DEVELOPMENT OF A DATABASE AND MODEL PARAMETER ANALYSIS SYSTEM FOR AGRICULTURAL SOILS

An interactive computer program was developed for obtaining soils data for geographic analyses and estimation of soil water retention data for simplistic and classical water flow models. The soils data base contains 8080 soil series identified from the USDA-SCS. The data are organized in sequential files that contain textural, morphological, crop support, and geographical location (at a county level) and density (ha/county). The computer program allows the exploration of the database, clarifying the impact of data on modeled processes, screening geographically based data to identify potential sits for model application or testing, and developing initial guidance on alternative water quality management strategies. The program allows the display of data in the form of generated reports and production of geographic maps and plots of soil water functional relationships. Indirect methods are used in the program for estimating soil water retention characteristics using textural information from the soil data base. Estimates of variability can be developed within a soil series or among series by using reported ranges for textural information on each series contained in the soil database.