Soils Portal: Legacy Soils Maps and Soil Databases
Includes links to regional and national soil maps and datasets.
World Soil Information
Soil class and property information from more than 100,000 soil profiles worldwide, compiled and harmonized by the International Soil Reference and Information Centre for over 50 years. Online access to 8,000 maps and 15,000 reports and books, digitized from what may be the world’s largest library on soils.