This dataset will be more fully documented in 23 AES publications scheduled for completion in winter of 99/00. These publications will use the designation AES Bulletin B-1071 followed by a two letter abreviation for each county.
The Soils of Wyoming layers can be used, however, for many other purposes. It is intended to supplement other existing 1:100,000 scale digital natural resource layers of the state. Please see Use-Constraints for more details.
This map provides a generalized description of soils within each county of Wyoming. Soils are highly variable, both on a regional basis (plains, mountains, basins) and locally with changes in topography (north versus south slopes, side slopes versus ridge crest or foot slope positions), vegetation, climate, and geology. This map should be used for broad scale planning and general assessment of large areas of land. It should not be used for site specific interpretations such as site selection for an underground fuel storage tank or the development of management plans for individual farm fields. Such site intensive land uses require much more detailed soils information than is provided by this map.
The soil map presented here differs from the STATSGO map developed by the Natural Resource Conservation Service (National Cartographic and GIS Center, 1998) in several ways. The STATSGO maps were developed by generalizing existing detailed soil surveys and were prepared on a 1:250,000-scale topographic map base. The mapping units in the STATSGO map contain from one to 21 components, and the soils components are represented at the series level. The STATSGO map provides a somewhat more detailed description of the soils in the state, with consequent complexity in interpretations. The detailed maps from which the STATSGO map was generalized were produced by numerous scientists over a thirty year time span. The surficial geology map of the state and the state bedrock geology map were not available in electronic form when these maps were produced and the original mapping was done on aerial photographs.
The scale of 1:100,000 used for this map was specified by the larger Wyoming Ground-Water Vulnerability Mapping Project (Hamerlinck and Arneson 1998). The maps are based on a simplification of the five soil forming factor model. Climate is proxied by elevation. This was derived from the 3-arc-second USGS Digital Elevation Model for the state. There is a strong correspondence between elevation and precipitation in the state, and temperature regimes can also generally be characterized by elevation. Vegetation is also closely tied to elevation, through its effect on precipitation and temperature. Three temperature regimes are mapped in Wyoming: cryic in the higher mountains; frigid in the foothills, the high plains along the Rocky Mountain front, low mountains and high intermountain basins; and mesic in lower elevation basins and the Great Plains See Appendix in the report for definitions of temperature regimes). There are small areas of a fourth temperature regime (pergelic) at elevations above 10,000 feet in the highest mountains in the state. Soil parent material is derived from the digital version of the state geology map (Green and Drouillard 1994) and the state surficial geology map by Case, Arneson, and Hallberg (1998). Vegetation is inferred from climate, slope, and parent material. Time, or soil age, is inferred from elevation and surficial geology. The topographic factor is inferred from elevation, surficial geology and bedrock geology. All the analysis of these layers was conducted using conducted using ARC/INFO Geographic Information System software on a Silicon Graphics UNIX workstation.
For a complete list of references, please refer to the published reports.
Hudson, B.D. 1992. The soils survey as a paradigm-based science. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 56:838-841.
Hamerlinck, J.D., and Arneson, C.S., editors, 1998, Wyoming Ground- Water Vulnerability Assessment Handbook: Volume 1. Background, Model Development, and Aquifer Sensitivity Analysis: Spatial Data and Visualization Center Publication SDVC 98-01-1, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY.
Green, G.N. and P.H. Drouillard. 1994. The Digital Geologic Map of Wyoming in ARC/INFO Format. U.S. Geological Survey Open File Report 94-0425.
Jenny, H. 1941. Factors of Soil Formation. New York: McGraw-Hill.
National Cartographic And GIS Center. 1998. STATSGO-Wyoming. USDA- Natural Resource Conservation Service. Fort Worth, TX
AL01 Fluventic Haplaquolls, fine-loamy over sandy or sandy skeletal, mixed (calcareous), frigid; Aquic Torriorthents, sandy-skeletal, mixed, frigid
AL02 Ustic Haplocambids, loamy-skeletal, mixed, frigid; Ustic Haplocambids, sandy-skeletal, mixed, frigid; Ustic Haplargids, fine-loamy, mixed, frigid
AL03 Ustic Haplocalcids, loamy-skeletal, mixed, frigid; Aridic Argiustolls, fine-loamy, mixed, frigid; Ustic Haplargids, loamy-skeletal, mixed, frigid
AL04 Ustic Haplargids, fine-loamy, mixed, frigid; Ustic Haplocalcids, loamy, mixed, shallow, frigid; Ustic Haplocalcids, coarse-loamy, mixed, frigid
AL05 Typic Haplogypsids, fine, montmorillonitic, frigid
AL06 Ustic Natrargids, fine, montmorillonitic, frigid; Ustic Natrargids, fine-loamy, mixed, frigid; Ustertic Torriorthents, fine, montmorillonitic (calcareous), frigid
AL07 Ustic Haplargids, fine, mixed, frigid; Ustic Haplargids, fine-loamy, mixed, frigid; Ustic Haplargids, loamy-skeletal, mixed, frigid
AL08 Ustic Lithic Haplocalcids, loamy-skeletal, mixed, frigid; Rock Outcrop; Ustic Haplargids, coarse-loamy, mixed, frigid
AL09 Aridic Argiustolls, loamy-skeletal, mixed, frigid, shallow; Rock Outcrop; Typic Haplustalfs, fine-loamy, mixed, frigid; Typic Argiustolls, fine-loamy, mixed, frigid
AL10 Ustic Haplargids, fine-loamy, mixed, frigid; Ustic Torriorthents, fine-loamy, mixed (calc), frigid
AL11 Lithic Haplocryolls, loamy-skeletal, mixed; Rock Outcrop; Typic Argicryolls, fine-loamy, mixed
AL12 Lithic Haplocryolls, loamy-skeletal, mixed; Rock Outcrop; Lithic Mollic Haplocryalfs, loamy-skeletal, mixed
AL13 Lithic Haplocryolls, loamy-skeletal, mixed; Rock Outcrop; Typic Haplocryalfs, loamy-skeletal, mixed
AL14 Typic Dystrocryepts, loamy-skeletal, mixed; Typic Haplocryalfs, loamy-skeletal, mixed; Lithic Cryorthents, sandy-skeletal, mixed
AL15 Lithic Cryorthents, loamy-skeletal, mixed; Humic Dystrocryepts, loamy-skeletal, mixed; Histic Cryaquepts, fine-loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal, mixed
AL16 Typic Dystrocryepts, loamy-skeletal, mixed; Humic Dystrocryepts, loamy-skeletal, mixed; Rock Outcrop; Histic Cryaquepts, fine-loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal, mixed
SMU Rating Rech % AL01 9 25 AL02 6 2 AL03 6 3 AL04 6 1 AL05 1 1 AL06 2 1 AL07 3 1 AL08 8 2 AL09 8 5 AL10 5 1 AL11 9 35 AL12 10 40 AL13 9 50 AL14 6 34 AL15 7 44 AL16 7 45