NASA/TMm2000-209891, Vol. 109

Technical Report Series on the

Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS)

Forrest G. Hall, Editor

Volume 109

BOREAS Regional Soils Data

in Raster Format and AEAC Projection

Bryan Monette, Agriculture Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

David Knapp, Raytheon ITSS, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center,

Greenbelt, Maryland

National Aeronautics and

Space Administration

Goddard Space Flight Center

Greenbelt, Maryland 20771

September 2000

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20010022374 2018-05-14T14:50:40+00:00Z
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NASA/TMm2000-209891, Vol. 109

Technical Report Series on the

Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS)

Forrest G. Hall, Editor

Volume 109

BOREAS Regional Soils Data

in Raster Format and AEAC Projection

Bryan Monette, Agriculture Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

David Knapp, Raytheon ITSS, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center,

Greenbelt, Maryland

National Aeronautics and

Space Administration

Goddard Space Flight Center

Greenbelt, Maryland 20771

September 2000
NASA Center for AeroSpace Information

7121 Standard Drive

Hanover, MD 21076-1320

Price Code: A17

Available from:

National Technical Information Service

5285 Port Royal Road

Springfield, VA 22161

Price Code: A10
BOREAS Regional Soils Data in Raster Format and AEAC Projection

Bryan Monette, David Knapp

Summary

This data set was gridded by BORIS Staff from a vector data set received from the Canadian Soil

Information System (CanSIS). The original data came in two parts that covered Saskatchewan and

Manitoba. The data were gridded and merged into one data set of 84 files covering the BOREAS

region. The data were gridded into the AEAC projection. Because the mapping of the two provinces

was done separately in the original vector data, there may be discontinuities in some of the soil layers

because of different interpretations of certain soil properties. The data are stored in binary, image

format files.

Note that the binary files of this data set on the BOREAS CD-ROMs have been compressed using

the Gzip program. See Section 8.2 for details.

Table of Contents

1) Data Set Overview

2) Investigator(s)

3) Theory of Measurements

4) Equipment

5) Data Acquisition Methods

6) Observations

7) Data Description

8) Data Organization

9) Data Manipulations

10) Errors

11) Notes

12) Application of the Data Set

13) Future Modifications and Plans

14) Software

15) Data Access

16) Output Products and Availability

17) References

18) Glossary of Terms

19) List of Acronyms

20) Document Information

1. Data Set Overview

1.1 Data Set Identification

BOREAS Regional Soils Data in Raster Format and AEAC Projection

1.2 Data Set Introduction

The Inventory Section of the Land Resource Research Centre (LRRC) undertook an effort to

compile a computerized data base to record the attributes of the soil and land for all of Canada and to

prepare maps from this information at a scale of 1:1,000,000. The compilation was done by standard

methods, and the maps were divided into unit areas called polygons. Each polygon is described in

terms of a standard set of attributes. These attributes are the factors considered most important for plant

growth, general land management, regional planning, terrain sensitivity, and environmental

sustainability. The array of attributes that describe a distinct type of soil and its associated

Page 1
characteristics,suchaslandform,slope,watertable,permafrost,andlakes,is calleda soillandscape.

A polygonmaycontainoneor two distinctivesoillandscapes,aswell assmallbutcontrasting

inclusions.Thesevectordatafrom LRRCservedasthebasisfor thisrasterformatdataproduct.

Theoriginalmanualdocumentsthestandardmethodsanddescriptorsusedby all provincesfor

compilationof anationalsoillandscapedatabaseatascaleof 1:1,000.000.

1.3 Objective/Purpose

These raster format soils data are provided as part of the BOReal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study

(BOREAS) Staff" Science Geographic Information System (GIS) Data Collection Program, which

included the collection of pertinent map data in both hardcopy and digital form. This data set, originally

provided as vector polygons with attributes, has been processed to provide raster files that can be used

for modeling or for comparisons.

1.4 Summary of Parameters

The parameters contained in the 82 files of the raster soil data include:

Provincial Code

Polygon Number

Kind of Rock Outcrop or other material at the surface

Percentage distribution of soil landscapes

Regional landform

Local surface form

Slope gradient class

Parent material mode of deposition

Parent material texture

Soil development

Surface texture of mineral soil to 15 cm

Coarse fragment content in control section

Rooting depth, unrestricted

Kind of compacted, consolidated, or contrasting layer

Depth to compacted, consolidated, or contrasting layer

Drainage class

Available water capacity in upper 120 cm

Depth to water table, average

Ice type

Ice content

Permafrost occurrence

Active layer depth in soils with permafrost

Kind of patterned ground in soils with permafrost

pH of upper 15 cm of soil (CaCI2)

pH of upper 15 cm of soil (water)

Organic carbon of upper 15 cm

Nitrogen content of upper 15 cm of soil

Thickness of humus layer

Calcareous class of parent material

Inclusions 1

Inclusions 2

Vegetative cover and/or land use

Lake size from Landsat

Water bodies from Landsat as percentage of polygon

Reliability class of polygon

Complexity class of polygon

Soil name 1

Soil name 2

Parent material textural group

Page 2
1.5 Discussion

Thedocumentationfortheoriginaldatalistedthefollowingusesfor whichthesedatawere

intended:

• Assesstheproductivityof thelandnationallyoroverlargeregions.

• Findareasthathaveactualorpotentialproblemsaffectinglanduse,suchassalinityor

susceptibilityto erosion,andassesstheseverity.

• Locategeneralareasthatmaybesuitablefor particulartypesof landuse,whichcanbe

selectedfor moredetailedinvestigations.

• Apply generalresearchfindingsandagrotechnologyproceduresthataresuccessfulin onepart

of thecountryto otherareasthathavesimilarattributes.

• Link soil andlandinformationwith otherdatabases,suchasinformationonclimate,

economics,or census,for assessinglanduseonaregional,national,or evenaninternational

scale.

• Educategeographystudentsatcollegesoruniversities.

Theframeworkforthelegenddevelopment,mapcompilation,andattributecharacterizationis

establishedby thefollowing conceptsanddefinitions:

• Themapsarecomposedof mapdelineationscalledpolygons,eachof whichis describedin

termsof astandardsetof attributes.

• Thefull arrayof polygonattributesthatdescribeadistincttypeof soil andits associated

landscapeattributes,suchassurfaceform, slope,watertable,permafrost,andlakes,is called

asoil landscape.

• A polygonmaycontainoneor twodistinctivesoil landscapes(dominantor subdominant)and

mayalsocontaina smallbut contractingproportionof inclusions.

• Thedominant(or mostprominent)soil landscaperepresentsatleast40%of thepolygonarea,

whereasthesubdominantsoillandscaperepresentsonly from 16to <40%of thepolygon;

inclusionsrepresentamaximumof 15%of thepolygon.A moredetaileddescriptionof the

complexmappolygonsis givenin Section7.

• Oneor twoinclusionscanberecordedfor eachdominantandsubdominantsoillandscape,but

in totaltheyrepresentonly amaximumof 15%of thepolygonarea.

• Theattributesthatseparateonepolygonfrom anotherinclude(a)soildevelopment,(b) soil

parentmaterialmodeof deposition,(c) textureclassof parentmaterial,(d)localsurfaceform,

(e)slopegradientclassin percent,(f) kind ofrock or surfacematerialexceptwater,and(g)

spatialoccurrenceof theseattributeswithin apolygon.Theseattributesmayapplyto eitherthe

dominantor subdominantsoil landscape.

• Theminimumsizeof thesoillandscapearea(orpolygon)shouldbeabout1x 1cm atthe

1:1,000,000scale(100km2);however,smaller,isolatedareasthatcanbeconveniently

displayedandlabeledonthemaparepermittedwhenneeded.

1.6 Related Data Sets

AgricultureCanadaCentralSaskatchewanVectorSoilsData

BOREASSoilsDataovertheSSAin RasterFormatandAEAC Projection

CanSISRegionalSoilsDatain VectorFormat

2. Investigator(s)

2.1 Investigator(s) Name and Title

BOREAS Staff Science

2.2 Title of Investigation

BOREAS Staff Science GIS Data Collection Program

Page 3
2.3 Contact Information

Contact 1:

Bryan Monette

Agriculture Canada

Ottawa, Ontario

K1A 0C6

(613) 995-5011

Contact 2:

David Knapp

Raytheon ITSS

NASA GSFC

Code 923

Greenbelt, MD 20771

(301) 286-1424

(301) 286-0239 (fax)

David.Knapp@ gsfc.nasa.gov

3. Theory of Measurements

The Inventory Section of the LRRC compiled a computerized data base to record the attributes of the

soil and land for all of Canada and to prepare maps from this information at a scale of 1:1,000,000.

The compilation was done by standard methods, and the maps were divided into unit areas called

polygons. Each polygon is described in terms of a standard set of attributes. These attributes are the

factors considered most important for plant growth, general land management, regional planning,

terrain sensitivity, and environmental sustainability. The array of attributes that describe a distinct type

of soil and its associated characteristics, such as landform, slope, water table, permafrost, and lakes, is

called a soil landscape. A polygon may contain one or two distinctive soil landscapes, as well as small

but contrasting inclusions. The original uses for which these data were intended include:

• Assess the productivity of the land nationally or over large regions.

• Find areas that have actual or potential problems affecting land use, such as salinity or

susceptibility to erosion, and assess the severity.

• Locate general areas that may be suitable for particular types of land use, which can be

selected for more detailed investigations.

• Apply general research findings and agrotechnology procedures that are successful in one part

of the country to other areas that have similar attributes.

• Link soil and land information with other data bases, such as information on climate,

economics, or census, for assessing land use on a regional, national, or even an international

scale.

• Educate geography students at colleges or universities.

4. Equipment

4.1 Sensor/Instrument Description

It is known that the original vector data were compiled by interpreting Landsat images, conducting

aircraft and field traverses, and digitizing the compiled maps. The exact equipment and related

specifications are unknown.

4.1.1 Collection Environment

Unknown.

Page 4
4.1.2 Source/Platform

Unknown.

4.1.3 Source/Platform Mission Objectives

Unknown.

4.1.4 Key Variables

The key variables that are in this raster data set include:

Provincial Code

Polygon Number

Kind of Rock Outcrop or other material at the surface

Percentage distribution of soil landscapes

Regional landform

Local surface form

Slope gradient class

Parent material mode of deposition

Parent material texture

Soil development

Surface texture of mineral soil to 15 cm

Coarse fragment content in control section

Rooting depth, unrestricted

Kind of compacted, consolidated, or contrasting layer

Depth to compacted, consolidated, or contrasting layer

Drainage class

Available water capacity in upper 120 cm

Depth to water table, average

Ice type

Ice content

Permafrost occurrence

Active layer depth in soils with permafrost

Kind of patterned ground in soils with permafrost

pH of upper 15 cm of soil (CaCI2)

pH of upper 15 cm of soil (water)

Organic carbon of upper 15 cm

Nitrogen content of upper 15 cm of soil

Thickness of humus layer

Calcareous class of parent material

Inclusions 1

Inclusions 2

Vegetative cover and/or land use

Lake size from Landsat

Water bodies from Landsat as percentage of polygon

Reliability class of polygon

Complexity class of polygon

Soil name 1

Soil name 2

Parent material textural group

4.1.5 Principles of Operation

Unknown.

4.1.6 Sensor/Instrument Measurement Geometry

Unknown.

Page 5
4.1.7 Manufacturer of Sensor/Instrument

Unknown.

4.2 Calibration

4.2.1 Specifications

Unknown.

4.2.1.1 Tolerance

Unknown.

4.2.2 Frequency of Calibration

Unknown.

4.2.3 Other Calibration Information

Unknown.

5. Data Acquisition Methods

The original vector soils data were compiled using various data sources and techniques including:

• Interpretation of Landsat images (it is unknown whether the Landsat images were from the

Multispectral Scanner (MSS) or Thematic Mapper (TM) instruments)

• Soil survey maps produced from field traverses at wide intervals (up to 10 kin) and without

the use of aerial photographs

• Maps produced by inspections using fixed-wing aircraft or helicopter and aided by

interpretation of Landsat imagery

• Systematic traverses by helicopter and interpretation of stereoscopic aerial photographs

• Modern soil survey procedures, which include traversing existing accessible roads in

wilderness areas, and aided by interpretation of stereoscopic aerial photographs

• Modern soil survey maps produced from field traverses at <l.6-km intervals and with the aid

of stereoscopic aerial photographs.

The original data were acquired in ARC/INFO EXPORT format in a vector form. The dominant and

subdominant attributes were included in a separate table that was linked to the digital map data by the

polygon number.

6. Observations

6.1 Data Notes

The original vector data are documented fully in:

Soil Landscapes of Canada

Procedures Manual and User's Handbook

J.A. Shields, C. Tarnocai, K.W.G. Valentine, and K.B. MacDonald

Land Resource Research Centre

Ottawa, Ontario

6.2 Field Notes

See: derived from reading:

Page 6
Soil Landscapesof Canada

ProceduresManualandUser'sHandbook

J.A. Shields,C. Tamocai,K.W.G. Valentine,andK.B. MacDonald

LandResourceResearchCentre

Ottawa,Ontario

BOREASInformationSystem(BORIS)personnelassumethatextensivefield notesexistfrom

compilingthesoilsinformationintomaps.Thedetailsof thesenotesareunknown.

7. Data Description

7.1 Spatial Characteristics

The original vector data in ARC/INFO format were gridded into a binary image format for the

BOREAS region (1,000 x 1,000 kin). The original data were digitized from maps at a scale of

1:1,000,000. The cell size at which these data are gridded is 1,000 meters on a side. There are 40

attributes or "items" that describe the dominant and 40 of many of the same attributes for the

subdominant soil characteristics. Most of the items were gridded, with the exception of a few items

that were inappropriate to grid (e.g., urban areas, water).

7.1.1 Spatial Coverage

These data cover the 1,000-kin x 1,000-km area defined as the BOREAS Grid Region. It forms a

rectangle that roughly straddles the Saskatchewan/Manitoba border with comer coordinates of 0.0, 0.0

and 1000.0, 1000.0 in the Albers Equal-Area Conic (AEAC) projection described in the BOREAS

Experiment Plan. The following are the comer coordinates of the BOREAS region, given in the North

American Datum of 1983 (NAD83):

Longitude Latitude

Northwest iii.000 W 59.979 N

Northeast 93.502 W 58.844 N

Southeast 96.970 W 50.089 N

Southwest iii.000 W 51.000 N

7.1.2 Spatial Coverage Map

Not available.

