Computing procedures for mapping soil features at sub-catchment scale

Abstract

Procedures for detailed mapping of a large number of soil features in small landscape units displayed in either vertical cross section (i.e. soil toposequences) or horizontal plane (i.e. soil maps) are presented. Rom hand coloured drawings that display the soil-landscape features, an Apple Macintosh Computer, with Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Patterns and Textures programs, is used to produce high quality coloured maps ready for reproduction in any form (e.g. posters, publications, slides or overhead transparencies). The first step is to produce the detailed computer map with all soil features included. This detailed computer map is made up of the following three layers or bases: (i) a black linework and lettering base, (ii) a polygon base filled with black and white textures, and (iii) a polygon base filled with colours. The detailed computer map, saved as the master file, is very easily modified to generate more simplified and thematic maps by: (i) grouping soil features into larger soil components in order to display soil-landscapes in a more simplified form, (ii) deleting certain soil-landscape components in order to highlight specific soil features, and (iii) adding newly aquired information (e.g. chemical and hydrological data) to previous versions.