diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 357de0bde..0877d1373 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ whiteboxR.Rproj
 *.shx
 *.prj
 *.dbf
+*.cpg
 *.tif
 settings.json
 __MACOSX
diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index 98cd46f93..5ca18ae10 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -1,16 +1,16 @@
 Package: whitebox
 Type: Package
 Title: 'WhiteboxTools' R Frontend
-Version: 2.4.1
+Version: 2.4.2
 Description: An R frontend for the 'WhiteboxTools' library, which is an advanced geospatial data analysis platform developed by Prof. John Lindsay at the University of Guelph's Geomorphometry and Hydrogeomatics Research Group. 'WhiteboxTools' can be used to perform common geographical information systems (GIS) analysis operations, such as cost-distance analysis, distance buffering, and raster reclassification. Remote sensing and image processing tasks include image enhancement (e.g. panchromatic sharpening, contrast adjustments), image mosaicing, numerous filtering operations, simple classification (k-means), and common image transformations. 'WhiteboxTools' also contains advanced tooling for spatial hydrological analysis (e.g. flow-accumulation, watershed delineation, stream network analysis, sink removal), terrain analysis (e.g. common terrain indices such as slope, curvatures, wetness index, hillshading; hypsometric analysis; multi-scale topographic position analysis), and LiDAR data processing. Suggested citation: Lindsay (2016) <doi:10.1016/j.cageo.2016.07.003>.
 Authors@R: c(person("Qiusheng", "Wu", email = "giswqs@gmail.com", role = c("aut")),
-             person("Andrew", "Brown", email = "brown.andrewg@gmail.com", role = c("ctb", "cre")))
+             person("Andrew", "Brown", email = "brown.andrewg@gmail.com", role = c("aut", "cre"), comment=c(ORCID="0000-0002-4565-533X")))
 Maintainer: Andrew Brown <brown.andrewg@gmail.com>
 License: MIT + file LICENSE
 SystemRequirements: WhiteboxTools (https://github.com/jblindsay/whitebox-tools/releases/latest)
 Encoding: UTF-8
 Language: en-US
-RoxygenNote: 7.3.2
+RoxygenNote: 7.3.3
 Roxygen: list(markdown = TRUE)
 URL: https://whiteboxr.gishub.org/, https://github.com/opengeos/whiteboxR
 BugReports: https://github.com/opengeos/whiteboxR/issues
diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index 0cb2aaa3c..22a0ca1ea 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ S3method(wbt_result,wbt_result)
 export(check_whitebox_binary)
 export(install_whitebox)
 export(sample_dem_data)
+export(sample_soils_data)
 export(wbt)
 export(wbt_absolute_value)
 export(wbt_accumulation_curvature)
diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 86fdf56e0..bc83e1a17 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,3 +1,17 @@
+# whitebox 2.4.2
+
+ * `wbt_source()`: now accepts `tmpdir` argument which defaults to `tempdir()` (not `getwd()` or `wbt_wd()`) that is used for storing the intermediate shapefiles needed for WhiteboxTools
+ 
+   * Also, the pattern for temporary file names is now customizable via `pattern` argument
+ 
+ * Bug fixes for `wbt_source()`:
+ 
+   * No longer writes temporary intermediate files to the working directory when passed a non-shapefile vector or non-GeoTIFF raster data source. 
+      
+      * The temporary directory is used by default, unless new `tmpdir` argument is specified. This could be a breaking change if you were relying on the temporary files to be present in the WhiteboxTools working directory. Specify `tmpdir` in call to `wbt_source()` to make old behavior explicit.
+   
+   * Properly uses `layer` argument for data sources (e.g. GPKG) that may contain multiple vector layers or raster bands of interest (thanks to @mps9506 for reporting; #132)
+ 
 # whitebox 2.4.1
 
