General Issues

Question Answer

How do I start Web 

Soil Survey?

https://websoilsurvey.sc.egov.usda.gov/App/WebSoilSurvey.aspx

When will Web 

Soil Survey have 

soil information for 

my particular 

county?

All data available in Web Soil Survey is stored in the Soils database. Each state is responsible 

for populating the Soils database for all counties in that state. For information about when data 

will be available for your county, contact your State Soil Scientist at the following link: State 

Soil Scientists. This link is also available from Web Soil Survey’s Contact Us link. 

When was Web 

Soil Survey first 

released?

On August 16, 2005, Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns announced the launch of the USDA 

Web Soil Survey site.

How can I get help 

using Web Soil 

Survey? 

You can access context-specific online help throughout Web Soil Survey, by clicking the questionmark icon. This opens up help for the particular feature or group of features where the icon is 

located.

When you open a help item, the question-mark icon turns upside-down. To close the help item, you 

can click the upside-down question-mark icon.

Or click the Close button at the upper right of the open help item.

Many help items are divided into sections, which can be opened and closed. To open a closed 

section, click the plus-sign icon.

To close an open section, click the minus-sign icon.

If you need additional assistance, click the Contact Us link in the navigation bar, click the email 

link soilshotline@usda.gov, and we’ll be glad to help you.

How can I find the 

information I’m 

looking for in Web 

Soil Survey? 

Use the Search panel, in the upper left corner of each tab in Web Soil Survey. Enter keywords 

or phrases, and use the Advanced Search options if needed, and click Search. 

The search results are links that navigate to the places in Web Soil Survey that match your 

search items.

For more information, click the question-mark icon in the Search panel.

How can I get 

notifications of soil 

data updates?

Web Soil Survey provides data update notifications via RSS. To use the RSS Feed, click on the 

Subscribe link located beneath the USDA logo in the upper-left corner of Web Soil Survey.
Click on a link in the Subscribe to RSS Feeds window to choose either All States and 

Territories or a particular state. What you see next depends on the browser you're using. 

In Internet Explorer, this displays a new page which shows information about the updates for 

the state you chose and links Subscribe to this feed and Learn more about feeds. At this point 

you are only viewing feeds and you may sort them by date or title, but you have not yet 

subscribed to the feed. 

To subscribe, click Subscribe to this feed and get a pop-up window where you can choose 

options, then click Subscribe. You should see a message “You’ve successfully subscribed to 

this feed!”. You may wish to adjust the RSS Feed Properties and may do so by clicking on View 

feed properties located on the right-side of the page. The Feed Properties allow you to control 

the update schedule or how often your computer checks the feed for new updates. 

Repeat the RSS Feeds Subscription process for each state/territory you are interested in (unless 

you subscribed to All States and Territories).

You may review your RSS Feeds any time by opening Internet Explorer and going to Favorites 

and Feeds.

How can I receive 

updates about Web 

Soil Survey? 

You may subscribe to Web Soil Survey in GovDelivery by clicking the following link: 

GovDelivery. The updates are specific to the application and/or web page and are not to be 

confused with RSS Feeds. RSS Feeds are explained in the FAQ “How can I get notifications of 

soil data updates?”.

How frequently is 

the soil data 

updated? 

A yearly refresh of the official soil survey database (spatial and tabular) will take place on July 

1 of each year. The adoption of a regular refresh rate is to allow internal and external users to 

better coordinate updates of official soils data in support of their activities. Official soil survey 

information may be updated on a more frequent than annual basis under the following 

exceptions: 1) Completion of an initial survey or an update survey; 2) Completion of a survey 

under a reimbursable agreement; 3) Updated information for a particular survey or set of 

surveys may be posted if necessary to correct a severe error discovered in the database where 

this error is adversely impacting either internal or external customers; 4) Other extenuating 

circumstances. The annual refresh will refresh all surveys which were updated during the year. 

See also FAQs “How can I get notifications of soil data updates?” and “How can I find out 

when soil data was last updated?”

How can I find out 

when soil data was 

last updated?

Click on “Download Soils Data” tab. Select a State. Select a County (optional). Enter a date 

(optional) in “Only show Soil Survey Areas updated since...”. In the list of surveys, look at the 

dates in the Version column and look at the date in the “Download Link”.

