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Full catalog/Global_Hydrologic_Soil_Group_1566
Global_Hydrologic_Soil_Group_1566·v1·dataset

How soils soak up or shed rain (global, 250 m)

Global Hydrologic Soil Groups (HYSOGs250m) for Curve Number-Based Runoff Modeling
hydrosphere NASA ORNL_CLOUD Level 3 GeoTIFF
In plain English

What it measures. A global map that sorts soils into groups based on how easily rain soaks in versus runs off the surface, at roughly 250-meter detail. Each spot on the map gets a hydrologic soil group label.

How it's made. Built from a computer model rather than a satellite, combining soil texture and depth-to-bedrock data from the FAO's soilGrids250m system.

How & where you'd use it. Helps engineers and planners estimate how much rainwater will run off the land across whole regions or continents, which feeds into flood and stormwater modeling.

What's measured

TERRESTRIAL HYDROSPHERE › SURFACE WATER › SURFACE WATER PROCESSES/MEASUREMENTS › RUNOFFLAND SURFACE › SOILS › SOIL TEXTURE

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2017-01-01 → 2017-11-28
  • Measured byMODELS (Computer)
  • Processing levelLevel 3
  • Spatial extent-180, -56.0008, 180, 83.9997
  • FormatsGeoTIFF
  • StatusCOMPLETE

What you can do with it

  • Follow rainfall, floods and surface-water extent
  • Track soil moisture and the onset of drought
  • Monitor lakes, rivers and groundwater storage
Official description

This dataset - HYSOGs250m - represents a globally consistent, gridded dataset of hydrologic soil groups (HSGs) with a geographical resolution of 1/480 decimal degrees, corresponding to a projected resolution of approximately 250-m. These data were developed to support USDA-based curve-number runoff modeling at regional and continental scales. Classification of HSGs was derived from soil texture classes and depth to bedrock provided by the Food and Agriculture Organization soilGrids250m system.

Get the data

global_hydrologic_soil_group_1566_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="Global_Hydrologic_Soil_Group_1566",
    version="1",
    bounding_box=(-122.5, 37.2, -121.8, 37.9),  # your area (W,S,E,N)
    temporal=("2024-01-01", "2024-12-31"),       # your dates
)
files = earthaccess.open(results)   # stream straight from ORNL_CLOUD
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.