  * Rebuilt `wbttools` and `wbttoolparameters` with WhiteboxTools v2.4.0
diff --git a/R/wbt.R b/R/wbt.R
index dad564493..c4924749f 100644
--- a/R/wbt.R
+++ b/R/wbt.R
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #' Initialize 'WhiteboxTools'
-#' 
+#'
 #' `wbt_init()`: Check if a suitable 'WhiteboxTools' executable is present. Search default path in package directory or set it manually with `exe_path`.
 #'
 #' @param exe_path Default `exe_path` is result of `wbt_exe_path()` which checks a few user-settable options before defaulting to the package installation directory sub-directory "WBT". May be overridden if a custom path is needed.
@@ -40,11 +40,11 @@ wbt_init <- function(exe_path = wbt_exe_path(shell_quote = FALSE),
       !is.null(wd) ||
       !is.null(verbose) ||
       !is.null(compress_rasters)) {
-    
+
     if (!is.null(wd) && length(wd) > 0 && (is.na(wd) || wd == "")) {
       .wbt_wd_unset()
     }
-    
+
     # set the path with wbt_options
     wbt_options(exe_path = exe_path, ...)
   }
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ wbt_init <- function(exe_path = wbt_exe_path(shell_quote = FALSE),
     if (wbt_verbose()) {
       message("WhiteboxTools Executable Path (whitebox.exe_path) reverted to:\n\t", new_exe_path)
     }
-  } 
+  }
   if (check_version) {
     # check version info, provide ONE message per session if mismatched
     exv <- try(wbt_version(extract = TRUE), silent = TRUE)
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ wbt_init <- function(exe_path = wbt_exe_path(shell_quote = FALSE),
           warned <- FALSE
         }
         if (wbt_verbose() && isFALSE(warned)) {
-          message("NOTE: Installed WhiteboxTools version (", exv, 
+          message("NOTE: Installed WhiteboxTools version (", exv,
                   ") is ", ifelse(exv > pkv, "newer", "older"),
                   " than the package data (", pkv, ").")
           try(assign("whitebox.warned_version_difference",
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ wbt_init <- function(exe_path = wbt_exe_path(shell_quote = FALSE),
 #'
 #' - **`whitebox.wd`** - character. Path to WhiteboxTools working directory. Used as `--wd` argument for tools that support it when `wd` is not specified elsewhere.
 #'
-#' - **`whitebox.verbose`** - logical. Should standard output from calls to executable be `cat()` out for readability? When `whitebox.verbose=FALSE` no output is produced. Set the value of `whitebox.verbose` with `wbt_verbose()` `verbose` argument. Default is result of `interactive()` if R package options are unset. 
+#' - **`whitebox.verbose`** - logical. Should standard output from calls to executable be `cat()` out for readability? When `whitebox.verbose=FALSE` no output is produced. Set the value of `whitebox.verbose` with `wbt_verbose()` `verbose` argument. Default is result of `interactive()` if R package options are unset.
 #'
 #' - **`whitebox.compress_rasters`** - logical. Should raster output from WhiteboxTools be compressed? Default: `NULL` uses existing WhiteboxTools settings. Set the value of `whitebox.compress_rasters` with `wbt_compress_rasters()` `compress_rasters` argument.
 #'
@@ -302,10 +302,10 @@ wbt_data_dir <- function() {
 #' \dontrun{
 #'
 #' ## wbt_wd():
-#' 
+#'
 #' # no working directory set
 #' wbt_wd(wd = "")
-#' 
+#'
 #' # set WBT working directory to R working directory
 #' wbt_wd(wd = getwd())
 #' }
@@ -325,7 +325,7 @@ wbt_wd <- function(wd = NULL) {
   if (nchar(syswd) > 0 && dir.exists(syswd)) {
     return(syswd)
   }
-  
+
   # package option checked next; if missing default is getwd() (unspecified should be same as getwd())
   res <- getOption("whitebox.wd")
 
@@ -547,7 +547,7 @@ wbt_install <- function(pkg_dir = wbt_data_dir(), platform = NULL, force = FALSE
     if (.Machine$sizeof.pointer != 8) {
       return(invisible(.unsupported()))
     }
-    
+
     if (missing(platform) || is.null(platform)) {
       if (os == "Linux") {
         url <- "https://www.whiteboxgeo.com/WBT_Linux/WhiteboxTools_linux_amd64.zip"
@@ -563,11 +563,11 @@ wbt_install <- function(pkg_dir = wbt_data_dir(), platform = NULL, force = FALSE
         return(invisible(.unsupported()))
       }
     } else {
-      # supports alternative platforms/filenames 
+      # supports alternative platforms/filenames
       # e.g. linux_musl, darwin_m_series
       url <- paste0("https://www.whiteboxgeo.com/WBT_",
                os, "/WhiteboxTools_",
-               platform, ".zip") 
+               platform, ".zip")
     }
 
