Soil physical and chemical properties, Megapit (DP1.00096.001) : RELEASE-2021

• Main Author: National Ecological Observatory Network NEON
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) 2021
• Subjects: soil horizons; soil taxonomy; soil order; soil series; bulk density; sand; silt; clay; rocks; coarse fragments; soil pits; soil cores; soil properties; soil texture; megapit; permafrost
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.48443/rfmw-p030; https://data.neonscience.org/data-products/DP1.00096.001/RELEASE-2021

Soil properties affect the movement of water, heat and gases into and out of the soil. They also influence the availability of nutrients to plants and soil organisms and the production and stabilization of soil organic matter. Soil physical and chemical properties are measured by horizon from a single temporary soil "Megapit" at each terrestrial site at depths of up to 200 cm at non-permafrost sites (up to 300 cm at Alaskan sites). The Megapit sampling location is expected to be representative of the NEON sensor-based soil plots and this sampling activity is expected to occur once at each NEON terrestrial site. Queries for this data product will return field collection metadata, soil taxonomy, bulk density, coarse fragment content, and particle size distribution, and a host of geochemical measurements on a per horizon basis. For additional details, see the user guide, protocols, and ATBDs listed in the Documentation section below. Associated with these data are soil pedon descriptions and photos. These documents can be found on the NEON Data Portal under the Resources section, or here: https://data.neonscience.org/megapit-info Additional soil samples collected from the same soil pit are archived in the [NEON Megapit Soil Archive](http://www.neonscience.org/request-megapit-soil-samples) and are available upon request. Latency: Data were collected once, at the establishment of each site. Data were published within one year of collection, and future collections at existing sites are not expected : The Soil physical and chemical properties, Megapit data product is available at each terrestrial site. The soil pit location was chosen to be representative of the sensor-based Soil Plots based on soil type, vegetation and topography, as well as being accessible by a backhoe and outside the main measurement zone of other sensors. The soil pit is usually within a few hundred meters of the sensor-based Soil Plots and NEON tower. Soil samples were collected by soil horizon up to 200 cm at non-permafrost sites (up to 300 cm at Alaskan sites). Laboratory analyses were conducted at the Kellogg Soil Survey Laboratory in Lincoln, Nebraska following the standard operating procedures outlined in the Soil Survey Laboratory Methods Manual, Report No. 42, Version 5, 2014.