7.1.3 Spatial Resolution

These data were gridded to a cell size of 1,000 meters in the AEAC projection.

7.1.4 Projection

The area mapped is projected in the ellipsoidal version of the AEAC projection. The projection has

the following parameters:

Datum: NAD83

Ellipsoid: GRS80 or

Origin: III.000°W

Standard Parallels:

Units of Measure:

WGS84

51.000°N

52 ° 30' 00"

58 ° 30' 00"

kilometers

7.1.5 Grid Description

The data are gridded in 1,000-m intervals based on the ellipsoidal version of the AEAC projection

with standard parallels of 52 ° 30' N and 58 ° 30' N and a lower left origin of 51 ° N and 111 ° W.

Page 7
7.2 Temporal Characteristics

7.2.1 Temporal Coverage

The booklet that describes the original vector data set was published in 1991:

Soil Landscapes of Canada

Procedures Manual and User's Handbook

J.A. Shields, C. Tarnocai, K.W.G. Valentine, and K.B. MacDonald

Land Resource Research Centre

Ottawa, Ontario

7.2.2 Temporal Coverage Map

Not available.

7.2.3 Temporal Resolution

These data likely represent a compilation of soils information that was completed over a period of

several years. BORIS views the data set as a single point reference source that can be used for soil and

other studies. BORIS is not aware of any updates that have been made to the original data set.

7.3 Data Characteristics

The various gridded layers and the codes that describe their characteristics are listed under Section

7, Data Description.

7.3.1 Parameter/Variable

Provincial Code

Polygon Number

Surface material

Percentage distribution

Regional landform

Local surface form

Slope gradient class

Soil parent material mode

Parent material texture

Soil development

of dominant and subdominant soil landscapes

of deposition (or origin)

Surface texture of mineral soil to 15 cm

Coarse fragment content of mineral soils

Rooting depth, unrestricted

Kind of compacted, consolidated, or contrasting layer

Depth to compacted, consolidated, or contrasting layer

Drainage class

Available water capacity in upper 120 cm

Average depth to water table

Ice type

Ice content

Permafrost occurrence

Active layer depth in soils with permafrost

Kind of patterned ground in soils with permafrost

pH of upper 15 cm of soil measured in CaCl 2

pH of upper 15 cm of soil measured in water

Organic carbon of upper 15 cm of soil

Nitrogen content of upper 15 cm of soil

Thickness of humus layer (L, F, H)

Calcareous class of parent material

Inclusions 1

Inclusions 2

Page 8
Vegetative cover or land use, or both

Lake size estimated from Landsat imagery

Reliability class of polygon

Complexity class of polygon (8-bit

Soil name numbers file 1

Soil name numbers file 2

Parent material textural group

Soil Names Supplemental Information

Soil Names Supplemental Information

integers)

for Saskatchewan (ASCII)

for Manitoba (ASCII)

7.3.2 Variable Description/Definition

The following information was extracted (with modifications) from:

Soil Landscapes of Canada

Procedures Manual and User's Handbook

J.A. Shields, C. Tarnocai, K.W.G. Valentine, and K.B. MacDonald

Land Resource Research Centre

Ottawa, Ontario

Provincial Code

The value that designates whether the area is geographically located within Saskatchewan or

Manitoba. In the provincial code file, the following values are used to represent Saskatchewan and

Manitoba:

Pixel Value Description

i Saskatchewan

2 Manitoba

Polygon Number

In the original data sets, the polygons composing the entire area were numbered 1 to n. This value

represents the polygon number from the original vector data and may not be useful to the user of this

raster product.

Surface material

The type of material at the top of the soil in the area. In the dominant and subdominant surface

material files, the following values are used to represent the various groupings:

Pixel Original

Value Code Description

1 IC

2 OR

3 R1

4 R2

5 R3

6 R4

7 SO

8 WA

9 UR

Ice and snow.

Organic Soil. Contains >30% organic matter by weight.

Soft rock, undifferentiated. Rock that can be dug with

shovel, e.g., shales, Upper Cretaceous, and Tertiary

materials.

Hard rock, acidic. Granite.

Hard rock, carbonaceous. Limestone.

Hard rock, undifferentiated. Hard rock of unspecified

origin and properties

Mineral soil. Dominantly mineral particles, contains

<30% organic matter by weight.

Water.

Urban areas.

Page 9
i0 #

ii

Note: Only a few major urban area polygons are shown

on maps; do not use for tabulating urban areas.

Not applicable.

Attribute does not occur.

Percentage distribution of dominant and subdominant soil landscapes: The values in the dominant and

subdominant raster files represent the percentage of that soil landscape in the area.

Regional landform

The type of landform on which the area exists (e.g., mountain, hill, tableland). In the dominant

and subdominant regional landform files, the following values are used to represent the various

groupings:

Pixel Original

Value Code Description

1 B

2 H

3 M

4 O

5 P

Tableland (or plateau) dominated. Comparatively flat

areas of great extent commonly bounded on at least one

side by an abrupt escarpment, or may be terminated by

mountains; may be dissected by deep valleys and deeply

incised rivers; may be tectonic, erosional, or volcanic

in origin; may be step-faulted; slopes generally <10%,

in some places 10-15%; relief generally <50 m.

Hilland dominated. Natural elevations rising

prominently above the surrounding plain and having a

recognizably denser pattern of generally higher knolls

or crest lines with an irregular or chaotic surface form

composed of upper surface convexity and lower concavity;

includes hummocky morainal material, volcanic cones, and

conical hills of lava; slopes generally 10-30%; relief

generally <i00 m.

Mountain dominated. Erosional and volcanic landscapes

with relief (vertical distance between higher and lower

parts) >300 m with most of the area comprising valley

to summit terrain; slopes generally >30%. In general,

the terrain has a restricted summit area and steep

sides, irregular shape and considerable bare rock

surface, or very thin soil cover; occurs as a single,

isolated feature or in a group forming a long chain or

range; major scarps are relatively steep, with straight

cliff-like slopes of considerable linear extent

separate surfaces such as plateaus lying at different

levels.

Organic wetland dominated. Areas dominated by organic

material >40 cm thick; contains >30% organic matter by

weight; occurs in a variety of wetland surface forms.

Plain dominated. Flat to very gently undulating areas

having few or no prominent irregularities; formed by

erosional or by depositional (or constructional)

processes; include broad, continuous, gently sloping

piedmont plains extending along and from the base of a

mountain, formed by lateral coalescence of a series of

separate but confluent alluvial fans; alluvial

processes are mainly responsible for the sedimentation;

Page 10
6 S

7 V

8 #

9

coarse fragments are rounded by transport over

relatively long distances; slopes generally <6%; relief

generally <i0 m; extent generally >5 km in one

direction.

Scarp dominated. An escarpment, cliff, or steep slope

of some extent along the margin of a terrace, bench,

plateau, hill, or mesa; a scarp may be of any height.

Valley dominated. Terrain dominated by major spillways,

drainageways, or mountain trenches separated from

surrounding landforms by a significant and abrupt break

in slope; the valley profile may be V- or U-shaped with

an extensive valley floor and flood plain up to about 5

km wide; valley profile may also include eroded

terraces and their irregular slope segments.

Not applicable (urban area, water, etc.).

Attribute does not occur.

Local surface form

The type of local surface form on which the area is located (e.g., inclined, level, dissected). In the

dominant and subdominant local surface form files, the following values are used to represent the

various groupings:

Pixel Original

Value Code Description

1 D

2 H

3 I

4 K

5 L

6 M

Dissected. A dissected (or gullied) pattern providing

external drainage for an area.

Hummocky (or irregular) . A very complex sequence of

slopes extending from somewhat rounded concavities (or

swales) or various sizes to irregular, conical knolls

(or knobs) and short, discontinuous ridges; there is a

general lack of concordance between knolls and swales;

slopes are 4-70%; examples: hummocky moraine, hummocky

fluvioglacial.

Inclined. A sloping, unidirectional surface with a

generally constant slope not broken by marked irregularity

or gullies; a weakly developed pattern provides external

drainage for the local area; slopes are 2-70%; the form of

inclined slopes is not related to the initial mode of origin

of the underlying material.

Knoll and kettle. A very chaotic sequence of knolls and

numerous kettles (or sloughs), that occupy 15-20% of an

area and that have no external drainage; slopes are

generally >3%; examples: morainal plains and hillands.

Level. A flat, very gently sloping, unidirectional surface

with a generally constant slope not broken by marked

elevations and depressions; slopes are generally <2% (i.e.,

1%); examples: flood plain, lake plain.

Rolling. A very regular sequence of moderate slopes

extending from rounded and, in some places, confined concave

depressions to broad, rounded convexities producing a

wavelike pattern of moderate relief; slope gradients are

generally >5% but may be less; this surface form is usually

controlled by the underlying bedrock.

Page 11
9

i0

ii

12

13

14

15

16

17

R

BO4

BO5

BO7

BO9

BI3

BI4

BI5

Ridged. A long, narrow elevation of the surface, usually

distinctly crested with steep sides; ridges may be parallel,

subparallel, or intersecting; examples: eskers, crevasse

fillings, washboard moraines, some drumlins.

Steep. Erosional slopes >70%, on both consolidated and

unconsolidated materials; form of a steep erosional slope on

unconsolidated materials is not related to the initial mode

of origin of the underlying material; example: escarpments.

Terraced. Scarp face and the horizontal or gently inclined

surface (or tread) above it; example: alluvial terrace.

Undulating. A very regular sequence of gentle slopes that

extends from rounded and, in some places, confined

concavities to broad, rounded convexities producing a

wavelike pattern of low local relief; slope length is

generally <0.8 km and the dominant gradient of slopes is

usually 2-5%; it lacks an external drainage pattern;

examples: some ground moraine, lacustrine material of

varying texture.

Domed bog. A large (diameter usually >500 m) bog with a

convex surface, rising several meters above the surrounding

terrain; center usually drains in all directions; small

crescentic pools commonly form around the highest point;

if highest point is in the center, the pools form a

concentric pattern, or, if the highest point is off-center,

an eccentric pattern; the peat development is usually >3 m.

Polygonal peat plateau bog. A perennially frozen bog,

rising about 1 m above the surrounding fen, the surface is

relatively flat, scored by a polygonal pattern of trenches

that developed over ice wedges; the permafrost and ice

wedges developed in peat originally deposited in a

nonpermafrost environment.

Peat plateau bog. A bog composed of perennially frozen

peat, rising abruptly about 1 m from the surrounding

unfrozen fen; the surface is relatively flat and even,

and commonly covers large areas; the peat was originally

deposited in a nonpermafrost environment and is associated

in many paces with collapse scar bogs or fens.

Atlantic plateau bog. A bog with a flat-to-undulating

surface raised above the surrounding terrain, with the bog

edges commonly sloping steeply down toward the mineral soil

terrain; large pools scattered on the bog reach a depth of

2-4m.

Basin bog. A bog situated in a basin that has an

essentially closed drainage, receiving water from

precipitation and from runoff from the immediate

surroundings; the surface of the bog is flat, but the peat

is generally deepest at the center.

Flat bog. A bog having a flat, featureless surface and

occurring in broad, poorly defined depressions; the depth of

peat is generally uniform.

String bog. A pattern of narrow (2-3 m wide), low (<i m

deep) ridges oriented at right angles to the direction of

drainage; wet depressions or pools occur between the ridges;

the water and peat are very low in nutrients because the

Page 12
18

19

2O

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

BI6

BI8

BI9

FOI

FO7

FII

FI3

SOl

SO4

MO6

MII

MI4

water has been derived from other ombrotrophic wetlands;

peat thickness >i m.

Blanket bog. A bog consisting of extensive peat deposits

that occur more or less uniformly over gently sloping hills

and valleys; the peat thickness is usually <2 m.

Slope bog. A bog occurring in areas of high rainfall on

appreciably sloping land surfaces, fed by rainwater and by

water draining from other nutrient-poor wetlands; the peat

may exceed 1 m in thickness.

Veneer bog. A bog occurring on gently sloping terrain

underlain by generally discontinuous permafrost; although

drainage is predominantly below the surface, overland flow

occurs in poorly defined drainageways during peak runoff;

peat thickness is usually <1.5 m.

Northern ribbed fen. A fen with parallel, low peat ridges

("strings") alternating with wet hollows or shallow pools,

oriented across the major slope at right angles to water

movement; the depth of peat is >i m.

Shore fen. A fen with an anchored surface mat that forms

the shore of a pond or lake; the rooting zone is affected by

the water of the lake at both normal and flood levels.

Slope fen. A fen occurring mainly on slow-drainage,

nutrient-enriched seepage slopes; pools are usually absent,

but wet seepage tracks may occur; peat thickness is usually

<2 m.

Horizontal fen. A fen with a very gently sloping,

featureless surface; this fen occupies broad, often illdefined depressions and may interconnect with other fens;

peat accumulation is generally uniform.

Stream swamp. A swamp occurring along the banks of

permanent or semipermanent streams; the high-water table is

maintained by the level of water in the stream; the swamp is

seasonally inundated, with subsequent sediment deposition.

Basin swamp. A swamp developed in a topographically defined

basin where water derived locally may be augmented by

drainage from other parts of the watershed; accumulation of

well-decomposed peat is shallow (<0.5 m) at the edge and

may reach 2 m at the center.

Stream marsh. A marsh occupying shorelines, bars,

streambeds, or islands in continuously flowing water

courses; the marsh is subject to prolonged annual flooding

and is commonly covered by thick layers of sediments.

Shallow basin marsh. A marsh occurring in a uniformly

shallow depression or swale, having a gradual gradient from

the edge to the deepest portion; the marsh edge may be

poorly defined; water levels fluctuate rapidly.

Shore marsh. A marsh occupying the contact zone between

high and low water marks bordering semipermanent or

permanent lakes; the marsh is usually found along protected

shorelines, in lagoons behind barrier beaches, on islands,

or in embayments; the marsh is subject to flooding by rise

in lake levels, wind, waves, or surface runoff.

Not applicable (urban area, water, etc.).

Attribute does not occur.