     filename <- basename(url)
@@ -609,7 +609,7 @@ wbt_install <- function(pkg_dir = wbt_data_dir(), platform = NULL, force = FALSE
     ex_dir <- file.path(pkg_dir, gsub("\\.zip$", "", basename(exe_zip)))
     file.copy(file.path(ex_dir, "WBT"), pkg_dir, recursive = TRUE)
     file.remove(list.files(ex_dir, recursive = TRUE, full.names = TRUE))
-    
+
     # subfolder WBT/whitebox_tools
     exe_path_out <- file.path(pkg_dir, "WBT", basename(exe_path))
     Sys.chmod(exe_path_out, '755')
@@ -646,11 +646,11 @@ wbt_install <- function(pkg_dir = wbt_data_dir(), platform = NULL, force = FALSE
 # many packages provide an "install_*" method; alias wbt_install mirrors the wbt_ prefix for most operations. Documentation refers to install_whitebox()
 
 #' Download and Install 'WhiteboxTools'
-#' 
+#'
 #' This function downloads the 'WhiteboxTools' binary if needed. Pre-compiled binaries are
 #' only available for download for 64-bit Linux (default compiled with glibc on Ubuntu 22.04;
 #' use `platform="linux_musl"` for musl/earlier versions of glibc), Windows and Mac OS (ARM and
-#' Intel) platforms. If you need WhiteboxTools for another platform follow the instructions to 
+#' Intel) platforms. If you need WhiteboxTools for another platform follow the instructions to
 #' build from source: \url{https://github.com/jblindsay/whitebox-tools}
 #'
 #' 'WhiteboxTools' and all of its extensions can be uninstalled by passing the `remove=TRUE` argument.
@@ -703,13 +703,13 @@ wbt_install_extension <- function(extension = c(
                                      "MacOS_Intel"))
   } else {
     # non-default options include: linux_musl, MacOS_ARM
-    sufx <- platform 
+    sufx <- platform
   }
-  
+
   if (sn == "Darwin" && Sys.info()["machine"] == "arm64") {
     suffix <- "MacOS_ARM"
   }
-  
+
   # GTE
   if ("GeneralToolsetExtension" %in% extension) {
     url <- sprintf("https://www.whiteboxgeo.com/GTE_%s/%s_%s.zip", sn, "GeneralToolsetExtension", sufx)
@@ -726,7 +726,7 @@ wbt_install_extension <- function(extension = c(
 }
 
 #' Activate 'WhiteboxTools' Extensions
-#' 
+#'
 #' @param email Email Address
 #' @param activation_key Activation Key
 #' @param seat Seat Number (Default `1`)
@@ -744,7 +744,7 @@ wbt_activate <- function(email, activation_key, seat = 1,
 }
 
 #' Help description for 'WhiteboxTools'
-#' 
+#'
 #' @return Returns the help description for 'WhiteboxTools' as an R character vector.
 #' @export
 #' @keywords General
@@ -763,7 +763,7 @@ wbt_help <- function() {
 
 
 #' License information for 'WhiteboxTools'
-#' 
+#'
 #' @return Returns the license information for WhiteboxTools as an R character vector.
 #' @export
 #' @keywords General
@@ -804,7 +804,7 @@ wbt_version <- function(extract = FALSE) {
 }
 
 #' All available tools in 'WhiteboxTools'
-#' 
+#'
 #' @param keywords Keywords may be used to search available tools. Default `"''"` returns all available tools.
 #'
 #' @return Return all available tools in WhiteboxTools that contain the keywords.
@@ -826,7 +826,7 @@ wbt_list_tools <- function(keywords = "''") {
 
 
 #' The toolbox for a specific tool in WhiteboxTools
-#' 
+#'
 #' Retrieve the toolbox for a specific tool.
 #'
 #' @param tool_name The name of the tool.
@@ -857,7 +857,7 @@ wbt_toolbox <- function(tool_name = NULL) {
 
 
 #' Help description for a specific tool in 'WhiteboxTools'
-#' 
+#'
 #' Retrieves the help description for a specific tool.
 #'
 #' @param tool_name The name of the tool.
@@ -893,7 +893,7 @@ wbt_tool_help <- function(tool_name = NULL) {
 #'
 #' @return Returns the tool parameter descriptions for a specific tool.
 #' @export
-#' @keywords General 
+#' @keywords General
 #'
 #' @examples
 #' \dontrun{
@@ -914,8 +914,8 @@ wbt_tool_parameters <- function(tool_name, quiet = FALSE) {
 #' @param tool_name Name of the tool.
 #' @param viewer Show source code in browser? default: `TRUE`
 #' @return Returns a GitHub URL to view the source code of the tool.
-#' @export 
-#' @keywords General  
+#' @export
+#' @keywords General
 #'
 #' @examples
 #' \dontrun{
@@ -943,7 +943,7 @@ wbt_view_code <- function(tool_name, viewer = FALSE) {
 #' @param command_only Return command that would be run with `system()`? Default: `FALSE`
 #'
 #' @return Returns the (character) output of the tool.
-#' @export 
+#' @export
 #' @keywords General
 #' @seealso \link{wbt_list_tools}
 #' @examples
@@ -1011,16 +1011,16 @@ wbt_internal_tool_name <- function(tool_name) {
 }
 
