Soil Suggestions and Soil Colors

  • Updated

Use Ecobot's soil suggestions in Ecobot Manager to streamline QA/QC by verifying selections made in the field.

Soil suggestions in Ecobot are designed to inform and empower scientists to make their own determinations with guidance from best in class industry sources, so selections are not made automatically.

Soil Suggestions Basics

  • Soil Suggestions enable fast accurate QA by providing an additional layer of information on indicators where possible.
  • Refer to the Soil Suggestion Legend to interpret the colors highlighting the indicators.
  • Suggestions err on the side of caution, emphasizing which indicators are likely not appropriate over a more prescriptive model.
  • The tool is designed to lend a hand in empowering soil scientists to make the correct indicator selections. Therefore, indicators are not populated automatically.
  • You can reference supplement information with the info bubble on the right hand side of the indicator to double check your decisions.

Collector

  • You must have a data connection for soil suggestions to occur. 

IMG_6027-portrait.png

Manager

  • Soil Suggestions are located on the Edit Point page of every survey in the Hydric Soil Indicators section.
Screenshot 2023-11-20 at 2.13.08 PM.png

Additional Info

  • Soil Suggestions do not include rules with combined layers (i.e. a rule phrased as "if layer X is different than layer Z in this way, then indicator Y applies" is not included in suggestions because it involves more than one layer).
  • A texture must be present for Soil Suggestions to work.
  • Indicators with bold letters require Subregion on the point in order to process.
  • Hydric Soil Indicator "A4" will be highlighted green if Hydrology Indicator "C1" is checked. This is the only Soil Indicator which changes based on Hydrology Indicator selections.

Soil Colors

Each populated Soil Layer Matrix and Redox will contain a color description and graphic based on entered values. This is designed to assist during QA, and also includes a gray/blank field if entered values are not valid Munsell selections.

KB Manager images (3).png

Sources and Methodology

Ecobot’s hydric soil suggestions were developed by soil scientists, wetland scientists, and software engineers.
 
Suggestions are sourced from:
  • Field Indicators of Hydric Soils in the United States, A Guide for Identifying and Delineating Hydric Soils, Version 8.2, 2018 (USDA, NRCS)
  • Field book for describing and sampling soils, Version 3.0, 2012 (USDA, NRCS, Soil Survey Center)
  • Regional Supplements to the USACE Wetland Delineation Manual (USACE, ERDC).
  • The technical description, user notes, and applicable subregions in each hydric soil indicator come from Chapter 3 of the Regional Supplement.
  • The deal-breakers section was created by wetland scientists to help easily parse through the requirements of each indicator.
 

References

  1. United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources
  2. Conservation Service. 2018. Field Indicators of Hydric Soils in the United States,
  3. Version 8.2. L.M. Vasilas, G.W. Hurt, and J.F. Berkowitz (eds.). USDA, NRCS, in
  4. cooperation with the National Technical Committee for Hydric Soils.
  5. Schoeneberger, P.J., D.A. Wysocki, E.C. Benham, and Soil Survey Staff. 2012. Field book for describing and sampling soils, Version 3.0. Natural Resources Conservation Service, National Soil Survey Center, Lincoln, NE.
  6. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 2007. Regional Supplement to the Corps of Engineers Wetland Delineation Manual: Alaska Region (Version 2.0), ed. J. S. Wakeley, R. W. Lichvar, and C. V. Noble. ERDC/EL TR-07-24. Vicksburg, MS: U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center.
  7. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 2008. Regional Supplement to the Corps of Engineers Wetland Delineation Manual: Arid West Region (Version 2.0), ed. J. S. Wakeley, R. W. Lichvar, and C. V. Noble. ERDC/EL TR-08-28. Vicksburg, MS: U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center.
  8. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 2010. Regional Supplement to the Corps of Engineers Wetland Delineation Manual: Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain Region (Version 2.0), ed. J. S. Wakeley, R. W. Lichvar, and C. V. Noble. ERDC/EL TR-10-20. Vicksburg, MS: U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center.
  9. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 2011. Regional Supplement to the Corps of Engineers Wetland Delineation Manual: Caribbean Islands Region (Version 2.0). ed. J. S. Wakeley, R. W. Lichvar, C. V. Noble, and J. F. Berkowitz. ERDC/EL TR-11-4. Vicksburg, MS: U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center
  10. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 2012. Regional Supplement to the Corps of Engineers Wetland Delineation Manual: Eastern Mountains and Piedmont Region Version 2.0, ed. J. F. Berkowitz, J. S. Wakeley, R. W. Lichvar, C. V. Noble. ERDC/EL TR-12-9. Vicksburg, MS: U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center.
  11. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 2010. Regional Supplement to the Corps of Engineers Wetland Delineation Manual: Great Plains Region (Version 2.0), ed. J. S. Wakeley, R. W. Lichvar, and C. V. Noble. ERDC/EL TR-10-1. Vicksburg, MS: U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center.
  12. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 2012. Regional Supplement to the Corps of Engineers Wetland Delineation Manual: Hawai‘i and Pacific Islands Region Version 2.0, ed. J. F. Berkowitz, J. S. Wakeley, R. W. Lichvar, and C. V. Noble. ERDC/EL TR-12-5. Vicksburg, MS: U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center.
  13. U. S. Army Corps of Engineers. 2010. Regional Supplement to the Corps of Engineers Wetland Delineation Manual: Midwest Region (Version 2.0), ed. J. S. Wakeley, R. W. Lichvar, and C. V. Noble. ERDC/EL TR-10-16. Vicksburg, MS: U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center.
  14. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 2011. Regional Supplement to the Corps of Engineers Wetland Delineation Manual: Northcentral and Northeast Region (Version 2.0), ed. J. S. Wakeley, R. W. Lichvar, C. V. Noble, and J. F. Berkowitz. ERDC/EL TR-12-1. Vicksburg, MS: U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center.
  15. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 2010. Regional Supplement to the Corps of Engineers Wetland Delineation Manual: Western Mountains, Valleys, and Coast Region (Version 2.0), ed. J. S. Wakeley, R. W. Lichvar, and C. V. Noble. ERDC/EL TR-10-3. Vicksburg, MS: U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center.