ESTIMATION OF MAP UNIT COMPOSITION FROM TRANSECT DATA

We are concerned with the documentation of taxonomic variability withi n soil survey map units, and how that variability is expressed statist ically. Twelve randomly selected transects were used to sample soil pr operties and classify pedons within a fluvial map unit of the Boone Co unty, Missouri, soil survey. Map unit taxonomic variability was high, with 28 taxonomic family classes. Twenty-five percent of the sampled s oils were in the named taxonomic class of the map unit, but most were similar inclusions. Interpretive purity of the sample was 83%. Varianc es about this sample proportion were calculated using three methods: ( i) simple random sampling, (ii) cluster sampling, and (iii) two-stage random sampling. The simple random sampling formula provided the small est variance, compared with the cluster formula (55% larger) or the tw o-stage formula (72% larger). However, the interpretation of transect sampling as simple random sampling is questioned. The two-stage random sampling method seemed most conceptually correct, but is computationa lly intensive and requires questionable assumptions about the populati on size. Confidence intervals based on small sample sizes drawn from b inomial populations are highly suspect, and perhaps should be referred to as ''approximate bounds''. It is important to carefully consider t he assumptions and effects of any statistical technique chosen to anal yze map unit composition.