 wbt_match_tool_name <- function(tool_name, result = c('tool_name', 'function_name')) {
-  
+
   wbttools <- NULL
   load(system.file("data/wbttools.rda", package = "whitebox"))
-  
+
   result <- match.arg(result, choices = c('tool_name', 'function_name'), several.ok = TRUE)
-  
+
   idx <- match(tolower(wbttools$tool_name), tolower(gsub("[ _]", "", tool_name)))
-  
+
   wbttools[idx[which(!is.na(idx))], result, drop = FALSE]
-  
+
 }
 
 #' Wrapper method for `system()` calls of `whitebox_tools`
@@ -1039,7 +1039,7 @@ wbt_system_call <- function(argstring,
                             command_only = FALSE,
                             ignore.stderr = FALSE,
                             shell_quote = TRUE,
-                            check_version = TRUE, 
+                            check_version = TRUE,
                             ...) {
 
   wbt_init(..., check_version = check_version)
@@ -1125,13 +1125,13 @@ wbt_system_call <- function(argstring,
 # support for path expansion in input/output file arguments
 
 #' Prepare File Paths for WhiteboxTools Commands
-#' 
-#' Performs path expansion with `path.expand()` and shell quotes with `shQuote()` the input paths. 
-#' 
-#' @details If an input vector contains `";"` or `","` this is considered, path expansion is performed on the substrings. If the input vector has length greater than `1`, the vector is concatenated with `","` or `";"` to create a single output string. 
-#' 
+#'
+#' Performs path expansion with `path.expand()` and shell quotes with `shQuote()` the input paths.
+#'
+#' @details If an input vector contains `";"` or `","` this is considered, path expansion is performed on the substrings. If the input vector has length greater than `1`, the vector is concatenated with `","` or `";"` to create a single output string.
+#'
 #' @param x character or `terra` object. Vector of file paths or strings of file paths for passing as arguments to WhiteboxTools. If the object is of class `SpatRaster`, `SpatRasterCollection`, `SpatVector` or `SpatVectorProxy` the sources are extracted with `terra::sources()`
-#' 
+#'
 #' @param shell_quote logical. Shell quotes around result? Default: `TRUE`
 #' @param delimiter character. Either `","` (default) or `";"` allowed by WhiteboxTools.
 #' @param check_exists logical. Check if file(s) in x exist? Useful for input values. Default: `FALSE`
@@ -1142,27 +1142,27 @@ wbt_system_call <- function(argstring,
 #' @keywords General
 #'
 #' @examples
-#' 
+#'
 #' wbt_file_path("./abc.tif")
-#' 
+#'
 #' wbt_file_path("./abc.tif;./def.tif")
-#' 
+#'
 #' wbt_file_path("./abc.tif,./def.tif")
-#' 
+#'
 #' wbt_file_path(c("./abc.tif", "./def.tif"))
-#' 
+#'
 #' wbt_file_path("~/abc.tif", shell_quote = FALSE)
-#' 
+#'
 #' wbt_file_path(c("~/abc.tif", "~/def.tif"))
-#' 
+#'
 wbt_file_path <- function(x, shell_quote = TRUE, delimiter = ",", check_exists = FALSE) {
   if (inherits(x, c("RasterLayer", "RasterStack"))) {
     if (requireNamespace("terra")) {
       x <- terra::rast(x)
     }
   }
-  
-  if (inherits(x, c('SpatRaster','SpatRasterCollection', 
+
+  if (inherits(x, c('SpatRaster','SpatRasterCollection',
                     'SpatVector', 'SpatVectorProxy'))) {
     if (requireNamespace("terra")) {
       x2 <- paste0(terra::sources(x), collapse = delimiter)
@@ -1172,7 +1172,7 @@ wbt_file_path <- function(x, shell_quote = TRUE, delimiter = ",", check_exists =
       x <- x2
     }
   }
-  
+
   delimiter <- match.arg(trimws(delimiter), c(",", ";"))
   x <- path.expand(strsplit(
     paste0(as.character(x), collapse = ","), ";|,"
@@ -1180,7 +1180,7 @@ wbt_file_path <- function(x, shell_quote = TRUE, delimiter = ",", check_exists =
   if (check_exists) {
     y <- !file.exists(x)
     if (any(y)) {
-      stop(sprintf("File%s not found: %s", 
+      stop(sprintf("File%s not found: %s",
                    ifelse(sum(y) > 1, "s",""),
                    paste0(x[y], collapse = ", ")),
            call. = FALSE)
@@ -1190,48 +1190,6 @@ wbt_file_path <- function(x, shell_quote = TRUE, delimiter = ",", check_exists =
   if (shell_quote) shQuote(x) else x
 }
 