Page 13
Slope gradient class

The slope category of the land surface area. In the dominant and subdominant slope gradient class

files, the following values are used to represent the various groupings:

Pixel Original

Value Code Description

1 A 1-3% (includes slopes <1%)

2 B 4-9%

3 C 10-15%

4 D 16-30%

5 E 31-60%

6 F >60%

7 # Not applicable (water)

8 - Attribute does not occur

Soil parent material mode of deposition (or origin)

The mode in which the soil parent material was deposited on the area (e.g., colluvial, eolian, bog).

In the dominant and subdominant soil parent material files, the following values are used to represent

the various groupings:

Pixel Original

Value Code Description

1 A

2 B

3 C

4 D

Alluvial. Sediment generally consisting of gravel and sand

with a minor fraction of silt and clay; gravels are

typically rounded and contain interstitial sand; alluvial

sediments are commonly moderately to well sorted and display

stratification; examples: channel deposits, overbank

deposits, terraces, alluvial fans, and deltas.

Bog. Bogs consist of unspecified organic materials

associated with an ombrotrophic environment because the

slightly elevated nature of the bog dissociates it from

nutrient-rich ground water or surrounding mineral soils;

near the surface, materials are usually undecomposed

(fibric), yellowish to pale brown, loose and spongy in

consistency, and entire sphagnum plants are readily

identified; these materials are extremely acid, with low

bulk density and high fiber content; at depths they become

darker, compacted, and somewhat layered; bogs are associated

with slopes or depressions on topography with a water table

at or near the surface in the spring and slightly below it

during the rest of the year; they are usually covered with

sphagnum mosses, but sedges may also grow on them; bogs may

be treed or treeless, and many are characterized by a layer

of ericaceous shrubs.

Colluvial. Massive to moderately well stratified, nonsorted

to poorly sorted sediments with any range of particle sizes

from clay to boulders that have reached their present

position only by direct, gravity-induced movement (except

snow avalanches); processes include slow displacements such

as creep and solifluction and rapid movements such as earth

flows.

Residual. Unconsolidated, weathered, or partly weathered

Page 14
i0

M

soil mineral material that accumulates by disintegration of

bedrock in place.

Eolian. Sediment, generally consisting of medium-to-fine

sand and coarse silt particle sizes, that is well sorted,

poorly compacted, and may show internal structures such as

cross bedding or ripple laminae, or may be massive;

individual grains may be rounded and show signs of frosting

these materials have been transported and deposited by wind

action; examples: dunes, shallow deposits and sand and

coarse silt, and loess but not tuffs.

Fluvioglacial. Material moved by glaciers and subsequently

sorted and deposited by streams flowing from the melting

ice; deposits are stratified and may occur in the form of

outwash plains, deltas, kames, eskers, and kame terraces.

Marsh. Mineral wetland or wetland that is periodically

inundated by standing or slow-moving water; surface water

levels may fluctuate seasonally, with declining levels

exposing drawdown zones of matted vegetation or mudflats;

waters are rich in nutrients, varying from fresh to highly

saline; substratum usually consists of mineral material,

although in some places it consists of well-decomposed peat

soils are predominantly Gleysols, with some Humisols and

Mesisols; marshes characteristically show zonal or mosaic

surface patterns composed of pools or channels interspersed

with clumps of emergent sedges, grasses, rushes, and reeds,

bordering grassy meadows, and peripheral bands of shrubs or

trees; submerged and floating aquatics flourish where openwater areas occur.

Lacustrine. Sediment generally consisting of either

stratified fine sand, silt, and clay deposited on the lake

bed or moderately well-sorted and stratified sand and

coarser materials that are beach and other nearshore

sediments transported and deposited by wave action; these

materials either have settled from suspension in bodies of

standing freshwater or have accumulated at their margins

through wave action; examples: lake sediments and beaches.

Morainal. Sediment generally consisting of well-compacted

material that is nonstratified and contains a heterogeneous

mixture of sand, silt, and clay particle sizes and coarse

fragments in a mixture that has been transported beneath,

beside, on, within, or in front of a glacier and not

modified by any intermediate agent; examples: basal till

(ground moraines, rubbly moraines of cirque glaciers,

hummocky ice-disintegration moraines, and pre-existing,

unconsolidated sediments reworked by a glacier so that their

original character is largely or completely destroyed.

Fen. Fen consists of unspecified organic materials formed

in a minerotrophic environment because of the close

association of the material with mineral-rich waters; it is

usually moderately well to well decomposed, dark brown to

black, with fine- to medium-sized fibers; decomposition

commonly becomes greater at lower depths; the materials are

covered with a dominant component of sedges, but grasses and

reeds may be associated in local pools.

Page 15
ii

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

V

W

ii

21

Organic, undifferentiated. A layered sequence of more than

three types of organic material (>30% organic matter by

weight).

Rock. A consolidated bedrock layer that is too hard to

break with the hands (>3 on Mohs' scale) or to dig with a

spade when moist.

Swamp. Minerotrophic wetlands with the water table at or

above the peat surface; dominant unspecified organic

materials are forest and fen peat formed in a eutrophic

environment because of strong water movement from the

margins or other mineral sources; it is usually moderately

well to well decomposed and has a dark brown to reddish

brown matrix; the more decomposed materials are black; it

has an amorphous or very fine-fibered structure containing a

random distribution of woody fragments and trunks of

coniferous tree species; the vegetation cover may consist

of coniferous or deciduous trees, tall shrubs, herbs, and

mosses; in some regions sphagnum mosses are abundant.

Anthropogenic. Materials modified by people, including

those associated with mineral exploitation and waste

disposal; they include materials deposited as a result

of human activities or geological materials modified

artificially so that their physical properties (structure,

cohesion, compaction) have been drastically altered;

examples: areas of landfill, spoil heaps, open-pit mines,

leveled irrigated areas.

Undifferentiated. A sequence of more than three types of

genetic mineral materials outcropping on a steep erosional

escarpment; this complex class is to be used where units

relating to individual genetic materials cannot be delimited

separately at the scale of mapping; it may include colluvium

derived from the various genetic materials and resting upon

the scarp slope.

Volcanic. Volcanic pumice and ash.

Marine. Unconsolidated deposits of clay, silt, sand, or

gravel that are well to moderately well sorted and well to

moderately well stratified (in some places containing

shells); they have settled from suspension in salt or

brackish water bodies or have accumulated at their margins

through shoreline processes such as wave action and

longshore drift; nonfossiliferous deposits may be judged

marine, if they are located in an area that might reasonably

be considered to have contained saltwater at the time the

deposits were formed.

Fibric Sphagnum. Sphagnum organic material in a fibric

degree of decomposition in which the fibric materials are

readily identifiable as to botanical origin; peat is usually

undecomposed (or fibric), light yellowish brown to pale

brown, and loose and spongy in consistency with the entire

sphagnum plant being readily identifiable.

Mesic sedge. Sedge organic material in a mesic (or

intermediate) degree of decomposition; peat composed

dominantly of sedge (Carex spp.) and generally moderately

decomposed and matted; the sedge leaves are readily

Page 16
20 22

21 23

22 25

23 31

24 #

25

identifiable to the naked eye; this material commonly

contains large amounts of very fine roots of the above

species.

Mesic woody sedge. Woody sedge organic material in a mesic

(or intermediate) degree of decomposition; peat is composed

dominantly of sedge peat (see code 21) with subdominant

amounts of woody materials.

Mesic woody forest. Woody forest organic material in a

mesic (or intermediate) degree of decomposition; peat is

composed dominantly (>50%) of woody materials derived from

both coniferous and deciduous tree species; in general,

wood fragments are easily identifiable in this peat.

Mesic sphagnum. Sphagnum organic material in a mesic (or

intermediate) degree of decomposition.

Humic sedge. Sedge organic material in a humic (or most

advanced) degree of decomposition in which most of the

material is humified, and there are few recognizable

fibers.

Not applicable (urban area, water, etc.).

Attribute does not occur.

Parent material texture

The texture category to which the parent material was assigned (e.g., very fine sand, sandy loam,

clay). In the dominant and subdominant soil parent material texture files, the following values are used

to represent the various groupings:

Pixel Original

Value Code Description

1 CBS

2 VGS

3 GS

4 S

5 CS

6 FS

7 VS

8 LFS

9 LVFS

i0 CBLS

ii VGLS

12 GLS

13 LS

14 CBSL

15 VGSL

16 GSL

17 SL

18 GFL

19 FL

20 CBL

21 GL

22 L

23 VL

24 GSIL

25 SIL

Cobbly sand. 15-35% cobbles by volume.

Very gravelly sand. 35-60% gravel by volume.

Gravelly sand. 15-35% gravel by volume.

Sand.

Coarse sand. 25% or more very coarse and coarse sand.

Fine sand. 50% or more fine sand.

Very fine sand. 50% or more very fine sand.

Loamy fine sand. 50% or more fine sand.

Loamy very fine sand. 50% or more very fine sand.

Cobbly loamy sand. 15-35% cobbles by volume.

Very gravelly loamy sand. 35-60% gravel by volume

Gravelly loamy sand. 15-35% gravel by volume.

Loamy sand.

Cobbly sandy loam. 35-60% cobbles by volume.

Very gravelly sandy loam. 35-60% gravel by volume

Gravelly sandy loam. 15-35% gravel by volume.

Sandy loam.

Gravelly fine sandy loam. 15-35% gravel by volume

Fine sandy loam. 30% or more fine sand.

Cobbly loam. 15-35% cobbles by volume.

Gravelly loam. 15-35% gravel by volume.

Loam.

Very fine sandy loam. 30% or more very fine sand.

Gravelly silt loam. 15-35% gravel by volume.

Silt loam.

Page 17
26 GSCL

27 SCL

28 VCL

29 CBCL

30 GCL

31 CL

32 SICL

33 SC

34 C

35 GSIC

36 SIC

37 HC

38 #

39

Gravelly sandy clay loam.

Sandy clay loam.

Very fine sandy clay loam.

Cobbly clay loam.

Gravelly clay loam.

Clay loam.

Silty clay loam.

Sandy clay.

Clay.

Gravelly silty clay.

Silty clay.

Heavy clay.

Not applicable.

Attribute does not occur.

15-35% gravel by volume.

30% or more very fine sand.

15-35% cobbles by volume.

15-35% gravel by volume.

15-35% gravel by volume.

Soil development

The category of soil development for the area (e.g., Gray Brown Luvisolic, Eutric Brunisolic). In

the dominant and subdominant soil development files, the following values are used to represent the

various groupings:

Pixel Original

Value Code Description

1 A

2 B

3 C

4 D

5 E

6 F

7 G

8 H

9 I

i0 J

ii K

Brown Chernozemic. Dominantly Orthic Brown subgroup with

inclusions of other subgroups within the Brown great group.

Dark Brown Chernozemic. Dominantly Orthic Dark Brown

subgroup with inclusions of other subgroups within the Dark

Brown great group.

Black Chernozemic. Dominantly Orthic Black subgroup with

inclusions of other subgroups within the Black great group.

Dark Gray Chernozemic or Dark Gray Luvisolic. Dominantly

Orthic Dark Gray Chernozemic subgroup or Dark Gray Luvisol

subgroup with inclusions of other subgroups within the Dark

Gray great group or of the gleyed Dark Gray Luvisol

subgroup.

Gray Brown Luvisolic. Dominantly Orthic Gray Brown Luvisol

subgroup with inclusions of other subgroups within the Gray

Brown Luvisol great group.

Gray Luvisolic. Dominantly Orthic Gray Luvisol subgroup

with inclusions of other Gray Luvisol subgroups.

Brown Solonetzic. May be dominantly Brown Solonetz or Brown

Solodized Solonetz or Brown Wolod subgroup with inclusions

of these subgroups, i.e., dominantly Brown Solodized

Solonetz with inclusions of Brown Solod.

Dark Brown Solonetzic. May be dominantly Dark Brown

Solonetz or Dark Brown Solodized Solonetz or Dark Brown

Solod subgroup with inclusions of these subgroups.

Brunisolic Gray Luvisolic. Dominantly Brunisolic Gray

Luvisol subgroup with inclusions of its gleyed subgroup.

Black Solonetzic. May be dominantly Black Solonetz or Black

Solodized Solonetz or Black Solod subgroup with inclusions

of these subgroups and their gleyed subgroups.

Gray Solonetzic. Dominantly Gray Solodized Solonetz or Gray

Solod subgroups with inclusions of their gleyed subgroups.

Page 18
12 L

13 M

14 N

15 O

16 P

17 Q

18 R

19 S

2O T

21 U

22 V

23 W

Melanic Brunisolic. Dominantly Melanic Brunisol great

group.

Eutric Brunisolic. Dominantly Eutric Brunisol great group.

Sombric Brunisolic. Dominantly Sombric Brunisol great

group.

Organic Cryosolic. Dominantly Organic Cryosol great group.

Dystric Brunisolic. Dominantly Dystric Brunisol great

group.

Humic Podzolic. Dominantly Humic Podzol great group.

Regosolic. Dominantly Regosolic order.

Static Cryosolic. Dominantly Static Cryosol great group.

Turbic Cryosolic. Dominantly Turbic Cryosol great group.

Gleysolic. Dominantly Gleysolic order.

Ferro-Humic Podzolic. Dominantly Ferro-Humic

group.

Humo-Ferric Podzolic. Dominantly Humo-Ferric

Podzol great

Podzol great

group.

24 X Fibrisol. Dominantly Fibrisol great group.

25 Y Mesisol. Dominantly Mesisol great group

26 Z Humisol. Dominantly Humisol great group.

27 2 Folisol. Dominantly Folisol great group.

28 3 Podzolic Gray. Podzolic Gray Luvisol subgroup;

as subdominant.

29 # Not applicable (water, rock, or ice) .

30 - Attribute does not occur.

only occurs

Surface texture of mineral soil to 15 cm

The texture of the soil between the surface and a depth of 15 cm. The values and codes shown

above for parent material texture also apply to the surface soil texture.

Coarse fragment content of mineral soils

The categorized percent by volume of rounded, subrounded, flat, angular, or irregular rock

fragment from 0.2 to 60 cm or more in size. In the dominant and subdominant coarse fragment content

files, the following values are used to represent the various groupings:

Pixel Original

Value Code Description

1 A <10% by volume. Rounded, subrounded, flat, angular or

irregular rock fragment from 0.2 to 60 cm or more in size.

