Demand for soil survey data continues to increase, with users seeking to support agriculture management, environmental protection, land-use planning, and resource conservation decision-making. These evolving and complex management and policy needs have led to an ambitious goal of completing the initial soil survey on all private lands in the United States by 2011. An accelerated schedule for completing the initial soil survey on public lands has also been identified. At the same time, existing soil surveys of various vintages need to be updated to meet modern survey standards and information needs. Emerging Digital Soil Mapping (DSM) technologies offer a set of tools to complement existing soil survey tools and procedures and help achieve these mapping and updating goals. To effectively utilize DSM technologies, soil scientists and program managers need to better understand the current status and potential of DSM technologies with respect to the goals and objectives of the National Cooperative Soil Survey (NCSS). They also will need a vision and plan for implementation and application of DSM technologies within the context of soil survey production, refresh cycle, and data delivery and use.

Under the umbrella of the NCSS, NRCS is beginning to address these and other issues associated with the integration of DSM methods and products into workflows, data delivery systems, and decision making processes. The first step in this process was the development, with guidance from Innovation Expedition, Inc., of a detailed Challenge Paper presented to a cross section of the NCSS. Comments were received and consolidated into a workbook that formed the basis for the first NCSS workshop on Digital Soil Mapping in January 2007. Those comments and the results of the workshop will form the basis for a DSM implementation plan within NRCS and the foundation for NCSS DSM guidelines.