-#' Convenience method for path to sample DEM
-#'
-#' Get a file path to DEM.tif stored in extdata subfolder of whitebox package installation directory. If needed, download the TIFF file from GitHub.
-#'
-#' @param destfile Path to target location of sample data. Will be downloaded if does not exist. Defaults to file path of extdata subfolder of whitebox package installation directory.
-#' @param ... additional arguments to download.file()
-#'
-#' @return character.
-#' @export
-#' @keywords General datasets
-#'
-#' @examples
-#'
-#' if (check_whitebox_binary()) {
-#'   wbt_slope(sample_dem_data(), output = "slope.tif")
-#' }
-#' unlink(c('slope.tif', 'settings.json'))
-#' @importFrom utils download.file
-sample_dem_data <- function(destfile = file.path(system.file('extdata', package="whitebox"), 'DEM.tif'), ...) {
-  if (missing(destfile)) {
-    fp <- system.file("extdata/DEM.tif", package = "whitebox")[1]
-  } else {
-    if (!file.exists(destfile)) {
-      fp <- ""
-    } else {
-      fp <- destfile
-    }
-  }
-  if (fp == "") {
-    try(download.file("https://github.com/opengeos/whiteboxR/raw/master/inst/extdata/DEM.tif",
-                      destfile = destfile,
-                      mode = "wb", ...))
-    if (missing(destfile)) {
-      fp <- system.file("extdata/DEM.tif", package = "whitebox")[1]
-    } else {
-      if (file.exists(destfile)) {
-        fp <- destfile
-      }
-    }
-  }
-  fp
-}
 
 #' Convenience method for setting RUST_BACKTRACE options for debugging
 #'
diff --git a/R/wbt_source.R b/R/wbt_source.R
index f2b186424..5d8c6e56a 100644
--- a/R/wbt_source.R
+++ b/R/wbt_source.R
@@ -1,49 +1,146 @@
 #' Initialize an R object containing spatial data for use by WhiteboxTools
 #'
-#' @param x A terra SpatVector or sf object, or a path to a file that can be read as a SpatVectorProxy
+#' @param x A terra SpatVector or sf object (in memory) or a path to a file that
+#'   can be read as a SpatVectorProxy. Or a memory or file-based SpatRaster.
+#'   When `x` has multiple layers/bands, the first layer is used by default; use
+#'   the \code{layer} argument to select a specific layer/band.
 #' @param dsn Data source path / file name
-#' @param layer Data layer
-#' @param force Force write of vector data to file? Default: FALSE (only write if file does not exist)
-#' @param ... Additional arguments passed to `terra::writeVector()` or `sf::st_write()`
+#' @param layer Data layer. For vectors, `layer` is interpreted as a layer
+#'   name (character); for rasters, `layer` is interpreted as a band index or
+#'   name (integer OR character)
+#' @param tmpdir Directory to write temporary ESRI Shapefiles for vector input
+#'   in memory or otherwise not already in shapefile. Default: `tempdir()`
+#' @param pattern Character vector giving the initial part of the temporary file
+#'   name
+#' @param force Force write of vector data to file? Default: FALSE (only write
+#'   if file does not exist and new file is needed)
 #' @param verbose Print information about data source and contents?
-#' @return An R object with attributes `wbt_dsn` and `wbt_layer` set as needed to support reading and writing R objects from file by WhiteboxTools.
+#' @param ... Additional arguments passed to `terra::writeVector()` or
+#'   `sf::st_write()`, or `terra::writeRaster` (for rasters).
+#' @return An R object (SpatRaster, SpatVector, SpatVectorProxy, sf) with
+#'   attributes `wbt_dsn` and `wbt_layer` set as needed to support reading and
+#'   writing R objects from file by WhiteboxTools.
 #' @keywords General
 #' @export
 wbt_source <- function(x,
                        dsn = NULL,
                        layer = NULL,
                        force = FALSE,
+                       tmpdir = tempdir(),
+                       pattern = "wbt",
                        verbose = wbt_verbose(),
                        ...) {
 
