Soils have been sampled and analyzed in Pennsylvania for characterization since 1954.The initial sampling was done by the USDA Soil Conservation Service (SCS) now known as the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).Subsequent samplings have been done by the Penn State Soil Characterization Laboratory, US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the NRCS. Presently, 949 pedons (profiles) have been collected and analyzed.

The sample sites show as point symbols are are available at all scales. To get more information, select Characterization Sites as the active layer and use the id tool to click on one of the sample sites.

To see detailed data for this layer, use the dropdown under the Layer List and select Characterization Sites. This makes the Characterization Sites the active layer. Then use the ID Tool to click on a sample site on the map.

For More Information - Visit Penn State University Soil Characterization Database System site.

Note: All SoilMap source data has been projected to an Albers Conical Equal Area projection with the following parameters.

PROJCS["Albers Conical Equal Area",GEOGCS["GCS_North_American_1983",DATUM["D_North_American_1983",SPHEROID["GRS_1980",6378137.0,298.257222101]],PRIMEM["Greenwich",0.0],UNIT["Degree",0.0174532925199433]],PROJECTION["Albers"],PARAMETER["False_Easting",0.0],PARAMETER["False_Northing",0.0],PARAMETER["Central_Meridian",-78.0],PARAMETER["Standard_Parallel_1",40.0],PARAMETER["Standard_Parallel_2",42.0],PARAMETER["Latitude_Of_Origin",39.0],UNIT["Meter",1.0]]

The data and documentation on SoilMap are provided 'as is' and the User assumes the entire risk as to their quality and performance. SoilMap source data was produced at a variety of scales and may not be suitable for use at larger scales.