Digital Soil Mapping of Terra Rossa in Southwestern Wisconsin.

In the unglaciated parts of Southwestern Wisconsin, buried Terra Rossas are commonly found. This project focusses on a 50 km² watershed where the data from 500 augerhole observations are combined with terrain attributes and environmental covariates to make predictions regarding  the Terra Rossa. The absence or presence of the Terra Rossa clay is strongly related to elevation, and it is mainly found in the higher parts of the landscape whereas it is absent in the lower parts. Its occurrence on the slopes is much more difficult to model. Our work involves investigations as to the depth and thickness of the loess, the Terra Rossa clay, and the depth of the bedrock throughout the landscape using decision trees as a modeling strategy. This will provide invaluable information for understanding the hydrology of the region.