This raster contains the natural, inherent, soil wetness of the lower 48 states, as determined by the ordinally based Natural Soil Drainage Index (DI). The DI is intended to reflect the amount of water that a soil can supply to growing plants under natural conditions. It ranges from 0 for the very driest soils and exposed bedrock, to …Continue reading “Drainage Index Grid (conterminous U.S.)”
We introduce, evaluate, and apply a new ordinally based soil Productivity Index (PI). The index has a wide application generally at landscape scales. Unlike competing indexes, it does not require copious amounts of soil data, for example, pH, organic matter, or cation exchange capacity, in its derivation. Geographic information system applications of the PI, in particular, have great potential. For regionally extensive applications, the PI may be as useful and robust as other indexes that have much more exacting data requirements.