-  if (!requireNamespace("terra")) {
-    stop("package `terra` is required to convert vector sources to `wbt()`-compatible SpatVectorProxy", call. = FALSE)
+  if (length(layer) > 1) {
+    stop("argument `layer` must have length 1 or 0 (NULL)", call. = FALSE)
   }
 
-  if (is.character(x)) {
-    if (file.exists(x)) {
-      # convert to shapefile if needed
-      if (!grepl("\\.shp$", x)) {
-        xp <- paste0(basename(x), "_", basename(tempfile()), ".shp")
-        fp <- file.path(tempdir(), xp)
+  .check_pkg_ns <- function(pkg) {
+    if (!requireNamespace(pkg, quietly = TRUE)) {
+      stop("package `", pkg, "` is required to convert to `wbt()`-compatible data sources", call. = FALSE)
+    }
+  }
 
-        if (!requireNamespace("terra")) {
-          stop("package `terra` is required to convert non-Shapefile vector sources to Shapefile")
+  .first_source <- function(x) {
+    src <- terra::sources(x)
+    if (length(src) > 0 && any(nzchar(src))) {
+      if (length(src) > 1) {
+        if (verbose) {
+          message("object 'x' has multiple source files; using first non-empty source path")
         }
+      }
+      src <- src[which(nzchar(src))[1]]
+    }
+    src
+  }
+
+  if (is.character(x)) {
+    if (file.exists(x)) {
+      .check_pkg_ns("terra")
 
-        x2 <- terra::vect(x, layer = ifelse(is.null(layer), "", layer))
-        if (terra::writeVector(x2, fp)) {
+      # convert to shapefile if needed
+      x2 <- try(terra::vect(x, layer = ifelse(is.null(layer), "", layer), proxy = TRUE), silent = TRUE)
+      fp <- file.path(tmpdir, paste0(basename(x), "_", basename(tempfile(pattern = pattern))))
+      if (!inherits(x2, 'try-error') && !grepl("\\.shp$", x, ignore.case = TRUE)) {
+        fp <- paste0(fp, ".shp")
+        res <- try(terra::writeVector(terra::query(x2), fp), silent = !verbose)
+        if (!inherits(res, 'try-error') && file.exists(fp)) {
           x <- fp
         } else {
-          stop("Failed to convert `x` (", x, ") to Shapefile.")
+          stop("Failed to write `x` (", x, ") to Shapefile: ", fp, "\n", res[1], call. = FALSE)
         }
+      } else if (inherits(x2, 'try-error')) {
+        is_geotiff <- grepl("\\.tiff?$", x, ignore.case = TRUE)
+
+        # check if we need to write a new file
+        #  - not a geotiff OR
+        #  - a layer is specified that is not the first layer
+        write_new_file <- !is_geotiff ||
+          (length(layer) > 0 &&
+            layer[1] != 1 &&
+            layer[1] != names(terra::rast(x))[1])
+
+        if (write_new_file) {
+          # try reading a raster file and writing to geotiff
+          fp <- paste0(fp, ".tif")
+          if (length(layer) > 0) {
+            x2 <- terra::rast(x, lyrs = layer[1])
+          } else {
+            x2 <- terra::rast(x)
+          }
+          res <- try(terra::writeRaster(x2, fp), silent = TRUE)
+          if (!inherits(res, 'try-error') && file.exists(fp)) {
+            x <- fp
+          } else {
+            stop(
+              "Failed to write `x` (",
+              x,
+              ") to GeoTIFF: ",
+              fp,
+              "\n",
+              res,
+              call. = FALSE
+            )
+          }
+        }
+        x <- terra::rast(x)
+      }
+
+      if (!inherits(x, 'SpatRaster')) {
+        # a SpatVectorProxy allows us to get some basic info without loading the whole file
+        x <- terra::vect(x, proxy = TRUE)
       }
 