How can I find the 

Soil Survey 

Geographic 

Database 

(SSURGO) 

documentation?

Soil Survey Geographic Database (SSURGO) documentation including table names, columns, 

user guides and other documentation are available at: SSURGO Documentation. 
My Internet 

Explorer browser 

does not seem to 

work properly with 

Web Soil Survey. I 

am seeing errors. 

What can I do?

If the Microsoft Internet Explorer browser is used, it must be version 11. To see which IE 

version you are using, navigate to the Help menu and then choose About Internet Explorer. If 

you are using an older version, please upgrade to version 11. A download is available on 

Microsoft's Internet Explorer website.

Can I use Web Soil 

Survey on a mobile 

device?

Yes. Attach a mouse (e.g. wireless mouse) to the smart device.

Area of Interest and Quick Navigation

Question Answer

How do I select the area for 

which I want to get soil 

information?

Here are some basic instructions to get started using Web Soil Survey:

1. On the left side of the screen in the Quick Navigation panel, click on one of the 

selection methods. For example, open State/County, select your state and county, and 

click View.

2. After the map image is updated, click the Zoom In tool. Then click and drag a rectangle 

on the map to zoom to an area. Zoom in as close as you need to so you can see streets 

and landmarks you recognize. 

3. After the map image is updated, click the AOI Rectangle tool.

4. Click and drag a rectangle around the area of the map you wish to set as your Area of 

Interest.

5. The application will create the AOI you have specified. Now you can navigate to the 

Soil Map or Soil Data Explorer tabs and start getting soil information.

If the area you are interested in is not rectangular, you can use the AOI Polygon tool. Click points 

on the map to define your AOI. For the final point, Double-click or while holding down the 

Control key on the keyboard, click the left mouse button.

Why am I limited to an area of 

interest of 100,000 or fewer 

acres?

For performance reasons. Large AOIs take longer to create. Because they also 

contain many soil map units, it takes longer to generate reports, ratings, maps, etc. 

How do I use Google Earth to 

create multiple AOIs for WSS?

Using Google Earth Pro (GEP), and an online converter tool, the non-GIS user 

can create a shapefile for import into WSS. Click here for complete instructions.

I want to get an exact definition 

of a subject property to match the 

Assessor’s Parcel Map for a soil 

survey. Is there a way that I can 

pinpoint an exact parcel number 

or property for a soil survey?

This feature is not supported in the current release.
Can I use nine one one addresses 

(physical address on county 

roads) in the address search 

feature?

This feature is not supported in the current release.

Can I import a shapefile into Web 

Soil Survey in order to define an 

area of interest?

Yes. On the Area of Interest (AOI) tab, navigate to Import AOI then either 

choose the option Create AOI from Shapefile or Create AOI from Zipped 

Shapefile. You can also import a shapefile that contains a multi-part AOI through 

this process. See New Features (version 3.2).

How can I bookmark or save my 

AOI so I can come back to it?

You can do this in two different ways. Once you’ve created your AOI:

1. On the Area of Interest (AOI) tab, save your AOI using Export AOI and 

then choose the option Export AOI as Zipped Shapefile. After the 

zipped shapefile is saved to your local machine, go back into Web Soil 

Survey and choose Import AOI and then choose the option Create AOI 

from Zipped Shapefile. For the zipped shapefile input, use the zipped 

shapefile you just saved to your local machine.

2. Open the Link control, and save the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) 

displayed there or bookmark it for later use.

3. Note: Multi-part AOI information will not be shown in the link.

See New Features (version 2.3) for details.

My land contains more than one 

irregular-shaped field area of 

tillable land that is surrounded by 

non-tillable land. Is it possible to 

draw each area of tillable land as 

separate sub-parts of the AOI so 

the software can summarize each 

soil type from the total of field 

areas of tillable land that has been 

sketched?

Use the AOI multi-part feature, currently available on the Import AOI section in 

the Area of Interest (AOI) tab.

You can do this in two different ways:

1. On the Area of Interest (AOI) tab, use Import AOI and then choose the 

option Create AOI from Shapefile.

2. On the Area of Interest (AOI) tab, use Import AOI and then choose the 

option Create AOI from Zipped Shapefile.

See New Features (version 3.2) for details.

