Soil generic group (SGG) is one of 18 attributes of soils chosen to underpin the land suitability assessment of the Southern Gulf Water Resource Assessment (SOGWRA) through the digital soil mapping process (DSM). SGG data has been created to simplify the complex information of individual soils and soil attributes for extension, planning and management. This data simultaneously covers a number of purposes: to be descriptive so as to assist non-expert communication regarding soil and resources; to be relatable to agricultural potential; and to align, where practical, to the classes of the Australian Soil Classification system (ASC) (Isbell and National Committee on Soil and Terrain, 2016). This SGG raster data represents a modelled dataset of 13 classes derived from rules applied to measured site data and modelled with environmental covariates. Descriptions of the 13 SGG classes, their rules and the spatial data value descriptions are supplied with this data. SGG mapping was also used as a minor input into the land suitability framework but primarily as a communication tool. This raster data provides improved soil information used to underpin and identify opportunities and promote detailed investigation for a range of sustainable regional development options and was created within the ‘Land Suitability’ activity of the CSIRO SOGWRA. A companion dataset and statistics reflecting reliability of this data are also provided and can be found described in the lineage section of this metadata record. Processing information is supplied in ranger R scripts and attributes were modelled using a Random Forest approach. The DSM process is described in the CSIRO SOGWRA published report ‘Soils and land suitability for the Southern Gulf catchments’. A technical report from the CSIRO Southern Gulf Water Resource Assessment to the Government of Australia. The Southern Gulf Water Resource Assessment provides a comprehensive overview and integrated evaluation of the feasibility of aquaculture and agriculture development in the Southern Gulf catchments NT and Qld as well as the ecological, social and cultural (indigenous water values, rights and aspirations) impacts of development.
