NYSERDA 2023 Soils Data for use in the Large-Scale Renewables and NY-Sun Programs
data.ny.gov | Last Updated 5 Jan 2024THE NYSERDA 2023 SOILS DATA IS TO BE USED FOR NYSERDA’S RENEWABLE ENERGY STANDARD (RES) REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) ISSUED AFTER THE PUBLICATION OF THIS DATA OR THE NY-SUN PROGRAM AND IS NOT INTENDED TO REPRESENT ACTUAL IN SITU SOIL CONDITIONS. In order to facilitate the protection of agricultural lands, developers participating in RESRFPs or the NY-Sun program may be responsible for making an agricultural mitigation payment to a designated fund based on the extent to which the solar project’s facility area overlaps with an Agricultural District and New York’s highly productive agricultural soils, identified as Mineral Soil Groups (MSG) classifications 1 through 4 (MSG 1-4). This mitigation approach is designed to discourage solar projects from siting on MSG 1-4. Furthermore, this mitigation approach is designed to encourage retaining agricultural productivity on the project site. Instances where Proposers cannot avoid or minimize impacts on MSG 1-4 will result in a payment to a fund administered by NYSERDA. Disbursement of collected agricultural mitigation payment funds will be informed by consultation with the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets (AGM) to support ongoing regional agricultural practices and/or soil conservation initiatives. This dataset contains a combination of soils data from multiple sources to serve participants of NYSERDA’s Large-Scale Renewable and NY-Sun programs. The NYSERDA 2023 Soils Data was created by converting the 2023 New York State Agricultural Land Classification (https://agriculture.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2023/01/masterlistofagriculturalsoils.pdf) master list of soils maintained by AGM to a tabular form and providing a corresponding unique identifier for each listed soil that enables the user to link the soils to the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) SSURGO soils database, allowing for a geographical representation. When the NYSERDA 2023 Soils Data is joined with spatial data from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) SSURGO soils database (https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/soils/survey/?cid=nrcs142p2_053627), the corresponding soil unit can be mapped in a geographic information system software. The latest version of the SSURGO database (https://nrcs.app.box.com/v/soils) should be used to get the most accurate join. Data is updated yearly from both NRCS and from AGM, however, NYSERDA will not update this dataset and it will remain intact for future reference. NYSERDA intends on creating new soils datasets for future procurements on an annual basis. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) offers objective information and analysis, innovative programs, technical expertise, and support to help New Yorkers increase energy efficiency, save money, use renewable energy, and reduce reliance on fossil fuels. To learn more about NYSERDA’s programs, visit nyserda.ny.gov or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram.
This dataset has the following 24 columns:
| Column Name | API Column Name | Data Type | Description | Sample Values |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| County | county | text | Name of county for the soil unit | Yates Lewis Allegany Franklin Oneida view top 100 |
| County_MAPSYM | county_mapsym | text | Combination of county name and MAPSYM abbreviation; a unique value for each soil unit | NY031_FUA NY105_LEC NY039_LAE NY077_OGD NY065_38A view top 100 |
| MAPSYM | mapsym | text | Abbreviation for soil unit name | Ha Ca Wa CoB ChB view top 100 |
| MUKEY | mukey | number | Unique ID for each soil unit used to join to the SSURGO database. Blank cells represent map symbols that are no longer in the SSURGO database | 294416 293009 2504263 295945 290051 view top 100 |
| Default Mineral Soil Group | default_mineral_soil_group | number | Value for the Mineral Soil Group (MSG) for NYSERDA’s Program purposes. Values range from 1 to 10 and defaults to the lowest value (i.e., highest quality soil type) | 8 6 5 7 9 view top 100 |
| Multiple MSG Flag | multiple_msg_flag | text | Indicates whether multiple MSG values exist for a certain soil unit, if applicable | Yes view top 100 |
| Flag - MSG Values | flag_msg_values | number | A list of the possible MSG values for a given soil unit, if applicable | 610 135 235667 89 710 view top 100 |
| Flag - Fields | flag_fields | text | If multiple MSG values possible, a list of the fields which differ across the subset of soils | Capability Class,Soil Modifier Flooding Flooding,Capability Class Flooding,Capability Class,Drainage Soil Modifier view top 100 |
| Capability Class (FM5 CAP) | capability_class_fm5_cap | text | Capability class is the broadest category in the land capability classification system. Class codes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 are used to represent both irrigated and non-irrigated land capability classes. | 3W 3E 2E 4E 7S view top 100 |
| Soil Temp. Regime | soil_temp_regime | text | Soil temperature regime as defined in Soil Taxonomy | Mesic Frigid Cryic Y view top 100 |
| Soil Modifier | soil_modifier | text | Describes an element of the soil unit that may be used for altering the soil group value | Drained Rolling Eroded Steep Hilly view top 100 |
| Soil Slope | soil_slope | text | Range of slope percentage for soil unit | "00-03" "03-08" "08-15" "15-25" "03-15" view top 100 |
| Soil Name | soil_name | text | Soil unit name | CHENANGO HOWARD MARDIN VALOIS VOLUSIA view top 100 |
| Drainage | drainage | text | Identifies the natural drainage conditions of the soil and refers to the frequency and duration of wet periods | Well Drained Moderately Well-Drained Somewhat Well-Drained Well Drained to Excessively Well Drained Excessively Drained view top 100 |
| Modifier | modifier | text | Describes an element of the soil unit that may be used for altering the soil group value | Gravelly Channery Very Bouldery Very Stoney Shale view top 100 |
| Texture | texture | text | General description of the texture of the parent material | Silty Loam Fine Sandy Loam Loamy Sand Silty Clay Loam Loamy Fine Sand view top 100 |
| Flooding | flooding | text | Flooding from overflow of a stream or river that results in crop loss | Rarely Usually Never view top 100 |
| Lime | lime | text | Lists if the need for the application of lime is indicated for the soil unit | Requires lime additions within every rotation Requires little lime in the crop rotation view top 100 |
| Rotation | rotation | number | Number of years of corn (or other row crops) that can be grown in a corn- hay rotation without exceeding the permissible soil loss by erosion without the use of additional practices such as cover crops, no-till practices, etc. | 5 3 0 2 4 view top 100 |
| Corn Yield (ton/acre) | corn_yield_ton_acre | number | The average management yields of corn | 0 13.5 12 10.5 11.25 view top 100 |
| Hay Yield (ton/acre) | hay_yield_ton_acre | number | The average management yields of hay | 0 1.6 3.685 3.35 1.95 view top 100 |
| Change | change | text | Change in the information for this soil map unit. These changes may or may not result in a change within the soil group | Addition to the List Change of Information view top 100 |
| TDN (ton/acre) | tdn_ton_acre | number | Total digestible nutrients - (Years Corn* Yield Corn* 0, 2) + [(10 - years Corn)* Yield Hay* 0.5] | 0 0.48 1.87 2.77 1.31 view top 100 |
| Index (TDN) | index_tdn | number | Index value of TDN – (TDN of soil map unit /TDN for best soil ) X 100 | 0 10.57 41.23 13.22 30.89 view top 100 |