When I’m drawing an AOI, 

sometimes I make an error and 

want to stop in the middle of 

drawing it and start over, or after 

I’ve drawn it, I want to delete the 

AOI and start over. Is there a way 

to do this?

To stop in the middle of drawing an AOI and start over, when using the AOI 

Rectangle tool, press the Esc key without releasing the mouse button.

To start over when using the AOI Polygon tool, just press the Esc key.

To delete an AOI after drawing it, click the Clear AOI button in the Area of 

Interest Properties panel.
To navigate by Public Land 

Survey System (PLSS), how do I 

specify township and range, 

including the direction?

Enter both number and direction into the “Township” or “Range” box. For 

example: “20 N” or “8 W”.

Interactive Map

Question Answer

Why are the water and road lines 

so far off the photo image?

The base map data layers used by Web Soil Survey come from multiple sources 

and were compiled at various scales, generally at a much coarser resolution than 

the soils data or the aerial photos, and they don’t always match perfectly.

Why can’t the Web Soil Survey 

development staff fix problems 

with these map data layers?

Web Soil Survey is only displaying these data layers to assist with navigation and 

as auxiliary information to the soils data. These layers are supplied by third 

parties, and NRCS does not have the authority to edit them. NRCS is only 

responsible for the soils data layers.

How can I find the source of the 

map data layers displayed in Web 

Soil Survey?

To see all available information on a map data layer:

1. Zoom the map to a scale where the layer you are interested in is visible.

2. Open the Legend tab.

3. Right click the name of the layer to pop-up the context menu.

4. Click View Layer Descriptions.

5. All available information about the source of the data layer is displayed. 

In some cases, the source of the data layer is not known, and No 

descriptions available is displayed.

How can I find the date of aerial 

photography used in Web Soil 

Survey?

To get the date of the aerial photography for a particular spot:

1. Click the Identify tool on the map tool bar.

2. Then click on the map. In the Identify panel below the map, for the 

“Aerial Photography” layer, you will see the dates that the imagery was 

made at the spot you clicked.

The aerial photography date(s) are also included on the Legend page of printable 

maps.

Why do the “Measurement Tool” 

and scale bar not always agree?

The map is presented in the “Web Mercator” projection. The scale bar is based 

upon this projection, and represents approximate east-west map distances at the 

center of the image. The actual scale varies north and south of this center point in 

this projection. The measurement tool provides a more accurate distance 
measurement than possible using the “flat earth” Web Mercator projection: the 

Web Mercator coordinates at the measurement points are converted to “WGS 84” 

geographic coordinates and the geodesic distance between these points is then 

calculated.

When I “copy” the map image 

from my browser most of the map 

image is missing. How can I copy 

the map that I can see in the 

browser?

A side effect using Quick Maps is that you cannot directly “copy” the map image 

from your browser to paste it into a different application. Should you need to do 

this, disable “Quick Maps” (via the “Preferences” link at the top of the page). 

Then you will be able to “copy” the complete map image. 

Why is the background 

“Topographic Map” missing? 

Please try refreshing your browser window. The topographic map data may be 

temporarily unavailable due to network or service difficulties. In addition, there 

may be no data available where you are looking. 

Is the “Topographic Map” background layer turned on in the Legend?

Why is some (or all) of the 

background “Aerial Photography” 

missing?

You may occasionally see one or more missing regions in the background if 

network traffic is congested or if the photographic images are not immediately 

available from our provider (Microsoft Bing). Refreshing your browser window 

should improve the picture (it may be necessary to refresh several times, each 

time should increase the coverage).

Is the “Aerial Photography” background layer turned on in the Legend?

Soil Data Explorer

Question Answer

How can I view 

Ecological Site data for 

my Area of Interest?

The Ecological Site data is now available in the Ecological Sites inner-tab within the Soil 

Data Explorer tab. For each map unit in the AOI a link to the appropriate “EDIT” data is 

provided (“EDIT” stands for “Ecosystem Dynamics Interpretive Tool”, not all map units 

have data available).

1. Define your Area of Interest.

2. Change to the Soil Data Explorer page. 

3. On that page select the Ecological Sites tab. 

4. Click on View All Ecological Sites Info button. 

5. In the table beneath the thematic map click on Ecological Site Descriptions to 

open full ecological site descriptions in the USDA-NRCS Ecosystem Dynamics 

Interpretative Tool (EDIT). A new Web Browser page will be displayed with 

the ecological site's data associated with that component.