2 B 10-30%

3 C 31-65%

4 D >65%

5 # Not applicable.

6 - Attribute does not occur

Page 19
Rooting depth, unrestricted

The unrestricted rooting depth for vegetation that is growing in the area. In the dominant and

subdominant rooting depth files, the following values are used to represent the various groupings:

Pixel Original

Value Code Description

1 0 <20 cm

2 50 20-75 cm

3 i00 76-150 cm

4 200 >150 cm

5 # Not applicable (e.g., rock, ice)

6 - Attribute does not occur

Kind of compacted, consolidated, or contrasting layer

The type of compacted, consolidated, or contrasting layer that is present (e.g., Ortstein). In the

dominant and subdominant compacted, consolidated, or contrasting layer files, the following values

are used to represent the various groupings:

Pixel Original

Value Code Description

1 A

2 B

3 C

4 D

Compacted parent material. Compacted glacial till or other

material.

Basal till. Compacted glacial till deposited beneath a

moving glacier.

Compacted material (anthropogenic) . Soil material compacted

by human activities that adversely affect crop production.

Duric horizon. This strongly cemented Bc horizon does not

satisfy the criteria of a podzolic B horizon; usually it has

an abrupt upper boundary to an overlying podzolic B or to a

Bm horizon and a diffuse lower boundary >0.5 m below;

cementation is usually strongest near the upper boundary and

occurs commonly at a depth of 40-80 cm from the mineral

surface; the color of the duric horizon usually differs

little from that of the moderately coarse textured to coarse

textured parent material, and the structure is usually

massive or very coarse platy; air-dry clods of duric

horizons do not slake when immersed in water, and moist

clods >3 cm thick usually cannot be broken in the hands.

Ortstein. Horizon of fragipan character; a fragipan is a

loamy subsurface horizon of high bulk density and very low

organic matter content; when dry, it has a hard consistency

and seems to be cemented; when moist, it has moderate to

weak brittleness; it commonly has bleached fracture planes

and is overlain by a friable B horizon; air-dry clods of

fragic horizons slake in water.

Ortstein. This strongly cemented Bh, Bhf, or Bf horizon, >3

cm thick, occurs in more than one-third of the exposed face

of the pedon; ortstein horizons are generally reddish brown

to very dark reddish brown.

Placic horizon. This layer (commonly <5 ram thick) or series

of thin layers is irregular or involuted, hard, impervious,

commonly vitreous, and dark reddish brown to black; placic

Page 20
8 R

9 G

i0 L

ii S

12 X

13 Y

14 #

15

horizons may be cemented by Fe, Al-organic complexes (Bhfc

or Bfc), hydrated Fe oxides (Bgfc) or a mixture of Fe and Mn

oxides.

Rock. Consolidated bedrock too hard either to break with

the hands (>3 on Mohs' scale) or to dig when moist.

Gravel. A layer of coarse fragments with diameters of

0.2-7.5 cm.

Colluvium. See attribute number 09, code C.

Sand. Soil texture class in which the material contains

>85% of sand-sized separate; the percentage of silt plus 1.5

times the percentage of clay does not exceed 15%.

Silt. Soil texture class in which the material contains

>80% silt and <12% clay.

Clay. Soil texture class in which the material contains

>40% clay, <45% sand, and <40% silt-sized separates.

Not applicable.

Attribute does not occur.

Depth to compacted, consolidated, or contrasting layer

The depth class for any compacted, consolidated, or contrasting layer that exists. In the dominant

and subdominant depth to compacted, consolidated, or contrasting layer files, the following values are

used to represent the various groupings:

Pixel Original

Value Code Description

i i

2 2

3 3

4 4

5 5

6 #

7

0-49 cm

50-100 cm

>i00 cm

<i00 cm for mineral overlays

<160 cm for shale (terric) organic

Not applicable

Attribute does not occur

Drainage class

The drainage class of the soil over the area (e.g., excessive, rapid, poor). In the dominant and

subdominant drainage class files, the following values are used to represent the various groupings:

Pixel Original

Value Code Description

1 E

2 R

3 W

Excessive. Water is removed from the soil very rapidly in

relation to supply; excess water flows downward very rapidly

if underlying material is pervious; subsurface flow may be

very rapid during heavy rainfall provided the gradient is

steep; source of water is precipitation.

Rapid. Water is removed from the soil rapidly in relation

to supply; excess water flows downward if underlying

material is pervious; subsurface flow may occur on steep

gradients during heavy rainfall; source of water is

precipitation.

Well. Water is removed from the soil readily but not

rapidly; excess water flows downward readily into underlying

pervious material or laterally as subsurface flow; these

Page 21
4 M

5 I

6 P

7 V

8 #

9

soils commonly retain optimum amounts of moisture for plant

growth after rains or addition of irrigation water.

Moderately well. Water is removed from the soil somewhat

slowly in relation to supply; excess water is removed

somewhat slowly because of low perviousness, shallow water

table, lack of gradient, or some combination of these;

precipitation is the dominant source of water in medium-tofine textured soils; precipitation and significant additions

by subsurface flow are necessary in coarse-textured soils.

Imperfect. Water is removed from the soil sufficiently

slowly in relation to supply to keep the soil wet for a

significant part of the growing season; excess water moves

slowly downward if precipitation is the major supply; if

subsurface water or groundwater, or both, is the main

source, the flow rate may vary, but the soil remains wet for

a significant part of the growing season.

Poor. Water is removed so slowly in relation to supply that

the soil remains wet for a comparatively large part of the

time the soil is not frozen; excess water is evident in the

soil for much of the time; subsurface flow or groundwater

flow, or both, in addition to precipitation are the main

sources of water; there may also be a perched water table.

Very poor. Water is removed from the soil so slowly that

the water table remains at or on the surface for most of the

time the soil is not frozen; groundwater flow and subsurface

flow are the major sources of water; precipitation is less

important except where there is a perched water table.

Not applicable.

Attribute does not occur.

Available water capacity in upper 120 cm

That portion of water in a soil that can be readily absorbed by plant roots; generally considered to

be the water held in the soil between field capacity and a pressure of up to about 15 bars. In the

dominant and subdominant water capacity files, the following values are used to represent the various

groupings:

Pixel Original

Value Code Description

1 1

2 2

3 3

4 4

5 5

6 6

7 7

8 8

9 #

i0

50 ram

i00 mm

150 mm

200 mm

250 mm

Not applicable (solonetzic or saline soils)

Not applicable (high water table)

Not applicable (perennially frozen subsoils)

Not applicable (water, ice, rock)

Attribute does not occur

Page 22
Average depth to water table

The average depth to the water table in the area. In the dominant and subdominant depth to water

table files, the following values are used to represent the various groupings:

Pixel Original

Value Code Description

1 1 0-2 m (most shallow water table during

2 2 2-3 m

3 3 >3 m

4 4 0-i m

5 5 1-2 m

6 6 0-i m (with perennially frozen subsoil)

7 # Not applicable (water, ice, rock)

8 - Attribute does not occur

growing season

Ice type

The type of ice found in the soil. In the dominant and subdominant ice type files, the following

values are used to represent the various groupings:

Pixel Original

Value Code Description

1 1 Ice crystals and ice lenses

2 2 Ice wedges

3 3 Massive ground ice

4 4 Undifferentiated

5 # Not applicable

6 - Attribute does not occur

Ice content

The relative amount of ice contained in the soil. In the dominant and subdominant ice content files,

the following values are used to represent the various groupings:

Pixel Original

Value Code Description

1 L Low

2 M Medium

3 H High

4 # Not applicable

5 - Attribute does not occur

Permafrost occurrence

The relative occurrence of permafrost in the soil of the area. In the dominant and subdominant

permafrost occurrence files, the following values are used to represent the various groupings.

Pixel Original

Value Code Description

1 V

2 S

Very sporadic. Sparse patches of permafrost occurring near

the southern limit of permafrost.

Sporadic. The occurrence of isolated patches or islands of

permafrost near the southern boundary of discontinuous

Page 23
3 D

4 C

5 #

6

permafrost zone.

Discontinuous. Permafrost occurring in some areas beneath

the exposed land surface throughout a geographic region

where other areas are free of permafrost.

Continuous. Permafrost occurring everywhere beneath the

exposed land surface throughout a geographic region with the

exception of widely scattered sites, such as newly deposited

unconsolidated sediments.

Not applicable.

Attribute does not occur.

Active layer depth in soils with permafrost

The depth of the top layer of ground subject to annual thawing and freezing in areas underlain by

permafrost. The value in the file represents the depth of the active layer.

Kind of patterned ground in soils with permafrost

The types of geometrically shaped patterns found in soils with permafrost. In the dominant and

subdominant kind of patterned ground files, the following values are used to represent the various

groupings:

Pixel Original

Value Code Description

1 01

2 02

3 03

4 O4

5 O5

6 06

7 07

8 O8

9 O9

i0 i0

ii ii

Sorted circle. Patterned ground having a dominantly

circular mesh and a sorted appearance commonly produced by a

border of stones surrounding finer material.

Sorted net. Patterned ground having a mesh neither

dominantly circular nor polygonal; a sorted appearance

results from borders of stones surrounding finer material.

Sorted stripe. Patterned ground with a striped pattern and

sorted appearance resulting from parallel lines of stones

and intervening stripes of finer material oriented down the

steepest available slope.

Sorted large polygon. Patterned ground having a dominantly

polygonal mesh and a sorted appearance commonly produced by

border of stones surrounding finer material; polygon

diameter is >i m.

Sorted small polygon. Same for code 04 except that polygon

diameter is <i m.

Nonsorted circle. Patterned ground having a dominantly

circular mesh but lacking a border of stones.

Nonsorted net. Patterned ground having neither a

dominantly circular or polygonal mesh nor a border of

stones.

Nonsorted large polygon. Patterned ground having a

dominantly polygonal mesh but lacking a border of stones;

polygon diameter is >i m.

Nonsorted small polygon. Same for code 08 except that

polygon diameter is <i m.

Earth hummock. Hummock having a core of silty and clayey

mineral soil and showing signs of cryoturbation.

Lowland (peat) polygon. Bog with flat-topped or convex

peat surfaces separated by trenches over ice wedges that

form a polygonal pattern at the surface.

Page 24
12 12 Polygonal peat plateau. Generally flat-topped expanse of

peat elevated above the general surface of a wetland and

containing segregated ice that may or may not extend

downward into underlying mineral soil.

13 13 No pattern. Unpatterned ground.

14 # Not applicable.

15 - Attribute does not occur.

pH of upper 15 em of soil measured in CaCI2

The pH of the upper 15 cm of soil as measured using CaC12. The value in the file divided by 10

represents the pH of the upper 15 cm of soil.

pH of upper 15 em of soil measured in water

The pH of the upper 15 cm of soil as measured using water. The value in the file divided by l0

represents the pH of the upper 15 cm of soil.

Organic carbon of upper 15 em of soil

The percent of organic carbon contained in the upper 15 cm of soil. The value in the file represents

the nearest percent of carbon in the top 15 cm of soil.

Nitrogen content of upper 15 cm of soil

The percent of nitrogen contained in the upper 15 cm of soil. In the dominant and subdominant

nitrogen content files, the following values are used to represent the various groupings:

Pixel Original

Value Code Description

i 0 <0.1%

2 i 0.1-0.5%

3 2 0 .6-1 .5%

4 3 >i .5%

5 # Not applicable

6 - Attribute does

(water, rock, ice)

not occur

Thickness of humus layer (L, F, H)

The thickness categories for the humus layer. In the dominant and subdominant thickness of

humus layer files, the following values are used to represent the various groupings:

Pixel Original

Value Code Description

1 0 <5 cm

2 1 5-10 cm

3 2 11-20 cm

4 3 21-40 cm

5 4 >40 cm

6 # Not applicable

7 - Attribute does

(e.g., cultivated, eroded)

not occur

Page 25
Calcareous class of parent material

The calcareous class of the parent material. In the dominant and subdominant calcareous class files,

the following values are used to represent the various groupings:

Pixel Original

Value Code Description

i 0 Noncalcareous. No CaCO 3 detectable with dilute HCI.

2 1 Weakly. 1-5% CaCO 3 equivalents (weak effervescence with

dilute HCl) .

3 2 Strongly. 6-40% CaCO 3 equivalents (moderate to strong

effervescence with dilute HCl)

4 3 Extremely. >40% CaCO 3 equivalents (very strong

effervescence with dilute HCl)

5 # Not applicable (water, rock, ice) .

6 - Attribute does not occur

Inclusions 1

The predominant type of inclusions found in the area. Inclusions may represent a maximum of

15% of the polygon area. Although their percent occupance is relatively small, they are generally

strongly contrasting to the dominant or subdominant soil landscapes. A maximum of two inclusions

may be recorded for each of the dominant and subdominant soil landscapes; a maximum of four

inclusions may be recorded for each polygon. Inclusions provide an opportunity to document that

"little bit" of extra information about the polygon. They may be associated with the dominant or

subdominant soil landscape or they may occur independently. Extreme caution is recommended when

using inclusions in area calculations. In the dominant and subdominant inclusions files, the following

values are used to represent the various groupings:

Pixel Original

Value Code Description

1 A

2 BG

3 BL

4 BC

5 BR

6

7

8

9

i0

ii

12

13

14

BS

C

CA

CC

CH

CY

D

DB

DC

Acid surface soil. pH <6.0.

Bog. See file i0, code B.

Black Chernozemic soil. See file 12, code C.

Brown Chernozemic soil. See file 12, code A.

Bedrock, hard. Consolidated bedrock that is too hard either

to break with the hands (>3 on Mohs' scale) or to dig with a

spade when moist.

Bedrock, soft. Bedrock that can be broken with the hands

(<3 on Mohs' scale) and dug with a spade when moist.

Clay substrate. Clay material forming a lithologic

discontinuity within 1 m of the soil surface.

Calcareous surface soil. Indicated by visible effervescence

when dilute HCl is added.

Colluvium. See file i0, code C.

Chernozemic soil. Unspecified Chernozemic soils; more than

one subgroup present.

Clay. See file ii.

Dissected surface form See file 8, code D.

Dark Brown Chernozemic soil. See file 12,

code B.

Deep colluvium. Colluvial material (see attribute number

09, code C) to a depth of >i m.

