Soil suggestions and soil colors

  • Updated

Ecobot suggests which hydric soil indicators a sampling point likely meets, based on the soil data you've entered. Use the suggestions in Ecobot Manager and Ecobot Collector to check field selections during QA/QC, against guidance aligned with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Automated Wetland Determination Data Sheets. This article explains what the suggestions mean, where to find them, and the soil color descriptions on each soil layer.

Suggestions support your professional judgment; they don't replace it. Ecobot never selects an indicator for you, so the final determination is always yours.

What the suggestion colors mean

Each hydric soil indicator's checkbox is shaded to show the suggestion. The Soil Suggestion Legend explains the colors:

  • Indicator is likely met (green): the evidence suggests the indicator is met.
  • Indicator is partially met (yellow): some requirements appear to be met. Review the indicator before you decide.
  • More information required (no color): there isn't enough information to tell whether the indicator is met.

Suggestions are deliberately conservative. They only show indicators that are likely or partially met, and never mark an indicator as "not met", which keeps your evaluation consistent with the Corps' automated data sheet method.

Find soil suggestions in Manager

  1. Open a point in Manager.
  2. Select the Soil tab.
  3. Scroll to Hydric Soil Indicators. Shaded checkboxes show the suggestions, and the Soil Suggestion Legend sits beside the list.

    Hydric soil indicators on a point's Soil tab in Ecobot Manager, with a yellow suggestion on Reduced Vertic (F18) and the Soil Suggestion Legend highlighted

In this example, Reduced Vertic (F18) is shaded yellow, so the indicator is partially met and worth a closer look.

To review an indicator's criteria, select the info icon next to it. It shows the applicable regional supplement guidance. To see where the suggestions come from, select the info icon on the Soil Suggestion Legend; it lists the sources and links to the full references.

Soil suggestions in Collector

Collector shows suggestions while you're still working. As you fill in a soil layer, the indicators it suggests appear at the bottom of the soil line: green for likely met and yellow for partially met. They're marked Suggested, not checked until you check them yourself. Collector needs a data connection to make suggestions.

A soil line in Ecobot Collector, with suggested hydric soil indicators A4 and F8 highlighted at the bottom

The Soils screen lists the same suggestions under Hydric soil indicators, for all the point's soil layers.

The Soils screen in Ecobot Collector, with the suggested hydric soil indicators A4 and F8 highlighted

In the hydric soil indicator list, the suggested indicators are shaded with the same legend, so you can check the ones that apply.

The Soils screen in Ecobot Collector, with the Soil Suggestions legend and a green suggestion on Hydrogen Sulfide (A4)

What affects the suggestions

  • A soil layer needs a texture before Ecobot can make suggestions for it.
  • Indicators with a region in bold, such as (LRR C), need the point's subregion.
  • Suggestions look at one layer at a time. Rules that compare layers, such as "if layer X differs from layer Z in this way, indicator Y applies", aren't included.
  • Hydrogen Sulfide (A4) is suggested as likely met when hydrology indicator C1 is checked. It's the only soil indicator that changes with your hydrology selections.

Soil colors

When you fill in a soil layer's matrix or redox color, Manager shows the color's name and a swatch above it. Use them to check during QA that the Munsell values match what you saw in the field.

Soil Layer 1 on a point's Soil tab in Manager, with the matrix color's name and swatch highlighted

If the values you've entered aren't a valid Munsell color, the label reads Color: INVALID and the swatch is gray or blank. Check the hue, value and chroma for that layer.

Sources and methodology

Ecobot's hydric soil suggestions were developed by soil scientists, wetland scientists and software engineers. They're based on:

  • 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)
  • The Regional Supplements to the USACE Wetland Delineation Manual (USACE, ERDC)

The technical description, user notes and applicable subregions for each hydric soil indicator come from Chapter 3 of the Regional Supplement. Wetland scientists wrote the deal-breakers section to make each indicator's requirements quicker to work through.

For how Ecobot handles the soil section of the wetland determination form, see Wetland determination: soil.

References

  • United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service. 2018. Field Indicators of Hydric Soils in the United States, Version 8.2. L.M. Vasilas, G.W. Hurt, and J.F. Berkowitz (eds.). USDA, NRCS, in cooperation with the National Technical Committee for Hydric Soils.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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, and C. V. Noble. ERDC/EL TR-12-9. Vicksburg, MS: U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.