How do I print or 

download the soil data 

maps and tables?

Here are some basic instructions to get soil data from Web Soil Survey:
1. First, create an area of interest (AOI). (See “How do I select the area for which I 

want to get soil information?”)

2. Then, click the Soil Map tab.

3. You will see the Soil Map for your AOI. Click the Printable Version button, and 

press View to create a Portable Document Format (PDF) file that you can 

download or print. For additional help, press the question-mark icon in the 

Printable Version form.

4. Then, click the Soil Data Explorer tab.

5. The Soil Data Explorer tab contains four inner tabs:

• Intro to Soils

• Suitabilities and Limitations for Use

• Soil Properties and Qualities

• Soil Reports

The default inner tab is Suitabilities and Limitations for Use. On the left side of 

this tab are a number of “Folders”, which you can click to open.

6. Open a folder, for example Recreational Development.

7. The folders contain one or more interpretive themes. Each has a form that you can 

fill out to get “Soil Ratings” (on the other inner tabs, other kinds of soil data are 

available). You can accept the defaults, or you can set the options as you wish. 

Click one of the interpretive themes, for example, Playgrounds, to open it.

8. You can click View Description to see a description of this rating.

9. Click View Rating to run the rating and view the data map and/or tables.

10. Click the Printable Version button, and press View to create a Portable 

Document Format (PDF) file of the soil rating map and/or tables that you can 

download or print.

11. Help for the Suitabilities and Limitations for Use tab, and for all the inner tabs, 

is available by clicking the question-mark icon at the upper right of the folder 

panel.
How do I get the 

description of a soil map 

unit without printing a 

soil map?

Define your area of interest, then navigate to the Soil Map tab. On the left side, find the 

desired soil map unit in the Map Unit Legend. Click on the map unit name to display the 

description for that map unit in a dialog. The Map Unit Description dialog also contains a 

Printable Version button.

You can also view and print a report containing all Map Unit Descriptions for your AOI. 

Navigate to the Soil Data Explorer tab, then the Soil Reports inner tab. On the left side, 

in the AOI Inventory folder, view the Map Unit Description report.

What is the source of the 

soil data presented in 

Web Soil Survey?

The data presented by Web Soil Survey comes from the Soil Data Mart database, which 

contains the official NRCS soil survey data for the U.S.

Printable Maps and Reports

Question Answer

I cannot produce a printable 

version of the soil map. I have 

tried several times, and each time 

it says “Generating printable 

version...”, but when it’s done, no 

printable version appears.

You may have a popup blocker installed. See the Known Problem “Web Soil 

Survey doesn’t work if you have popups blocked” at the following link: “Web 

Soil Survey doesn’t work if you have popups blocked”.

I tried printing an on screen 

Portable Document Format (PDF) 

file via Printable Version and 

also via the Custom Soil 

Resource Report. The PDF looks 

fine on screen, but when I print 

Since Web Soil Survey Portable Document Format (PDF) files alternate between 

portrait and landscape mode from page to page, you should select “Auto 

portrait/landscape” mode so that the pages are printed correctly. This is typically 

done in the “Printer Properties Layout Selection” or “Printer Properties Advanced 

Options”. If needed, please check your particular printer's settings, help, or online guide.
using “Portrait” or “Landscape” 

mode, the printed pages get 

clipped, and information is not 

printed correctly. What can I do?

What is the difference between 

Printable Version and Add to 

Shopping Cart?

You can print or save soils data on a page-by-page basis using the Printable 

Version feature.

You can also add maps and data to a “Shopping Cart” for inclusion in a single 

Custom Soil Resource Report. It’s an easy way to get one polished report 

containing all relevant information for your area of interest. Any custom report 

you create on your Shopping Cart is free of charge — we just used the wellknown internet shopping analogy for collecting and ordering your information.

To try out this feature, define your area of interest (AOI), and navigate to the 

Shopping Cart tab. In the Table of Contents panel, notice several report items 

available by default: Cover, Preface, Contents, How Soil Surveys Are Made, Soil 

Map, Map Unit Legend, Map Unit Descriptions, and References. You can 

preview items in your Shopping Cart by clicking the item’s title in the Table of 

Contents. To make the preview go away, click the title again.