Page 26
15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

4O

41

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

49

5O

DG

DU

E

EO

ES

F

FH

FO

G

GG

GG

GL

GM

GV

GY

HC

HP

HU

I

IC

ID

L

LC

LF

LI

LM

LO

LS

LU

M

ML

MP

N

NN

0

OC

Deep gravelly fluvioglacial. Gravelly fluvioglacial

material to a depth of >i m; see file i0 (code

F) and ii.

Duric material. See file 16, code D.

Eroded knolls. Relatively light-colored knolls compared to

other slope positions, occurring in hummocky or knoll-andkettle surface forms.

Eolian material. >50 cm of eolian material (see file i0,

code E).

Eroded slopes. Slopes eroded by water.

Fluvioglacial substrate. Substrate of fluvioglacial

material (see file i0, code F) .

Ferro-Humic Podzolic soil. See attribute number ii, code V.

Folisol. See file 12, code 2.

Sandy loam morainal material. Morainal material with a

sandy loam texture (see file ii) .

Gravelly alluvium. See files i0 (code A) and ii.

Gravelly fluvioglacial material. See files i0 (code F)

and ii.

Gleyed soil. Presence of faint to distinct mottles (or

blotches) of different color interspersed within the

dominant matrix color.

Gravelly marine material. See files i0 (code W) and ii.

Orthic Gray Luvisolic soil. See file 12, code F.

Gleysolic soil. See file 12, code U.

Shallow lithic colluvium. Colluvial material (see file i0,

code C) overlying a lithic contact 50-100 cm from

the surface.

Humo-Ferric Podzolic soil. See file 12, code W.

Hummocky surface form. See file 8, code H.

Brunisolic Gray Luvisolic soil. See file 12,

code I.

Ice. See file 5, code C.

Imperfectly drained soil. See file 18, code I.

Melanic Brunisolic soil. See file 12, code L.

Lacustrine material. See file i0, code L.

Loamy alluvium material. See files i0 (code A) and ii.

Lithic layer. Bedrock occurring within the normal depth of

soil development, usually within 1 m of the soil surface.

Loamy morainal till. Till (or morainal) material in which

soil separates contain <35% clay and coarse fragments occupy

<35% by volume.

Loamy marine material. See files i0 (code W) and ii.

Silty lacustrine material. See files i0 (code L) and ii.

Luvisolic soil. See file 12, code E or F.

Eutric Brunisolic soil. See file 12, code M.

Clay loam marine material. See files i0

(code W) and ii.

Moss peat. Relatively undecomposed, spongy organic

material.

Sombric Brunisolic soil. See file 12, code N.

None.

Organic material. See file i0, code O.

Organic Cryosolic soil. See file 12, code O.

Page 27
51

52

53

54

55

56

57

58

59

60

61

62

63

64

65

66

67

68

69

7O

71

72

73

74

75

76

77

78

79

8O

81

82

83

84

85

86

OT

P

PD

PP

R1

R2

R3

R4

RD

RG

SA

SC

SD

SF

SG

SH

SL

SO

SP

SS

ST

SY

T

TA

TC

TE

TR

TT

VA

VS

WD

WE

WT

Ortstein. See file 16, code O.

Dystric Brunisolic soil. See file 12, code P.

Poorly drained soil. See file 18, code P.

Poorly drained, peat soil. Poorly drained soil with a peaty

surface layer (<40 cm thick) .

Soft rock outcrops. See file 5, code RI.

Hard rock outcrops, acidic. Granite rock outcrops.

Hard rock outcrops, basic. Limestone rock outcrops.

Hard rock outcrops, undifferentiated. See attribute number

03, code R4.

Rapidly drained soil. See file 18, code R.

Regosolic soil. See file 12, code R.

Saline soil. Soil causing an obvious reduction in crop

growth, may have white surface crust.

Static Cryosolic soil. See file 12, code S.

Sandy marine material. Marine material with a sand texture

class; see files i0 (code A) and ii.

Sandy alluvium. See attribute numbers 09 (code A) and i0.

Sandy fluvioglacial material. Fluvioglacial material but

with a sand texture class; see files i0 (code F) and ii.

Gravelly shoreline. See file ii.

Silty alluvium. See files i0 (code A) and ii.

Sombric Humo-Ferric Podzolic soil. See file 12,

code W.

Steep surface form. See file 8, code S.

Silty surface texture. See file ii.

Stony surface. Sufficient stones to seriously handicap

cultivation.

Sandy material. See file ii.

Till substrate. Till (or morainal) material forming a

lithologic discontinuity within 1 m of the soil surface.

Talus. Sloping mass of rock fragments below a cliff or at

the foot of a steep slope.

Turbic Cryosolic soil. See file 12, code T.

Terric layer. Unconsolidated mineral substratum occurring

within the normal depth of organic soil development

(40-160 cm) .

Terraced surface form. See file 8, code T.

Anthropogenic material. See file i0, code T.

Volcanic ash. Deposition of fine, wind-transported material

of volcanic origin deposited in thin layers that persist for

along time in bogs, river terraces, talus slopes, and kettle

holes.

Very shallow lithic layer. Rock material occurring at <50

cm from the surface.

Well-drained soil. See file 18, code W.

Wind erosion. Removal of surface soil particles caused by

wind action.

Wetlands. Lands dominated by the persistent presence of

excess water indicated by Gleysolic and shallow Organic

soils under a cover of hydrophytic vegetation.

Fibrisol. See file 12, code X.

Mesisol. See file 12, code Y.

Humisol. See file 12, code Z.

Page 28
87 ii

88 14

89 17

90 21

91 23

92 #

93

94 22

Fibric-sphagnum soil. Sphagnum organic soil in the stage of

decomposition in which fibric materials are readily

identifiable as to botanical origin.

Patterned ground. See file 25.

Bouldery material. Rounded or irregular coarse fragments

>60 cm in diameter.

Mesic-sedge material. Sedge organic material in a mesic (or

intermediate) degree of decomposition.

Mesic woody-forest material. Woody-forest organic material

in a mesic degree of decomposition; the material is partly

altered physically and biochemically.

Not applicable.

Attribute does not occur.

(Not in original documentation.)

Inclusions 2

The secondary type of inclusions found. In the dominant and subdominant inclusions files, the

same values are used as for inclusions 1 described previously.

Vegetative cover or land use, or both

The category of vegetative cover or type of land use in the area. In the dominant and subdominant

vegetative cover or land use files, the following values are used to represent the various groupings:

Pixel Original

Value Code Description

1 A

2 B

3 C

4 D

5 E

6 G

7 H

i0

ii

12

13

M

P

R

S

SP

TA

Agricultural crops. Annual field crops.

Bog. Bogs may be treed or treeless and are usually covered

with sphagnum spp. and ericaceous shrubs.

Coniferous forest. Dominated by needle-leaved, cone-bearing

species.

Deciduous forest. Dominated by broadleaf species.

Fen. Dominated by sedges, grasses, reeds, and brown mosses

with some shrubs and, at times, a sparse tree layer.

Grassland. Perennial native grassland or improved pasture.

Arctic desert. Unvegetated areas in the polar desert of the

high Arctic; may be caused by either climatic (too cold or

too dry) or edaphic (low soil nutrients or toxic substrate)

factors, or a combination of both.

Mixed deciduous and coniferous forest. See codes C and D.

Parkland. A forest-grassland transition comprising a mosaic

of trembling aspen stands interspersed with patches of

cropland, grassland, and meadow.

Marshland. A mosaic surface pattern composed of pools or

channels interspersed with clumps of emergent sedges,

grasses, rushes, and reeds, bordering grassy meadows, and

peripheral bands of shrubs or trees; submerged and floating

aquatics flourish in open water areas.

Shrubland. Dominated by shrub species.

Sedge peat. Dominated by Carex spp. and generally

moderately decomposed and matted; the sedge leaves are

readily identifiable to the naked eye.

Tundra, alpine. Treeless terrain found at high altitudes

occurring immediately above the forest zone and the upper

Page 29
14 TL

15 TM

16 U

17 #

18

altitudinal timberline; tundra vegetation comprises lichens,

mosses, sedges, grasses, forbs, and low shrubs (<20 cm)

including heaths, dwarf willows, and birches.

Tundra, low shrub. Treeless terrain found at high latitudes

occurring most widely in the zone immediately north of the

boreal forest including the treeless parts of the foresttundra ecotone adjacent to the treeline; tundra vegetation

comprises lichens, mosses, sedges, grasses, forbs, and low

shrubs (<20 cm), including heaths, dwarf willows, and

birches.

Tundra, medium shrub. Similar to low-shrub tundra (see code

TL) except for medium (>20 cm) instead of low shrubs.

Unvegetated surface.

Not applicable.

Attribute does not occur.

Lake size estimated from Landsat imagery

The size category of a lake that exists over the area. In the dominant and subdominant lake size

files, the following values are used to represent the various groupings:

Pixel Original

Value Code Description

1 S

2 M

3 L

4 V

5 #

6

7 F

Small <i km 2 (not visible on 1

imagery)

Medium i-i0 km 2

Large 11-50 km 2

Very large >50 km 2

Not applicable

Attribute does not occur

(Not in original documentation

1,000,000-scale Landsat

The percent levels of the area covered by water bodies that are wholly contained within the polygon as

estimated from Landsat images. In the dominant and subdominant percent water body files, the

following values are used to represent the various groupings:

Pixel Original

Value Code Description

1 F

2 C

3 M

4 A

5 #

6

Few. Water bodies cover 0-10% area of polygon.

Common. Water bodies cover 11-25% area of polygon.

Many. Water bodies cover 26-50% area of polygon.

Abundant. Water bodies cover >50% area of polygon.

Not applicable.

Attribute does not occur.

Page 30
Reliability class of polygon

The relative reliability of the information provided for the polygon. In the dominant and

subdominant reliability class files, the following values are used to represent the various groupings:

Pixel Original

Value Code Description

1 V

2 L

3 M

4 H

5 #

6

Very low. Compiled from interpretation of Landsat data

only; no ground data are collected for verification of these

areas.

Low. Compiled from soil survey maps produced from field

traverses at wide intervals (up to i0 km) and without the

use of aerial photographs, or compiled from maps produced by

inspections using fixed-wing aircraft or helicopter and

aided by interpretation of Landsat imagery.

Medium. Produced from systematic traverses by helicopter

and by interpretation of stereoscopic aerial photographs,

or compiled from modern soil survey procedures, which

include traversing existing accessible roads in wilderness

areas, and aided by interpretation of stereoscopic aerial

photographs.

High. Compiled from modern soil survey maps produced from

field traverses at <l.6-km intervals and with the aid of

stereoscopic aerial photographs.

Not applicable.

Attribute does not occur.

Complexity class of polygon (8-bit integers)

The relative complexity or variability of the soil in the area. In the dominant and subdominant

complexity class files, the following values are used to represent the various groupings:

Pixel Original

Value Code Description

1 L

2 M

3 H

4 #

5

Low. Soil and landscape attributes within the polygon are

uniform for most interpretations; in most cases the polygon

has only a dominant component.

Medium. Soil and landscape attributes are moderately

variable but predictable; there are generally dominant and

subdominant components, each of which usually has been

generalized from no more than two classes of parent material

or soil development, or both; there may also be an inclusion

in the polygon.

High. Soil and landscape attributes are highly variable and

unpredictable; dominant, subdominant, and inclusion

components are present, each of which has been generalized

from more than two classes of parent material or soil

development, or both; use this class to warn of extreme

oversimplification in any interpretations from the extended

legend.

Not applicable.

Attribute does not occur.

Page 31
Soil name numbers (files 1 and 2)

The binary number in the dominant and subdominant soil name number raster files for

Saskatchewan and Manitoba that are used to look up pertinent information in the American Standard

Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) soil name files.

Parent material textural group

The texture group of the parent material. In the dominant and subdominant parent material texture

files, the following values are used to represent the various groupings:

Pixel Original

Value Code Description

1 sd Sand. Group includes CBS, CBLS,

VGS, LVFS, VS, GLS, VGLS

2 sl Sandy loam. Group includes CBSL

GFL.

3 im Loam. Group includes GL, CBL, L

4 cl Clay loam. Group includes CBCL

and SICL.

5 cy Clay. Group includes SC,

6 # Not applicable.

7 - Attribute does not occur.

CS, S, LS, LFS, FS, GS,

SL, FL, GSL, VGSL, and

GSIL, VL, SIL.

GSCL, GCL, SCL, VCL, CL,

GSIC, SIC, C, and HC.

The following describes the soil names files and how to decode the various columns of data that they

contain.Soil Names Supplemental Information for Saskatchewan (ASCII): The columns of this file are

listed in the following order:

Image Value

Soil Code

Undocumented variable

Province

Soil Name

Modifier

Land Use

Kind of Soil

Water Table

Soil layer that restricts root

Type of Root Restricting Layer

Soil Drainage class

Mode of Deposition 1

Mode of Deposition 2

Mode of Deposition 3

Soil Order

Soil Sub-Group

Soil Great Group

Profile

Date

A-Thick (cm)

Soil Thickness (cm)

Soil Chemistry

Parent Material Modifier

Parent Material Complex

Parent Material Deposition 2

Parent Material Chemistry

growth

Page 32
Parent Material Textural Class

Texture Modifier

Family Particle Size

Physiographic

Soil Names Supplemental Information for Manitoba (ASCII): The columns of this file are listed in the

following order:

Image Value

Soil Code

Province

Soil Name

Modifier

Land Use

Kind of Soil

Water Table

Soil layer that restricts root growth

Type of Root Restricting Layer

Soil Drainage class

Mode of Deposition 1

Mode of Deposition 2

Mode of Deposition 3

Soil Order

Soil Sub-Group

Soil Great Group

Profile

Date

Soil Layer File Availability

The following information describes the codes for the column values in the soil names files:

Soil Name

File Column Description

IMAGE VALUE

SOIL CODE

PROVINCE

SOILNAME

MODIFIER

The value assigned to each pixel on the Soil Name layers.

The soil name file for a province should be used only with

the soil name layer for that province. For example, the soil

name file for Manitoba should not be used with a soil name

layer for Saskatchewan.

Three-character code for the soil name.

BC British Columbia

AB Alberta

SK Saskatchewan

MB Manitoba

ON Ontario

QU Quebec

NF Newfoundland

NB New Brunswick

NS Nova Scotia

PE Prince Edward Island

YU Yukon

NW North West Territories

Assigned by correlator.

