SoilWeb: A Multifaceted Interface to Soil Survey Information

Abstract

Core Ideas SoilWeb has evolved into new soil data visualization tools. SoilWeb tools are interactive maps that work with smartphones, tablets and desktops. The development of digital soil survey data has prompted the National Cooperative Soil Survey to envision new ways in which people interact with soil survey information. Access to online soil survey data must be easy to use, fast, and should accommodate how the data are used by clientele. In collaboration with the USDA-NRCS, the California Soil Resource Laboratory at University of California, Davis, began and continues to evolve its online soil survey products for this purpose. SoilWeb attempts to cater to the diverse ways in which users interact with soil survey data. SoilWeb has evolved into a series of software applications (apps) to inform users about how soil map units are designed, and to imitate how a digital soil survey is used in geographic information systems. Apps were created specifically to be fast and easy to use. Here, we communicate the evolution of SoilWeb and the design and operation of the new soil survey apps that comprise SoilWeb. We also demonstrate the widespread use of SoilWeb. All apps can be accessed at https://casoilresource.lawr.ucdavis.edu/soilweb-apps/ (accessed 22 June 2017).