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Custom Soil Resource Report <br />individual soils with similar soils in the same taxonomic class in other areas so that <br />they could confirm data and assemble additional data based on experience and <br />research. <br />While a soil survey is in progress, samples of some of the soils in the area generally <br />are collected for laboratory analyses and for engineering tests. Soil scientists interpret <br />the data from these analyses and tests as well as the field-observed characteristics <br />and the soil properties to determine the expected behavior of the soils under different <br />uses. Interpretations for all of the soils are field tested through observation of the soils <br />in different uses and under different levels of management. Some interpretations are <br />modified to fit local conditions, and some new interpretations are developed to meet <br />local needs. Data are assembled from other sources, such as research information, <br />production records, and field experience of specialists. For example, data on crop <br />yields under defined levels of management are assembled from farm records and from <br />field or plot experiments on the same kinds of soil. <br />Predictions about soil behavior are based not only on soil properties but also on such <br />variables as climate and biological activity. Soil conditions are predictable over long <br />periods of time, but they are not predictable from year to year. For example, soil <br />scientists can predict with a fairly high degree of accuracy that a given soil will have <br />a high water table within certain depths in most years, but they cannot predict that a <br />high water table will always be at a specific level in the soil on a specific date. <br />After soil scientists located and identified the significant natural bodies of soil in the <br />survey area, they drew the boundaries of these bodies on aerial photographs and <br />identified each as a specific map unit. Aerial photographs show trees, buildings, fields, <br />roads, and rivers, all of which help in locating boundaries accurately.