ABSTRACT
Geographic information systems (GIS) consist of geographical referenced data (soil, topography, vegetation, hydrologic) as well as the necessary hardware and software. Using GIS one can determine erosion amounts; route sediment movement and deposition as well as water storage and movement; determine crop yield potentials; calculate soil organic carbon sequestered; display plant nutrient amounts and needs; and estimate other important management tools in a landscape setting. There are many types of soils on a landscape. The difficulty has been to extrapolate information developed from a point on a landscape to describe accurately the characteristics of the landscape or the biological responses thereon on an area or regional basis. Using the GIS capability to combine the soil survey information base, the climate resources base, cropping history, soil management practices, and geostatistics, one can extrapolate process information developed from a point or small area on the landscape to estimate the magnitude of changes on a landscape basis.
