1. Home
  2. Knowledge Base
  3. GeoHECHMS
  4. NRCS Soil Survey Data Download Command
  1. Home
  2. Knowledge Base
  3. GeoHECRAS
  4. NRCS Soil Survey Data Download Command

NRCS Soil Survey Data Download Command

The NRCS Soil Survey Data Download command allows the user to download hydrologic soil groups as shapefile data. To learn how to display the hydrologic soil groups on the Map View for different regions, refer to this article in our knowledge base.

Note that this command works only within the United States.

Follow the steps given below to use the NRCS Soil Survey Data Download command:

  1. From the Map Data ribbon menu, click the Soil Maps dropdown menu and then choose the NRCS Soil Survey Data Download command.
    Soil maps dropdown menu
  2. The NRCS Soil Survey Data Download dialog box will be displayed.
    NRCS Soil Survey Data Download dialog box

The following section describes the NRCS Soil Survey Data Download command and how to interact with the above dialog box.

General Specifications

In this section, by default, the Layer group name is Soil Survey Data, which can be changed by the user. Click the […] button beside the Shapefile path entry to specify the directory location to which to save the downloaded shapefiles.

Soil Survey Data Boundary Limits

In this section, choose one of the following three options for defining the geographic location:

  • Current screen limits: The software will use the Map View screen display as a boundary limit.
  • User-defined limits: The user can draw a rectangle on the Map View representing user-defined limits for the NRCS soil survey data to be downloaded. Click the [Pick] button to define the soil survey limits. The dialog box will temporarily disappear, and a message will be displayed on the status line. Click and drag a rectangular region to define the limits. After releasing the mouse, the user will be returned to the dialog box. A layer will be created with a rectangular box to represent the user-defined selected region.
  • Model extents: If a project model has been defined, this option will create a bounding rectangular region to the extents of the defined model, plus an additional buffer boundary.

Downloading NRCS Soil Survey Data

Clicking on the [OK] button allows the user to download hydrologic soil groups as shapefile data. Note that the maximum downloading area of the NRCS Soil Survey Data Download command is 5000 sq. km.

An example of NRCS soil survey data is shown below.
Example of NRCS soil survey data

About the Author Chris Maeder

  • Was this helpful?
  • YesNo

Was this article helpful?

Related Articles