The Official Soil Series Descriptions (OSD) is a national collection of more than 20,000 detailed soil series descriptions, covering the United States, Territories, Commonwealths, and Island Nations served by USDA-NRCS. The descriptions, in a text format, serve as a national standard.

The soil series is the lowest category of the national soil classification system. The name of a soil series is the common reference term, used to name soil map units. Soil series are the most homogenous classes in the system of taxonomy. “Official Soil Series Descriptions” define specific soil series in the United States, Territories, Commonwealths, and Island Nations served by USDA-NRCS. They are descriptions of the taxa in the series category of the national system of soil classification. They serve mainly as specification for identifying and classifying soils. The descriptions contain soil properties that define the soil series, distinguish it from other soil series, serve as the basis for the placement of that soil series in the soil family, and provide a record of soil properties needed to prepare soil interpretations.