-      # a SpatVectorProxy allows us to get some basic info without loading the whole file
-      x <- terra::vect(x, proxy = TRUE)
-      attr(x, 'wbt_dsn') <- terra::sources(x)
+      if (is.character(x) && !file.exists(x)) {
+        stop("File (", x, ") does not exist", call. = FALSE)
+      }
+
+      if (!inherits(x, c("SpatRaster", "SpatVectorProxy"))) {
+        stop("Unhandled input object type: ", paste(class(x), collapse = ", "))
+      }
+
+      attr(x, 'wbt_dsn') <-  .first_source(x)
       attr(x, 'wbt_layer') <- layer
       return(x)
+    } else {
+      stop("File (", x, ") does not exist", call. = FALSE)
+    }
+  }
+
+  ext <- ".shp"
+  if (inherits(x, c('SpatRaster', 'RasterLayer',
+                    'RasterStack', 'RasterBrick'))) {
+    .check_pkg_ns("terra")
+    if (!inherits(x, 'SpatRaster')) {
+      x <- terra::rast(x)
+    }
+    ext <- ".tif"
+
+    if (is.null(dsn)) {
+      src <- .first_source(x)
+      if (nzchar(src)) {
+        dsn <- src
+      }
     }
   }
 
@@ -57,35 +154,52 @@ wbt_source <- function(x,
     # only supported vector format is the ESRI Shapefile.
     # TODO: dbf limitations? use alternate wbt/gdal common format?
     if (!is.null(layer)) {
-      bn <- layer
-    } else bn <- "file"
-    wd <- wbt_wd()
-    if (wd == "")
-      wd <- getwd()
-    ext <- ".shp"
-    if (inherits(x, 'SpatRaster') ||
-        inherits(x, 'RasterLayer') ||
-        inherits(x, 'RasterStack') ||
-        inherits(x, 'RasterBrick')) {
-      ext <- ".tif"
+      bn <- paste0(pattern, "_", layer)
+    } else {
+      bn <- pattern
     }
-    dsn <- tempfile(pattern = bn, tmpdir = wd, fileext = ext)
+    dsn <- tempfile(pattern = bn, tmpdir = tmpdir, fileext = ext)
     # }
   }
 
   if (!file.exists(dsn) || force) {
-    # convert less common types to core types
-    if (inherits(x, 'sfc') || inherits(x, 'Spatial')) {
-      x <- sf::st_as_sf(x)
-    }
 
-    # write to file/db
-    if (inherits(x, 'SpatVector')) {
-      terra::writeVector(x, filename = dsn, layer = layer, ...)
-    } else if (inherits(x, 'sf')) {
-      sf::st_write(x, dsn = dsn, layer = layer, quiet = !verbose, ...)
-    } else if (inherits(x, 'SpatRaster')) {
-      terra::writeRaster(x, filename = dsn)
+      # write to file/db
+    if (inherits(x, c('SpatVector', 'SpatVectorProxy', 'SpatRaster'))) {
+      .check_pkg_ns("terra")
+      if (inherits(x, 'SpatVectorProxy')) {
+        x <- terra::query(x)
+      }
+      if (inherits(x, 'SpatVector')) {
+        terra::writeVector(x,
+                           filename = dsn,
+                           overwrite = force,
+                           ...)
+      } else if (inherits(x, 'SpatRaster')) {
+        if (!is.null(layer)) {
+          x <- x[[layer[1]]]
+        } else if (terra::nlyr(x) > 1) {
+          x <- x[[1]]
+        }
+        terra::writeRaster(x, filename = dsn, overwrite = force, ...)
+      }
+    } else {
+      .check_pkg_ns("sf")
+
+      # convert less common types to core types
+      if (inherits(x, 'sfc') || inherits(x, 'Spatial')) {
+        x <- sf::st_as_sf(x)
+      }
+
+      if (inherits(x, 'sf')) {
+        sf::st_write(
+          x,
+          dsn = dsn,
+          quiet = !verbose,
+          delete_dsn = force,
+          ...
+        )
+      }
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/R/whitebox-package.R b/R/whitebox-package.R
index a909043a5..350b5d940 100644
--- a/R/whitebox-package.R
+++ b/R/whitebox-package.R
@@ -67,6 +67,55 @@ whitebox.env <- new.env()
 #' @keywords datasets
 "wbttoolparameters"
 
