Geospatial analysis of soil information for Flat Creek Watershed resource assessment

Performing a geospatial analysis of soil information for a watershed resource assessment requires an integration of various software and geospatial data elements from numerous sources. ESRI's ArcView 3.x GIS software and specialized extensions were used to delineate the watershed boundary of the selected project for Flat Creek Watershed in Amelia County, Virginia. Since this study was performed with availing assistance from the USDA-NRCS Water Quality office on the campus of Virginia State University, the geospatial data watershed delineation was calculated using the CE465 Hydrol ArcView Extension with the USGS DEM (digital elevation model) data. Another specialized ArcView Extension called CRWR-raster was used to make a seamless join of multiple raster elevation files needed to cover the entire watershed area. For verification of work the watershed boundary was also calculated by hand using contour lines on the USGS topoquads, overlaid with US EPA RF3 stream segments, and USDA NRCS hydrologic unit boundaries. The information on complex soil spatial and attribute data are from the USDA NRCS SSURGO (National Soil Survey Geospatial Database) and NASIS (National Soil Information System) data sets. These data were converted to the appropriate map projection, imported into the ArcView project, and integrated with the soil Data Viewer extension developed by the USDA NRCS. The poster describes various soil interpretations and soil property reports to demonstrate useful watershed resource assessment for area management, including agriculture use, building site development, recreation and water management