Applied Soil Mapping and Map Unit Design
This online engineering PDH course examines the technical processes of pedological investigation and the systematic delineation of natural soil bodies within the landscape.
The course covers map unit design, including consociations, complexes, and associations, and explores the shift from traditional aerial photography to digital mapping with elevation models and multispectral data. It applies the scientific method to soil-landscape hypotheses through various field techniques like transecting and excavations.
Additionally, this course sets standards for soil correlation and the maintenance of Official Soil Series Descriptions (OSD) to ensure quality across mapping projects. By reviewing Soil Taxonomy and survey intensity orders, it provides a framework for accurate soil spatial distribution data for engineering, agriculture, and environmental management.
This 7 PDH online course is applicable to civil engineers, land surveyors, as well as other technical professionals who are interested in learning more about applied soil mapping and map unit design.
This PE continuing education course is intended to provide you with the following specific knowledge and skills:
- Distinguishing between pedons and polypedons to establish precise three-dimensional units for observation, sampling, and classification in the field
- Understanding soil surveys across five distinct orders of intensity to align mapping scale, minimum delineation size, and data resolution with specific project objectives
- Analyzing systematic and random variations in soil properties by utilizing landform models and randomized transects to accurately quantify map unit composition
- Identifying limiting dissimilar soils and minor components within map units to maintain interpretive purity and comply with technical standards
- Recognizing geospatial technologies, including GPS and GIS, for navigating remote terrain and constructing integrated thematic soil property maps
- Evaluating diverse map unit types, such as undifferentiated groups and miscellaneous areas like "Rock outcrop" or "Mined land", based on their unique behavioral responses to land use
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