Three-character code to show soil variations. The modifier

Page 33
LU

KIND

WATERTBL

ROOTRESTR

RESTR TYPE

DRAINAGE

MDEP

applies to the soil name and the soil code.

Land use:

N Native conditions

A Agriculture

Kind of soil.

M Mineral

O Organic

N Nonsoil

U Unclassified or incomplete

Water table characteristics:

- Not applicable

NO Not present at any time

YU Present during unspecified time

YG Present during growing season

YN Present during nongrowing season

YB Present during both seasons

Soil layer that restricts root growth:

- Not applicable

0 Not present

1-9 Restricting layer number (in SLF)

Type of root restricting layer:

- Not applicable

UN Undifferentiated

BN Solonetzic B

SA EC>4dS/m

CT Compact (Basal) Till

OR Ortstein

FP Fragipan

LI Lithic

CR Cryic

DU Duric

PL Placic

Soil drainage class:

- Not applicable

VR Very Rapidly

R Rapidly

W Well

MW Moderately Well

I Imperfectly

P Poorly

VP Very Poorly

Mode of deposition (and MDEPI, MDEP2, MDEP3)

- Not Applicable

ANTH Anthropogenic

COLL Colluvial

EOLI Eolian

FLEO Fluvioeolian

FLLC Fluviolacustrine

FLUV Fluvial

FNPT Fen Peat

FOPT Forest Peat

GLFL Glaciofluvial

GLLC Glaciolacustrine

GLMA Glaciomarine

Page 34
LACU

LATL

MARI

RESD

SAPR

SEPT

SPPT

TILL

UNDM

UNDO

VOLC

Lacustrine

Lacustro-Till

Marine

Residual

Saprolite

Sedimentary Peat

Sphagnum Peat

Till (Morainal)

Undifferentiated mineral

Undifferentiated organic

Volcanic

ORDER Soil Order:

- Not applicable

BR Brunisolic

CH Chernozemic

CY Cryosolic

GL Gleysolic

LU Luvisolic

OR Organic

PZ Podzolic

RG Regosolic

SZ Solonetzic

S GROUP AND G GROUP Soil Subgroup and Great Group characters before the dot (.)

go into the S GROUP field; characters after the dot go into the G GROUP field) :

A.SZ

B.SO

B.SS

B.SZ

BL.SO

BL.SS

BL.SZ

BR.GBL

BR.GL

BR.SC

BR.TC

CA.B

CA.BL

CA.DB

CA.DG

CU.F

CU.H

CU.HR

CU.M

CU.R

D.GL

DB SO

DB SS

DB SZ

DG SO

DG SS

DU DYB

DU FHP

DU HFP

Not applicable

Alkaline Solonetz

Brown Solod

Brown Solodized Solonetz

Brown Solonetz

Black Solod

Black Solodized Solonetz

Black Solonetz

Brunisolic Gray Brown Luvisol

Brunisolic Gray Luvisol

Brunisolic Static Cryosol

Brunisolic Turbic Cryosol

Calcareous Brown

Calcareous Black

Calcareous Dark Brown

Calcareous Dark

Cumulo Fibrisol

Cumulo Humisol

Cumulic Humic Regosol

Cumulo Mesisol

Cumulic Regosol

Dark Gray Luvisol

Dark Brown Solod

Dark Brown Solodized Solonetz

Dark Brown Solonetz

Dark Gray Solod

Dark Gray Solodized Solonetz

Duric Dystric Brunisol

Duric Ferro-Humic Podzol

Duric Humo-Ferric Podzol

Page 35
DU.HP

DU.SB

EB

E BL

E DB

E DYB

E EB

E LG

E MB

E SB

FE.G

FE.HG

FI.H

FI.M

FI.OC

FR.FHP

FR.GL

FR.HFP

FR.HP

FR.LG

G.SO

G.SS

GC OC

GL B

GL BL

GL DB

GL DG

GL DYB

GL EB

GL FHP

GL GBL

GL GL

GL HFP

GL HR

GL MB

GL R

GL SB

GL SC

GL TC

GLB.SO

GLB.SS

GLB.SZ

GLBL.SO

GLBL.SS

GLBL.SZ

GLBR.GBL

GLBR.GL

GLCA.B

GLCA.BL

GLCA.DB

GLCA.DG

GLCU.HR

GLCU.R

GLD.GL

Duric Humic Podzol

Duric Sombric Brunisol

Eluviated Brown

Eluviated Black

Eluviated Dark Brown

Eluviated Dystric Brunisol

Eluviated Eutric Brunisol

Fera Luvic Gleysol

Eluviated Melanic Brunisol

Eluviated Sombric Brunisol

Fera Gleysol

Fera Humic Gleysol

Fibric Humisol

Fibric Mesisol

Fibric Organic Cryosol

Fragic Ferro-Humic Podzol

Fragic Gray Luvisol

Fragic Humo-Ferric Podzol

Fragic Humic Podzol

Fragic Luvic Gleysol

Gray Solod

Gray Solodized Solonetz

Glacic Organic Cryosol

Gleyed Brown

Gleyed Black

Gleyed Dark Brown

Gleyed Dark Gray

Gleyed Dystric Brunisol

Gleyed Eutric Brunisol

Gleyed Ferro-Humic Podzol

Gleyed Gray Brown Luvisol

Gleyed Gray Luvisol

Gleyed Humo-Ferric Podzol

Gleyed Humic Regosol

Gleyed Melanic Brunisol

Gleyed Regosol

Gleyed Sombric Brunisol

Gleysolic Static Cryosol

Gleysolic Turbic Cryosol

Gleyed Brown Solod

Gleyed Brown Solodized Solonetz

Gleyed Brown Solonetz

Gleyed Black Solod

Gleyed Black Solodized Solonetz

Gleyed Black Solonetz

Gleyed Brunisolic Gray Brown Luvisol

Gleyed Brunisolic Gray Luvisol

Gleyed Calcareous Brown

Gleyed Calcareous Black

Gleyed Calcareous Dark Brown

Gleyed Calcareous Dark Gray

Gleyed Cumulic Humic Regosol

Gleyed Cumulic Regosol

Gleyed Dark Gray Luvisol

Page 36
GLDB.SO

GLDB.SS

GLDB.SZ

GLDG.SO

GLDG.SS

GLE.B

GLE.BL

GLE.DB

GLE.DYB

GLE.EB

GLE.MB

GLE.SB

GLFR.GL

GLG.SO

GLG.SS

GLOT.FHP

GLOT.HFP

GLPZ.GBL

GLPZ.GL

GLR.B

GLR.BL

GLR.DB

GLR.DG

GLSM.FHP

GLSM.HFP

GLSZ.B

GLSZ.BL

GLSZ.DB

GLSZ.DG

GLSZ.GL

HE FO

HI FO

HU F

HU FO

HU LG

HUM

HU OC

HY F

HY H

HY M

LI FO

LM.F

LM.H

LM.M

LU.FHP

LU.HFP

ME.F

ME.H

ME.OC

O.B

O.BL

O.DB

O.DG

O.DYB

Gleyed Dark Brown Solod

Gleyed Dark Brown Solodized Solonetz

Gleyed Dark Brown Solonetz

Gleyed Dark Gray Solod

Gleyed Dark Gray Solodized Solonetz

Gleyed Eluviated Brown

Gleyed Eluviated Black

Gleyed Eluviated Dark Brown

Gleyed Eluviated Dystric Brunisol

Gleyed Eluviated Eutric Brunisol

Gleyed Eluviated Melanic Brunisol

Gleyed Eluviated Sombric Brunisol

Gleyed Fragic Gray Luvisol

Gleyed Gray Solod

Gleyed Gray Solodized Solonetz

Gleyed Ortstein Ferro-Humic Podzol

Gleyed Ortstein Humo-Ferric Podzol

Gleyed Podzolic Gray Brown Luvisol

Gleyed Podzolic Gray Luvisol

Gleyed Rego Brown

Gleyed Rego Black

Gleyed Rego Dark Brown

Gleyed Rego Dark Gray

Gleyed Sombric Ferro-Humic Podzol

Gleyed Sombric Humo-Ferric Podzol

Gleyed Solonetzic Brown

Gleyed Solonetzic Black

Gleyed Solonetzic Dark Brown

Gleyed Solonetzic Dark Gray

Gleyed Solonetzic Gray Luvisol

Hemic Folisol

Histic Folisol

Humic Fibrisol

Humic Folisol

Humic Luvic Gleysol

Humic Mesisol

Humic Organic Cryosol

Hydric Fibrisol

Hydric Humisol

Hydric Mesisol

Lignic Folisol

Limno Fibrisol

Limno Humisol

Limno Mesisol

Luvisolic Ferro-Humic Podzol

Luvisolic Humo-Ferric Podzol

Mesic Fibrisol

Mesic Humisol

Mesic Organic Cryosol

Orthic Brown

Orthic Black

Orthic Dark Brown

Orthic Dark Gray

Orthic Dystric Brunisol

Page 37
O EB

O FHP

OG

O GBL

O GL

O HFP

O HG

O HP

O HR

O LG

O HB

OR

O SB

O SC

O TC

OT.FHP

OT.HFP

OT.HP

P.FHP

P.HFP

P.HP

PZ.GBL

PZ.GL

RB

R BL

R DB

R DG

RG

R HG

R SC

R TC

SM.FHP

SM.HFP

SZ B

SZ BL

SZ DB

SZ DG

SZ G

SZ GL

SZ HG

SZ LG

T.F

T.H

T.M

TFI.H

TFI.M

TFI.OC

THU.F

THU.M

THU.OC

TME.F

TME.H

TME.OC

TY.F

Orthic Eutric Brunisol

Orthic Ferro-Humic Podzol

Orthic Gleysol

Orthic Gray Brown Luvisol

Orthic Gray Luvisol

Orthic Humo-Ferric Podzol

Orthic Humic Gleysol

Orthic Humic Podzol

Orthic Humic Regosol

Orthic Luvic Gleysol

Orthic Melanic Brunisolic

Orthic Regosol

Orthic Sombric Brunisol

Orthic Static Cryosol

Orthic Turbic Cryosol

Ortstein Ferro-Humic Podzol

Ortstein Humo-Ferric Podzol

Ortstein Humic Podzol

Placic Ferro-Humic Podzol

Placic Humo-Ferric Podzol

Placic Humic Podzol

Podzolic Gray Brown Luvisol

Podzolic Gray Luvisol

Rego Brown

Rego Black

Rego Dark Brown

Rego Dark Gray

Rego Gleysol

Rego Humic Gleysol

Regosolic Static Cryosol

Rego Turbic Cryosol

Sombric Ferro-Humic Podzol

Sombric Humo-Ferric Podzol

Solonetzic Brown

Solonetzic Black

Solonetzic Dark Brown

Solonetzic Dark Gray

Solonetzic Gleysol

Solonetzic Gray Luvisol

Solonetzic Humic Gleysol

Solonetzic Luvic Gleysol

Terric Fibrisol

Terric Humisol

Terric Mesisol

Terric Fibric Humisol

Terric Fibric Mesisol

Terric Fibric Organic Cryosol

Terric Humic Fibrisol

Terric Humic Mesisol

Terric Humic Organic Cryosol

Terric Mesic Fibrisol

Terric Mesic Humisol

Terric Mesic Organic Cryosol

Typic Fibrisol

Page 38
PROFILE

DATE

A-THICK

SOL-THICK

SOL-CHEM

PM-MODIFY

PM-COMPLEX

PMDEP2

PM-CHEM

L20

G20

NA

(cm)

-9

TY.H Typic Humisol

TY.M Typic Mesisol

Header from Detail II File, may be blank or '-'

YY.MM.DD Date of last revision for each record in the file.

The thickness of the A-horizon:

- less than 20 cm

- greater than 20 cm

- not applicable

- not applicable

The general chemistry of the soil:

AN - medium acid to neutral

EA - extremely acid

EC - extremely calcareous

WC - weakly calcareous

UD - undifferentiated

VC - very calcareous

SA - saline

NA - not applicable

SHAL - shale

CRET - cretaceous

TERT - tertiary

STON - stony contact

LIME - limestone

TECR - tertiary-cretaceous

NA - not applicable

COM - complex

NA - not applicable

-- - not applicable

ANTH - anthropogenic

COLL - colluvial

EOLI - eolian

FLEO - fluvioeolian

FLLC - fluviolacustrine

FLUV - fluvial

FNPT - fen peat

FOPT - forest peat

GLFL - glaciofluvial

GLLC - glaciolacustrine

GLMA - glaciomarine

LACU - lacustrine

LATL - lacustro-till

MARI - marine

RESD - residual

SAPR - saprolite

SEPT - sedimentary peat

SPPT - sphagnum peat

TILL - till (morainal)

UNDM - undifferentiated mineral

UNDO - undifferentiated organic

VOLC - volcanic

UD - undifferentiated

EA - extremely acid

AN - medium acid to neutral

Page 39
PHTEXCLASS

TEXMODIFY

FAMPARTSI2

WC

VC

EC

SA

NA

VCS

CS

LCS

S

FS

LS

LFS

VFS

LVFS

CSL

SL

FSL

VFSL

L

SIL

SCL

SICL

CL

C

HC

O

F

M

H

NA

GR

VG

WY

NA

UD

FR

SK

SY

CL

FL

LY

CY

SM

SU

SO

OG

WY

FI

ME

HU

RU

RA

RB

RS

weakly calcareous

very calcareous

extremely calcareous

saline

not applicable

very coarse sand

coarse sand

loamy coarse sand

sand

fine sand

loamy sand

loamy fine sand

very fine sand

loamy very fine sand

coarse sandy loam

sandy loam

fine sandy loam

very fine sandy loam

loam

silt loam

sandy clay loam

silty clay loam

clay loam

clay

heavy clay

organic

fibric

mesic

humic

not applicable

gravelly

very gravelly

woody

not applicable

undifferentiated

fragmental

skeletal

sandy

coarse loamy

fine loamy

loamy

clayey

stratified mineral

stratified mineral and organic

stratified organic

organic

woody

fibric

mesic

humic

bedrock undifferentiated

bedrock acid

bedrock basic

bedrock soft

Page 40
PHYSlOG

NA - not applicable

PHY - physiographic

NA - not applicable

7.3.3 Unit of Measurement

• Provincial Code - Unitless but coded value.

