Downloading Web Soil Survey Data for use in ArcGIS

1. Use this link to download the Soil Data Viewer 6.1

http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/soils/survey/geo/?cid=nrcseprd337066
2. Before downloading anything go to your computer and discover if some version of Microsoft
Access is installed and running on your computer.
Scroll down and Click the download button to download it.

3. Unzip the downloaded file and start setup by double clicking the file. Just click next next until
the installation is complete.
4. Now go to the Start button and find USDA application under which the Soil Data viewer is
available.

5. Now go to C drive> Programs file (86)>USDA and Double click on SDVArcMapAddin.

Subash Dahal
PhD, Student, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, University of Georgia

Downloading Web Soil Survey Data for use in ArcGIS

6. Click Install Add In. Now the Soil Data viewer will be available in ArcGIS.

7. Access it by right clicking the empty space in the toolbar and checking the Soil Data Viewer. It
will look like this.

8. Go to http://websoilsurvey.sc.egov.usda.gov/App/HomePage.htm and click START WSS Green

Button

9. You should see a page like this

10. Use zoom to go to your area of interest. You can simply use the navigation panel on the left. You
can directly go to desired state, county or address. You can draw a polygon around your area of
interest.
Subash Dahal
PhD, Student, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, University of Georgia

Downloading Web Soil Survey Data for use in ArcGIS

11. Click in that button and draw polygon around your study area. Finish the polygon by double
clicking.

12. Go to the Download Soils Data on the top of the page. And click the Create Download link
button on the bottom right of the page.

13. A download link will be created on the bottom left corner. Click to download it. After
downloading unzip it in desired location in your hard drive.
14. Unzip the soil data downloaded from the Web Soil Survey website. Which will look like this.

Subash Dahal
PhD, Student, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, University of Georgia

Downloading Web Soil Survey Data for use in ArcGIS

15. Go to Spatial folder open it and Add the first and Second shp files to ArcGIS.
16. Now click the Soil Data Viewer Toolbar and Add the Access file that is associated with the Soil
data you downloaded.

17. An error message stating that the table is empty will appear. To fix that you have to open that
Access file in your download directory using Microsoft Access. When prompted to stop Macros
just click close button.
18. Since the Access file is of internet origin, Microsoft blocks the content. Click on enable content
on the top of the Window.

19. A small window will pop up which says that we have to provide a directory of the associated
tables.
Subash Dahal
PhD, Student, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, University of Georgia

Downloading Web Soil Survey Data for use in ArcGIS

20. Go the file location where the Web soil Survey data is unzipped. Go into Tabular file.

21. Then Copy and Paste that directory to the pop up window in Access.

Subash Dahal
PhD, Student, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, University of Georgia

Downloading Web Soil Survey Data for use in ArcGIS

22. You can do a lot stuffs in the Access.

23. Now go to ArcGIS and Add the Access file Using Soil Data Viewer Toolbar

24. Now you can select different parameters and show them map and view the attribute table and
do your analysis.

25. For Example click a parameter and Click the Map Button to see it in the map. If you Select the
Soil Erosion Factor> Wind Erodobility Factor and Map it, you will see a map like this.
Subash Dahal
PhD, Student, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, University of Georgia

Downloading Web Soil Survey Data for use in ArcGIS

Subash Dahal
PhD, Student, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, University of Georgia