Field Book for Describing and Sampling Soils (Version 3.0)

The Science and Art of Soil and Landscape Description This is Version 3; third printing (2021). The Field Book summarizes the present science and art of describing and documenting soils and soilscapes in the USA. The intended audience is professionals who describe soils for various purposes. The Field Book includes key descriptors, conventions, and concepts from soil science and geomorphology to facilitate field observations and soil documentation. The Field Book also aids in understanding soil descriptions and data found in soil surveys, dissertations, research papers, and general soil publications. Changes Version 3.0 (2012) includes new content, chapter updates, new terms, and addresses errors in earlier versions. Version 3.0 supersedes previous releases, which should be discarded. The third printing (2021) of the field book contains some minor changes from previous printings. The changes are mostly errata, such as misspelled words. Soil description methodology was developed by soil scientists throughout the entire course of the soil survey. The USDA published small instruction booklets for field parties, including soil descriptions, in 1902-1904, 1906, and 1914. The first USDA guide for soil horizon identification and description was released in 1937 (Bureau of Chemistry and Soils, 1937). Dr. Roy Simonson and others later summarized and revised this information (Soil Survey Staff, 1951; Soil Survey Staff, 1962). Brief “color-book” inserts with shorthand notation were released by the Soil Conservation Service (Spartanburg, SC, 1961; Western Technical Center, Portland, OR, 1974). Previous Field Books were released in 1998 (Schoeneberger et al.) and 2002 (Schoeneberger et al.). This is an updated Field Book version that summarizes current knowledge, includes updates since 2002, and reflects changes in source documents.