FPC Site Classification System

About the FPC Soil Classification System

Soils are classified to communicate characteristics that often denote what management techniques might be required. However, the United States Department of Agriculture’s widely accepted taxonomy system is not tailored specifically to forest management.

A new classification system constructed by the Forest Productivity Cooperative (FPC) provides a more comprehensive assessment of factors known to influence forest response to management practices such as underlying geology.

To view a more extensive summary of the FPC Soil Classification System, click here.

Forest Productivity Cooperative Web Map

The FPC Web Map is based on the FPC soil classification system and includes supplemental data sources such as USGS geologic formations, Major Land Resource Areas, and more to help inform silvicultural prescriptions. Data sets have been meticulously analyzed and constructed to be top-tier resources for informing decisions in relation to forest management.

Password:

knowyourlai?25

GIS Data Download for Members

(contact altrlica@ncsu.edu with questions on downloading)

Dropbox download link here.

FPC SPOT v3.1 Manual

Recorded presentation on SPOT v3.1 updates

PDF Slides on SPOT v3.1 updates

Spreadsheet of column name crosswalk from v2.2 to v3.1

Changelog

3.1 - Current Version as of Sept 5, 2024

• Added TN

• Aligned Atlantic Coastal Plain Terraces

• More documentation to be added….

2.2 — Version as of Aug 16, 2021 - Sept 5, 2024

• Updated state-level geodatabases that include soil and management data

• Updated the Coastal Plain Terraces shapefile to reduce file size and improve load time

• Updated All Southeastern States — Tabular Contents (Expanded Soil Data)

  • File size reduced to include only unique “mukey” values on a per state basis with relevant soil data

• Added All southern states Tabular Contents (Soil + management data)

  • A zipped folder that contains CSVs of the attribute table from each state level geodatabase

• Added Soils Reference Tables (Microsoft Access Database)

  • Database that contains soil and management data reference tables, credit to Hayes Luscher, TIR

• Updated the FPC Soil Classification System — Manual to include new soil and management data information

2.1.0 — As of Aug 2020

• Introduced the fpc_key field/column.

  • This value corresponds to a unique soil map unit at a static spatial location in the southeast. Enables future changes to be primarily tabular until transition to raster grid occurs.

• Introduced the fpc_frav field.

  • This values corresponds to the average fertility ranking of the underlying lithology as mapped out by the USGS in their State Geologic Map Compendium (SGMC) dataset. Fertility rankings were assigned to 154 unique rock types based on their mineralogy and weatherability.

• Introduced the terrace_na field.

  • This value corresponds to the unique terrace upon which the majority of the soil map unit (fpc_key) resides. Terraces were classified based on elevation ranges obtained from 30-meter digital elevation models.

• Introduced the fpc_mlra field.

• The fpc_code field now has complete concatenations of the entire FPC Soil Classification System code for the first time (previously stopping at the geology code).

• Fixed case sensitivity issues causing some modifiers to be missed or improperly labeled.

• Added Quartzipsamments as “i” for modifier 2.

• Montmorillonitic soils now code out as “p” for modifier 2.

• Carbonatic soils now code out as “c” for modifier 3.

• Adjusted all “G” soils (deep sand) to now have depth codes of 6.

• Changed the “Sa” (Sandhills) geology code to “Le” (Lumbee Formation).

• Changed the “fpc_text” description for the “Le” geology code to match its new identity.

• Various other small changes and optimizations were made to improve data usability.

2.0.0 —

• Consolidated geology

• Added CRIFF Group for Translation

• Simplification of Major Soil Groups

• Separate depth code from subsoil texture

• Added somewhat excessively drained

• Simplification and categorization of modifiers

• Re-classification of some geologic formations

1.5.0 —

• Updated with geologic formations and parent material minerology beyond the Atlantic Coastal Plain.

1.0.0 —

• Separated SSURGO classification to highlight major and second-dominant components.

0.5.0 —

• Base layers (soils, geology, mlra) created and rendered in their initial, most primitive forms. Initial documentation constructed.