Identification of Köppen climate classification and major land resource area in the United States using a smartphone application

Abstract

Given US Soil Taxonomy relies upon soil temperature and soil moisture regimes for taxonomic classification of soils, including the Köppen climate classification and Major Land Resource Area (MLRA) description provides meaningful context when establishing the climatic and geologic context of a given study area. Developing the Kö-RA application aimed to provide significant information useful to soil and environmental scientists while in the field in seconds in much the same way that soil information can be quickly and easily queried using the SoilWeb app. The Kö-RA application involves a two-step process: prompting the user to select the location either automatically via global positioning system (GPS) or manually selecting the state and the county and returning the MLRA and associated Köppen climatic classification. The application was validated on three different counties across two US states. The development of the Kö-RA application will eliminate the laborious process of manually establishing the proper Köppen climate and MLRA classification by referencing the tabular data via the website. Using the Kö-RA application will complement the SoilWeb app and other geo-location tools regularly used by field scientists when making on-site descriptions. Future versions of the Kö-RA should report soil temperature and soil moisture regimes and incorporate the interactive google map to explore soil survey data.