• Polygon Number - Unitless but coded value.

• Surface material - Unitless but coded value.

• Percentage distribution of dominant and subdominant soil landscapes - Percent.

• Regional landform - Unitless but coded value.

• Local surface form - Unitless but coded value.

• Slope gradient class - Unitless but coded value.

• Soil parent material mode of deposition (or origin) - Unitless but coded value.

• Parent material texture - Unitless but coded value.

• Soil development - Unitless but coded value.

• Surface texture of mineral soil to 15 cm - Unitless but coded value.

• Coarse fragment content of mineral soils - Unitless but coded value.

• Rooting depth, unrestricted - Unitless but coded value.

• Kind of compacted, consolidated, or contrasting layer - None.

• Depth to compacted, consolidated, or contrasting layer - None.

• Drainage class - Unitless but coded value.

• Available water capacity in upper 120 cm - Unitless but coded value.

• Average depth to water table - Unitless but coded value.

• Ice type - Unitless but coded value.

• Ice content - Unitless but coded value.

• Permafrost occurrence - Unitless but coded value.

• Active layer depth in soils with permafrost - centimeters.

• Kind of patterned ground in soils with permafrost - Unitless but coded value.

• pH of upper 15 cm of soil measured in CaCI2 - Tenths of pH units. Divide by 10.

• pH of upper 15 cm of soil measured in water - Tenths of pH units. Divide by 10.

• Organic carbon of upper 15 cm of soil - Percent.

• Nitrogen content of upper 15 cm of soil - Unitless but coded value.

• Thickness of humus layer (L, F, H) - Unitless but coded value.

• Calcareous class of parent material - Unitless but coded value.

• Inclusions 1 - Unitless but coded value.

• Inclusions 2 - Unitless but coded value.

• Vegetative cover or land use, or both - Unitless but coded value.

• Lake size estimated from Landsat imagery - Unitless but coded value.

• Reliability class of polygon - Unitless but coded value.

• Complexity class of polygon - Unitless but coded value.

• Soil name 1 - Unitless but coded value.

• Soil name 2 - Unitless but coded value.

• Parent material textural group - Unitless but coded value.

• Soil Names Supplemental Information for Saskatchewan - See the end of Section 7.3.2 for

descriptions of the columns in the file.

• Soil Names Supplemental Information for Manitoba - See the end of Section 7.3.2 for

descriptions of the columns in the file.

7.3.4 Data Source

The original vector data set was produced by Agriculture Canada and was acquired from:

CanSIS Project Leader

Land Resource Research Centre

Research Branch, Agriculture Canada

Page 41
CentralExperimentFarm

K.W. NearbyBuilding

Ottawa,OntarioK1A 0C6

7.3.5 Data Range

Thevariousdatalayershavedifferentdataranges.Someof thepotentialvaluesarelistedunderthe

variabledescriptionsprovidedin Section7.3.2.

7.4 Sample Data Record

Not applicableforrasterdatafiles.

8. Data Organization

8.1 Data Granularity

The smallest amount of obtainable data is the entire data set containing all of the raster layers and

their supporting files.

8.2 Data Format(s)

8.2.1 Uncompressed Data Files

The regional soils product contains 83 total files, of which some contain ASCII information and

others contain binary numbers. The first file is a descriptive ASCII header file that describes the

content of the other files. The next three binary files (files 2 to 4) contain information about the data for

the respective provinces. Files 5 to 43 (39 files) contain binary values for the dominant soil landscape

features. The last 39 files (files 44 to 81) contain binary values for the subdominant soil landscape

features. Files 82 and 83 contain the soil name files for Saskatchewan and Manitoba, respectively.

Separate binary files exist for each of the various parameters and contain a mixture of 8-bit and

16-bit values. The bytes in the 16-bit (2-byte) values are ordered as low-order byte first. The following

two blocks of information describe the various files and give needed size and storage information.

File Description

File 1 ASCII header file with file descriptions

File 2 Provincial Code

File 3 Polygon Number for Saskatchewan data

File 4 Polygon Number for Manitoba data

File 5 Surface material for dominant soil landscape

File 6 Percentage distribution of dominant soil landscape

File 7 Regional landform for dominant soil landscape

File 8 Local surface form for dominant soil landscape

File 9 Slope gradient class for dominant soil landscape

File i0 Soil parent material mode of deposition for dominant soil

File ii Parent material texture for dominant soil landscape

File 12 Soil development for dominant soil landscape

File 13 Surface texture of soil for dominant soil landscape

File 14 Coarse fragment content for dominant soil landscape

File 15 Rooting depth for dominant soil landscape

File 16 Kind of compacted, consolidated, or contrasting layer

for dominant soil landscape

File 17 Depth to compacted, consolidated, or contrasting layer

for dominant soil landscape

File 18 Drainage class for dominant soil landscape

File 19 Available water capacity for dominant soil landscape

landscape

Page 42
File 20

File 21

File 22

File 23

File 24

File 25

File 26

File 27

File 28

File 29

File 30

File 31

File 32

File 33

File 34

File 35

File 36

File 37

File 38

File 39

File 40

File 41

File 42

File 43

File 44

File 45

File 46

File 47

File 48

File 49

File 50

File 51

File 52

File 53

File 54

File 55

File 56

File 57

File 58

File 59

File 60

File 61

File 62

File 63

File 64

File 65

File 66

File 67

File 68

File 69

File 70

Average depth to water table for dominant soil landscape

Ice type for dominant soil landscape

Ice content for dominant soil landscape

Permafrost occurrence for dominant soil landscape

Active layer depth for dominant soil landscape

Kind of patterned ground for dominant soil landscape

pH of upper 15 cm measured with CaCl 2 for dominant soil landscape

pH of upper 15 cm measured with water for dominant soil landscape

Organic carbon content of upper 15 cm for dominant soil landscape

Nitrogen content of upper 15 cm for dominant soil landscape

Thickness of humus layer for dominant soil landscape

Calcareous class of parent material for dominant soil landscape

Inclusions 1 for dominant soil landscape

Inclusions 2 for dominant soil landscape

Vegetative cover or land use for dominant soil landscape

Lake size estimate from Landsat images for dominant soil landscape

Percent of area covered by water bodies for dominant soil landscape

Reliability class for dominant soil landscape

Complexity class for dominant soil landscape

Soil name numbers for first dominant soil landscape in Saskatchewan

Soil name numbers for first dominant soil landscape in Manitoba

Soil name numbers for second dominant soil landscape in Saskatchewan

Soil name numbers for second dominant soil landscape in Manitoba

Parent material texture group for dominant soil landscape

Surface material for subdominant soil landscape

Percentage distribution of subdominant soil landscape

Regional landform for subdominant soil landscape

Local surface form for subdominant soil landscape

Slope gradient class for subdominant soil landscape

Soil parent material mode of deposition for subdominant soil

landscape

Parent material texture for subdominant soil landscape

Soil development for subdominant soil landscape

Surface texture of soil for subdominant soil landscape

Coarse fragment content for subdominant soil landscape

Rooting depth for subdominant soil landscape

Kind of compacted, consolidated, or contrasting layer

for subdominant soil landscape

Depth to compacted, consolidated, or contrasting layer

for subdominant soil landscape

Drainage class for subdominant soil landscape

Available water capacity for subdominant soil landscape

Average depth to water table for subdominant soil landscape

Ice type for subdominant soil landscape

Ice content for subdominant soil landscape

Permafrost occurrence for subdominant soil landscape

Active layer depth for subdominant soil landscape

Kind of patterned ground for subdominant soil landscape

pH of upper 15 cm measured with CaCl 2 for subdominant soil landscape

pH of upper 15 cm measured with water for subdominant soil landscape

Organic carbon content of upper 15 cm for subdominant soil landscape

Nitrogen content of upper 15 cm for subdominant soil landscape

Thickness of humus layer for subdominant soil landscape

Calcareous class of parent material for subdominant soil landscape

Page 43
File 71

File 72

File 73

File 74

File 75

File 76

File 77

File 78

File 79

File 80

File 81

File 82

File 83

File

Number

i

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

i0

ii

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

3O

31

32

33

Inclusions i for subdominant soil landscape

Inclusions 2 for subdominant soil landscape

Vegetative cover or land use for subdominant soil landscape

Lake size estimate from Landsat images for subdominant soil

landscape

Percent of area covered by water bodies for subdominant soil

landscape

Reliability class for subdominant soil landscape

Complexity class for subdominant soil landscape

Soil name numbers for first subdominant soil landscape in

Saskatchewan

Soil name numbers for first subdominant soil landscape in Manitoba

Soil name numbers for second subdominant soil landscape in

Saskatchewan

Soil name numbers for second subdominant soil landscape in Manitoba

ASCII Soil Names Supplemental Information for Saskatchewan

ASCII Soil Names Supplemental Information for Manitoba

Original Record Number Number Bytes per

Attribute Name size (bytes) of pixels of lines pixel

Header File 80 N/A N/A N/A

PROVINCE i000 i000 i000 1

POLYNUM (SK) 2000 i000 i000 2

POLYNUM (MN) 2000 i000 i000 2

DOMKDMAT i000 i000 i000 1

DOMDISTR i000 i000 i000 1

DOMREGFM i000 i000 i000 1

DOMLOCSF i000 i000 i000 1

DOMSLOPE i000 i000 i000 1

DOMPMDEP i000 i000 i000 1

DOMPMTEX i000 i000 i000 1

DOMDEVEL i000 i000 i000 1

DOMSRFTX i000 i000 i000 1

DOMCFRAG i000 i000 i000 1

DOMROOT i000 i000 i000 1

DOMCMPLR i000 i000 i000 1

DOMCMPDP i000 i000 i000 1

DOMDRAIN i000 i000 i000 1

DOMAVWAT i000 i000 i000 1

DOMWATAB i000 i000 i000 1

DOMICETY i000 i000 i000 1

DOMICECT i000 i000 i000 1

DOMPERMA i000 i000 i000 1

DOMACTLR i000 i000 i000 1

DOMPATGD i000 i000 i000 1

DOMPHCAL i000 i000 i000 1

DOMPHWAT i000 i000 i000 1

DOMORGAN i000 i000 i000 1

DOMNITRO i000 i000 i000 1

DOMHUMLR i000 i000 i000 1

DOMCALCA i000 i000 i000 1

DINCLUSl i000 i000 i000 1

DINCLUS2 i000 i000 i000 1

Page 44
34

35

36

37

38

39

40

41

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

49

5O

51

52

53

54

55

56

57

58

59

60

61

62

63

64

65

66

67

68

69

70

71

72

73

74

75

76

77

78

79

80

81

82

83

DOMVEGET

DOMLAKE

DOMWATBD

DOMRELIA

DOMCOMPL

DOMNAME1 (SK)

DOMNAMEI (MN)

DOMNAME2 (SK)

DOMNAME2 (MN)

DOMTEXGP

SUBKDMAT

SUBDISTR

SUBREGFM

SUBLOCSF

SUBSLOPE

SUBPMDEP

SUBPMTEX

SUBDEVEL

SUBSRFTX

SUBCFRAG

SUBROOT

SUBCMPLR

SUBCMPDP

SUBDRAIN

SUBAVWAT

SUBWATAB

SUBICETY

SUBICECT

SUBPERMA

SUBACTLR

SUBPATGD

SUBPHCAL

SUBPHWAT

SUBORGAN

SUBNITRO

SUBHUMLR

SUBCALCA

SINCLUSl

SINCLUS2

SUBVEGET

SUBLAKE

SUBWATBD

SUBRELIA

SUBCOMPL

SUBNAME1 (SK)

SUBNAMEI (MN)

SUBNAME2 (SK)

SUBNAME2 (MN)

Sask Soil Names

Mani Soil Names

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

2000

2000

2000

2000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

2000

2000

2000

2000

150

ii0

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

N/A

N/A

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

i000

N/A

N/A

111112222111111111111111111111111111111111112222

N/A

N/A

Page 45
8.2.2 Compressed CD-ROM Files

On the BOREAS CD-ROMs, files 1, 82, and 83 listed above are stored as ASCII text files;

however, files 2 through 81 have been compressed with the Gzip compression program (file name

*.gz). These data have been compressed using gzip version 1.2.4 and the high compression (-9)

option (Copyright (C) 1992-1993 Jean-loup Gailly). Gzip (GNU zip) uses the Lempel-Ziv algorithm

(Welch, 1994) used in the zip and PKZIP programs. The compressed files may be uncompressed

using gzip (-d option) or gunzip. Gzip is available from many Web sites (for example, ftp site

prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu/gzip-*.*) for a variety of operating systems in both executable and source

code form. Versions of the decompression software for various systems are included on the

CD-ROMs.

9. Data Manipulations

9.1 Formulae

None.

9.1.1 Derivation Techniques and Algorithms

None.

9.2 Data Processing Sequence

9.2.1 Processing Steps

BORIS staff gridded each attribute for the provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba and combined

the layers for these two provinces into one layer for each attribute, except for the polygon number and

soil name layers.

BORIS staff processed the regional soils data by following these steps for each attribute:

• Reproject the vector data for the provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the BOREAS

grid projection.

• Rasterize the vector files.

• Combine the Saskatchewan and Manitoba layers to produce one gridded layer.

• Write the gridded layer to tape.

• Copy the ASCII and compress the binary files for release on CD-ROM.

9.2.2 Processing Changes

None.

9.3 Calculations

9.3.1 Special Corrections/Adjustments

None.

9.3.2 Calculated Variables

None.

9.4 Graphs and Plots

None.

Page 46
10. Errors

10.1 Sources of Error

Potential sources of error in the original data set include interpretation or digitizing error as well as

coding and keying errors in the attributes. There is also the possibility that the data could have been

gridded incorrectly, although visual inspection of the data was done to prevent this.

10.2 Quality Assessment

10.2.1 Data Validation by Source

Each gridded file/layer was spot checked to make sure that the gridding procedure assigned a

digital number (DN) to each attribute value.

10.2.2 Confidence Level/Accuracy Judgment

The accuracy of the gridding procedure is high, although some consideration should be given to

the scale of the data and what will be interred from it in order to understand the accuracy of the original

data.

The source in Canada from whom these data were received has strong caveats about the use of the

data. These data are constantly being updated as new data are collected and become available. These

data represent broad generalizations about the soil characteristics of this area. Caution should be used

when inferring information from these data.