You can add additional information to your report as desired. From the inner tabs 

of the Soil Data Explorer tab, view information and then click Add to Shopping 

Cart. In this way, you can assemble a report customized to your needs.

When you have collected all the data you want in your report, press the Check 

Out button and choose Get Now or Download Later. Larger reports are only 

available for Download Later.

I requested a report for Download 

Later, but I got an email message 

reporting an error, saying “This 

was attempt 1 of 3 total.” When 

will my report be run again?

The Order Processor normally runs a Download Later order once per day. If it 

gets an error, it does not run it again until the next day. The Order Processor is 

configured to run its queue all day long, so if the queue contains reports that had 

errors yesterday, it runs them again the next morning. It will run each order a 

maximum of three times, and once an order has failed three times, it gives up.

Why doesn’t my printable map 

look the same as the map I see on 

the screen?

In some cases the displayed layers and associated labels may differ due to 

differences in scale. See the Known Problem “The printable map doesn’t show 

what was in the interactive map” at the following link: “The printable map 

doesn’t show what was in the interactive map”.

More subtle differences may be seen in width of linear features, size of symbols 

and size of text. These are associated with differences in scale and resolution. 

Differences in color, especially of linear features, may also be present. These are 

artifacts of creation of the printable maps inside of a Portable Document Format 

(PDF) document.
Why are soil map units missing 

labels?

Soil map units are labeled only for map scales 1:50,000 or larger. If some, but not 

all, labels are missing it’s because the map software was unable to find enough 

space to fit all labels.

Printable Version Options provides a Map Scale selector. If no soil map unit 

labels appear, setting Map Scale to 1:50,000 or larger may solve the problem.

For very large AOIs, 1:50,000 may not be an option. A smaller AOI may solve 

the problem.

Data Downloads

Question Answer

How can I get soil tabular and 

spatial data in a database format?

This data is available in various forms, depending on your needs:

Scope Link Scale Data 

Format

User-specified AOI, 

up to 100,000 acres

Web Soil Survey App —

Download Soils Data

tab

SSURGO 

(1:24,000)

Spatial:

ESRI 

Shapefile

Tabular:

ASCII1a

Soil Survey Area2a Web Soil Survey App —

Download Soils Data

tab

SSURGO 

(1:24,000)

Spatial:

ESRI 

Shapefile

Tabular:

ASCII1b

Geospatial Data Gateway

State, or entire U.S. Web Soil Survey App —

Download Soils Data

tab

STATSGO 

(1:250,000)

Spatial:

ESRI 

Shapefile

Tabular:

ASCII1c

Geospatial Data Gateway

User-specified AOI, 

up to 2,500,000 acres

Soil Data Access3a SSURGO 

(1:24,000)

Spatial:

ESRI 

Shapefile

GML

Tabular:4a

ASCII

XML

HTML

Notes:
1a 1b 1c Soil tabular data in an ASCII format that can be imported into a Microsoft 

Access “SSURGO Template Database”. Note that there is a national SSURGO 

Template Database for general use, and a state-specific database for some states.

2a You can determine data availability for soil survey areas using the Available 

Soil Survey Data status map.

3a The Soil Data Access option requires considerably more technical expertise 

than the others.

4a For details, refer to the Soil Data Access Query Guide at the following link: 

Soil Data Access Query Guide.

To utilize this data, you will need:

• For the spatial data, ArcGIS or other software that can read shapefiles.

• For the tabular data, Microsoft Access.

• To use the spatial data in conjunction with the tabular data, use the Soil 

Data Viewer application at the following link: Soil Data Viewer.

How can I download data for 

multiple soil survey areas at a 

time?

Download requests for more than one survey area at a time can be submitted 

through the Geospatial Data Gateway at the following link: Geospatial Data 

Gateway. Going through the Geospatial Data Gateway also provides the option to 

obtain data on CD or DVD.

What is the Geospatial Data 

Gateway?

The Geospatial Data Gateway is the One Stop Source for environmental and 

natural resources data, at any time, from anywhere, to anyone. The Gateway 

allows you to choose your area of interest, browse and select data from our 

catalog, customize the format, and have it downloaded or shipped on CD or 

DVD.