Have you ever needed soil information while out in the field or away from your home computer? Now you can have portable soil information wherever you have cellular service. A few operating systems ago, there was a free app that could be downloaded called “SoilWeb”, but you may have noticed that it is no longer supported. Good news: You can access the website from your mobile device and use it essentially the same way.
How to download and save the app to your device
For iPhone users: Navigate to https://casoilresource.lawr.ucdavis.edu/gmap/. When you have the website open, you will see a “Welcome” window (see Figure 3). Clear this by hitting OK. Next, click the icon at the bottom that looks like a square with an arrow pointing up, and then find the “Add to Home” button (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Series of screenshots to illustrate for iOS users the steps to access and save the Soil Web app on their mobile device.
For Android devices, clear out the “Welcome” message as described above and tap the button in the upper right corner (3 vertical dots) and select “Add to Home screen” (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Series of screenshots to illustrate for Android users the steps to access and save the Soil Web app on their mobile device.
How to use the SoilWeb app
A welcome screen gives users an easy-to-follow set of instructions to get started (Figure 3). You can zoom to your current location or navigate to a particular location.
Figure 3. Introductory screen with instructions for using the SoilWeb app.
Here is an example of the types of information I would select to learn more about the soils mapped at my office location in Manhattan, Kansas (Figure 4).
Figure 4. Information available at your selected location include types of soils (left panel), specific soil profile descriptions (middle panel), and Official Soil Series Descriptions (right panel).
If you are ever in need of portable soil survey information, this is a free and simple resource.
DeAnn Presley, Soil Management Specialist
deann@ksu.edu
Tags: soil