10.2.3 Measurement Error for Parameters

Unknown.

10.2.4 Additional Quality Assessments

Unknown.

10.2.5 Data Verification by Data Center

As noted previously, BORIS personnel reviewed the data layers visually as vector plots and raster

data layers. Direct quantitative checking of the data was not performed.

11. Notes

11.1 Limitations of the Data

The original data were received in two parts: Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The gridded data

represent a merging of these two data sets. Unfortunately, many of the attributes along the border have

different values. Therefore, a sharp discontinuity exists along the border in many of the files caused by

different interpretations by those who created the maps for the different provinces. CanSIS has plans

to resolve these problem areas along the provincial boundaries.

11.2 Known Problems with the Data

The discontinuity of polygons along the provincial boundary can be a potential problem for some

users. See Section 11.1 for more information on this problem.

11.3 Usage Guidance

Before uncompressing the Gzip files on CD-ROM, be sure that you have enough disk space to

hold the uncompressed data files. Then use the appropriate decompression program provided on the

CD-ROM for your specific system.

11.4 Other Relevant Information

None.

Page 47
12. Application of the Data Set

The documentation for the original data listed the following uses for which these data were intended:

• Assess the productivity of the land nationally or over large regions.

• Find areas that have actual or potential problems affecting land use, such as salinity or

susceptibility to erosion, and assess the severity.

• Locate general areas that may be suitable for particular types of land use, which can be

selected for more detailed investigations.

• Apply general research findings and agroteclmology procedures that are successful in one part

of the country to other areas that have similar attributes.

• Link soil and land information with other data bases, such as information on climate,

economics, or census, for assessing land use on a regional, national, or even an international

scale.

• Educate geography students at colleges or universities.

13. Future Modifications and Plans

CanSIS has plans to resolve the problem areas along the provincial boundaries.

14. Software

14.1 Software Description

BORIS staff used the ARC/INFO (Version 7) software and related tools to process the original

vector data to this raster form. The ARC/INFO software is a proprietary package developed and

distributed by:

Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI)

380 New York St.

Redlands, CA 92373-8100

Gzip (GNU zip) uses the Lempel-Ziv algorithm (Welch, 1994) used in the zip and PKZIP commands.

14.2 Software Access

ARC/INFO is a commercial package; contact ESRI for details. Gzip is available from many Web

sites across the Internet (for example, ftp site prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu/gzip-*.*) for a variety of

operating systems in both executable and source code form. Versions of the decompression software

for various systems are included on the CD-ROMs.

15. Data Access

The BOREAS regional soils data in raster format and AEAC projection are available from the Earth

Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)

Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC).

Page 48
15.1 Contact Information

For BOREAS data and documentation please contact:

ORNL DAAC User Services

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

P.O. Box 2008 MS-6407

Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6407

Phone: (423) 241-3952

Fax: (423) 574-4665

E-mail: ornldaac@ornl.gov or ornl@eos.nasa.gov

15.2 Data Center Identification

Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) Oak Ridge National Laboratory

(ORNL) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) for Biogeochemical Dynamics

http://www-eosdis.ornl.gov/.

15.3 Procedures for Obtaining Data

Users may obtain data directly through the ORNL DAAC online search and order system

[http://www-eosdis.ornl.gov/] and the anonymous FTP site [ftp://www-eosdis.ornl.gov/data/] or by

contacting User Services by electronic mail, telephone, fax, letter, or personal visit using the contact

information in Section 15.1.

15.4 Data Center Status/Plans

The ORNL DAAC is the primary source for BOREAS field measurement, image, GIS, and

hardcopy data products. The BOREAS CD-ROM and data referenced or listed in inventories on the

CD-ROM are available from the ORNL DAAC.

16. Output Products and Availability

16.1 Tape Products

These data can be made available on 8-ram, Digital Archive Tape (DAT), or 9-track tapes at 1600

or 6250 Bytes Per Inch (BPI).

16.2 Film Products

None available from BORIS; see Section 11.4, Other Relevant Information.

16.3 Other Products

These data are available on the BOREAS CD-ROM series.

17. References

17.1 Platform/Sensor/Instrument/Data Processing Documentation

ARC/INFO User's Guide (Version 7). 1994. Redlands, CA.

Welch, T.A. 1984. A Technique for High Performance Data Compression. IEEE Computer, Vol. 17,

No. 6, pp. 8-19.

Page 49
17.2 Journal Articles and Study Reports

Acton, D.F., G.A. Padbury, and J.A. Shields. 1991. Soil Landscapes of Canada-Saskatchewan

Digital Map Data; Scale 1:1000000; CanSIS No. SK018200, Version 90.11.30; CLBRR Archive,

Agriculture Canada, Research Branch, Ottawa, Canada. (CLBRR Contribution No. 91-107D).

Agriculture Canada Expert Committee on Soil Survey. 1987. The Canadian system of soil

classification, 2nd ed. Agric. Can. Publ. 1646, 164 pp.

Brown, R.J.E. 1970. Permafrost in Canada: Its influence on northern development. University of

Toronto Press, Toronto, Ont., 234 pp.

Brown, R.J.E. 1978. Permafrost map of Canada. Plate No. 32 in Hydrological atlas of Canada. Dept.

of Fisheries and Environment, Ottawa, Ont.

De Jong, R., J.A. Shields, and W. K. Sly. 1984. Estimated soil water reserves applicable to a

wheat-fallow rotation for generalized soil areas mapped in southern Saskatchewan. Canadian Journal

of Soil Science 64:667-680.

Expert Committee on Soil Survey. 1982. The Canada soil information system (CanSIS) manual for

describing soils in the field, revised. Land Resource Research Institute, Research Branch, Agriculture

Canada, Ottawa, Ont. 166 pp.

Geoanalysis Ltd. 1981. Landform descriptive classes for higher levels of ecological land classification.

S. Ringrose, ed. Contract No. KL229-0-4581, Lands Directorate, Environment Canada, 18 pp.

Manitoba-Canada Soil Survey Unit. 1990. Soil Landscapes of Canada-Manitoba; Digital Map Data;

Scale 1:1000000; CanSIS No. MN068200, Version 91.03.31; CLBRR Archive, Agriculture Canada,

Research Branch, Ottawa, Canada (CLBRR Contribution No. 91-109D).

Mills G.F., MDA; R.G. Eilers, R.E. Smith, W. Michalyna, H. Veldhuis, W. Fraser, CDA. 1990.

Soil Landscapes of Canada-Manitoba; Soil landscapes polygon attribute digital data; CanSIS No.

MN068200, Version 91.03.31; CLBRR Archive, Agriculture Canada, Research Branch, Ottawa,

Canada (CLBRR Contribution No. 91-110D).

Newcomer, J., D. Landis, S. Conrad, S. Curd, K. Huemmrich, D. Knapp, A. Morrell, J. Nickeson,

A. Papagno, D. Rinker, R. Strub, T. Twine, F. Hall, and P. Sellers, eds. 2000. Collected Data of The

Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study. NASA. CD-ROM.

Padbury, G.A. and J.A. Shields. 1991. Soil Landscapes of Canada-Saskatchewan Soil Landscapes

Polygon Attribute Digital Data. CanSIS No. SK018200, Version 90.11.30; CLBRR Archive,

Agriculture Canada, Research Branch, Ottawa, Canada (CLBRR Contribution No. 91-108D).

Permafrost Subcommittee, Associate Committee on Geotechnical Research. 1988. Glossary of

permafrost and related ground-ice terms. National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, Ont.,

Technical Memorandum No. 142, 156 pp.

Research Branch, Agriculture Canada. 1976. Glossary of terms in soil science. Research Branch,

Canada Department of Agriculture, Ottawa, Ont., Publication 1459, 44 pp.

Sellers, P. and F. Hall. 1994. Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study: Experiment Plan. Version

1994-3.0, NASA BOREAS Report (EXPLAN 94).

Sellers, P. and F. Hall. 1996. Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study: Experiment Plan. Version

1996-2.0, NASA BOREAS Report (EXPLAN 96).

Page 50
Sellers,P.,F. Hall, andK.F. Huemmrich.1996.BorealEcosystem-AtmosphereStudy:1994

Operations.NASA BOREASReport(OPSDOC94).

Sellers,P.,F. Hall, andK.F. Huemmrich.1997.BorealEcosystem-AtmosphereStudy:1996

Operations.NASA BOREASReport(OPSDOC96).

Sellers,P.,F. Hall, H. Margolis,B. Kelly, D. Baldocchi,G. denHartog,J.Cihlar, M.G. Ryan,B.

Goodison,P.Crill, K.J.RansomD. Lettenmaier,andD.E. Wickland. 1995.Theboreal

ecosystem-atmospherestudy(BOREAS):anoverviewandearlyresultsfrom the1994field year.

Bulletinof theAmericanMeteorologicalSociety.76(9):1549-1577.

Sellers,P.J.,F.G.Hall, R.D.Kelly, A. Black, D. Baldocchi,J. Berry, M. Ryan,K.J. Ranson,P.M.

Crill, D.P.Lettenmaier,H. Margolis,J.Cihlar, J.Newcomer,D. Fitzjarrald,P.G.Jarvis,S.T.

Gower,D. Halliwell, D. Williams, B. Goodison,D.E.Wickland, andF.E.Guertin.1997.BOREAS

in 1997:ExperimentOverview,ScientificResultsandFutureDirections.Journalof Geophysical

Research102(D24):28,731-28,770.

ShieldsJ.A., C. Tarnocai,K.W.G. Valentine,andK.B. MacDonald.1991.Soil landscapesof

Canada-ProceduresManualandUser'sHandbook.LandResourceandResearchCentre,Agriculture

Canada,Ottawa,Canada(Publication1868/E,LRRCContributionNumber:88-29).

17.3 Arehive/DBMS Usage Documentation

None.

None.

18. Glossary of Terms

AEAC

ASCII

BOREAS

BORIS

BPI

CanSIS

CCRS

CCT

CD-ROM

DAAC

DAT

DN

EOS

EOSDIS

ESRI

GIS

GSFC

LRRC

MSS

NAD83

NASA

19. List of Acronyms

- Albers Equal-Area Conic

- American Standard Code for Information Interchange

- BOReal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study

- BOREAS Information System

- Bytes Per Inch

- Canadian Soil Information System

- Canadian Centre for Remote Sensing

- Computer Compatible Tape

- Compact Disk-Read-Only Memory

- Distributed Active Archive Center

- Digital Archive Tape

- Digital Number

- Earth Observing System

- EOS Data and Information System

- Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc.

- Geographic Information System

- Goddard Space Flight Center

- Land Resource Research Branch

- Multispectral Scanner

- North American Datum of 1983

- National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Page 51
NSA

ORNL

PANP

SSA

TM

URL

UTM

- Northern Study Area

- Oak Ridge National Laboratory

- Prince Albert National Park

- Southern Study Area

- Thematic Mapper

- Uniform Resource Locator

- Universal Transverse Mercator

20. Document Information

20.1 Document Revision Dates

Written: 02-Dec- 1994

Last Updated: 30-Apr- 1999

20.2 Document Review Dates

BORIS Review: 28-Jul- 1997

Science Review:

20.3 Document ID

20.4 Citation

When using these data, please include the following acknowledgment as well as citations of

relevant papers in Section 17.2:

The original data were provided by Agriculture Canada. The vector data were processed and

gridded by BORIS staff. The contribution of the vector data by Agriculture Canada and the processing

of the data by BORIS staff are greatly appreciated.

If using data from the BOREAS CD-ROM series, also reference the data as:

BOREAS Staff Science, "BOREAS Staff Science GIS Data Collection Program." In Collected

Data of The Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study. Eds. J. Newcomer, D. Landis, S. Conrad, S.

Curd, K. Huemmrich, D. Knapp, A. Morrell, J. Nickeson, A. Papagno, D. Rinker, R. Strub, T.

Twine, F. Hall, and P. Sellers. CD-ROM. NASA, 2000.

Also, cite the BOREAS CD-ROM set as:

Newcomer, J., D. Landis, S. Conrad, S. Curd, K. Huemmrich, D. Knapp, A. Morrell, J.

Nickeson, A. Papagno, D. Rinker, R. Strub, T. Twine, F. Hall, and P. Sellers, eds. Collected Data of

The Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study. NASA. CD-ROM. NASA, 2000.

20.5 Document Curator

20.6 Document URL

Page 52
REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE FormApproved

OMB No. 0704-0188

Public reporting burden for this collection of informationis estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources,

gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this

collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, 1215 Jefferson

Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington, VA 22202-4302, and to the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (0704-0188), Washington, DC 20503.

1. AGENCY USE ONLY (Leave blank) 2. REPORT DATE 3. REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED

September 2000 Technical Memorandum

4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 5. FUNDING NUMBERS

Technical Report Series on the Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS)

BOREAS Regional Soils Data in Raster Format and AEAC Projection 923

6. AUTHOR(S) RTOP: 923-462-33-01

Bryan Monette amd David Knapp

Forrest G. Hall, Editor

7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS (ES)

Goddard Space Flight Center

Greenbelt, Maryland 20771

9. SPONSORING / MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS (ES)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Washington, DC 20546-0001

8. PEFORMING ORGANIZATION

REPORT NUMBER

2000-03136-0

10. SPONSORING / MONITORING

AGENCY REPORT NUMBER

TM--2000-209891

Vol. 109

11. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES

B. Monette: Agriculture Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada;

D. Knapp: Raytheon ITSS, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland

12a. DISTRIBUTION / AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

Unclassifie_Unlimited

Subject Category: 43

Report available from the NASA Center for AeroSpace Information,

7121 Standard Drive, Hanover, MD 21076-1320. (301) 621-0390.

12b. DISTRIBUTION CODE

13. ABSTRACT (Maximum 200 words)

This data set was gridded by BORIS Staff from a vector data set received from the Canadian Soil

Information System (CanSIS). The original data came in two parts that covered Saskatchewan and

Manitoba. The data were gridded and merged into one data set of 84 files covering the BOREAS

region. The data were gridded into the AEAC projection. Because the mapping of the two provinces

was done separately in the original vector data, there may be discontinuities in some of the soil layers

because of different interpretations of certain soil properties. The data are stored in binary, image

format files.

14. SUBJECT TERMS

BOREAS, remote sensing science.

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OF REPORT

Unclassified

NSN 7540-01-280-5500

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