+#' Convenience method for path to sample DEM and soils data
+#'
+#' Get a file path to DEM.tif or STATSGO2.shp stored in extdata subfolder of whitebox package installation directory.
+#'
+#' @param destfile Path to target location of sample data. Will be downloaded if does not exist. Defaults to file path of extdata subfolder of whitebox package installation directory.
+#' @param ... additional arguments to download.file()
+#'
+#' @return character.
+#' @export
+#' @keywords General datasets
+#' @rdname extdata-gis
+#' @examples
+#'
+#' if (check_whitebox_binary()) {
+#'   wbt_slope(sample_dem_data(), output = "slope.tif")
+#' }
+#' unlink(c('slope.tif', 'settings.json'))
+#' @importFrom utils download.file
+sample_dem_data <- function(destfile = file.path(system.file('extdata', package="whitebox"), 'DEM.tif'), ...) {
+    if (missing(destfile)) {
+        fp <- system.file("extdata/DEM.tif", package = "whitebox")[1]
+    } else {
+        if (!file.exists(destfile)) {
+            fp <- ""
+        } else {
+            fp <- destfile
+        }
+    }
+    if (fp == "") {
+        try(download.file("https://github.com/opengeos/whiteboxR/raw/master/inst/extdata/DEM.tif",
+                          destfile = destfile,
+                          mode = "wb", ...))
+        if (missing(destfile)) {
+            fp <- system.file("extdata/DEM.tif", package = "whitebox")[1]
+        } else {
+            if (file.exists(destfile)) {
+                fp <- destfile
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    fp
+}
+
+#' @export
+#' @rdname extdata-gis
+sample_soils_data <- function() {
+    system.file("extdata", "STATSGO2.shp", package = "whitebox")[1]
+}
+
 # The following block is used by usethis to automatically manage
 # roxygen namespace tags. Modify with care!
 ## usethis namespace: start
diff --git a/data-raw/STATSGO_shapefile.R b/data-raw/STATSGO_shapefile.R
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e27bba4a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data-raw/STATSGO_shapefile.R
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+# generate inst/extdata/STATSGO2.shp and sidecar files
+#
+# Digital General Soil Map of the United States or STATSGO2 is a broad-based
+# inventory of soils and non-soil areas that occur in a repeatable pattern on
+# the landscape and that can be cartographically shown at the scale mapped of
+# 1:250,000 for most of U.S
+#
+# https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/data-and-reports/description-of-statsgo2-database
+#
+dem <- terra::rast(whitebox::sample_dem_data())
+shp <- soilDB::SDA_spatialQuery(
+    dem,
+    what = "mupolygon",
+    db = "statsgo",
+    addFields = c("mapunit.musym", "mapunit.muname")
+)
+statsgo <- terra::crop(terra::project(shp, dem), dem)
+terra::writeVector(statsgo, "inst/extdata/STATSGO2.shp")
diff --git a/inst/CITATION b/inst/CITATION
index 7fc37e863..088755a5a 100644
--- a/inst/CITATION
+++ b/inst/CITATION
@@ -4,10 +4,10 @@ bibentry(
   bibtype = "Manual",
   title = "'whitebox': 'WhiteboxTools' R Frontend",
   author = "Qiusheng Wu, Andrew Brown",
-  note = "R package version 2.2.0",
+  note = "R package version 2.4.2",
   url = "https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=whitebox",
-  year = "2022",
-  textVersion = "Wu, Q., Brown, A. (2022). whitebox: 'WhiteboxTools' R Frontend. R package version 2.2.0. <https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=whitebox>"
+  year = "2025",
+  textVersion = "Wu, Q., Brown, A. (2025). whitebox: 'WhiteboxTools' R Frontend. R package version 2.4.2. <https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=whitebox>"
 )
 
 bibentry(
diff --git a/inst/WORDLIST b/inst/WORDLIST
index d51eb8870..d03374de0 100644
--- a/inst/WORDLIST
+++ b/inst/WORDLIST
@@ -8,11 +8,9 @@ BACKTRACE
 BreachDepressions
 Breakline
 CMD
-CRS
 CamelCase
 Ceil
 Centre
-Centroid
 Christoph
 ClassificationError
 Colour
@@ -52,6 +50,7 @@ François
 Frontend
 GAT
 GDAL
+GPKG
 GeoKey
 GeoPackage
 GeoTIFF
@@ -77,7 +76,6 @@ InPlaceAdd
 InPlaceSubtract
 InverseMultiQuadric
 Isobasins
-JSON
 JandR
 Jens
 Jenson
@@ -108,6 +106,7 @@ NDI
 NoData
 Northness
 Num
+ORCID
 OSAVI
 OptionList
 POLYLINE
@@ -136,7 +135,6 @@ Rasterizes
 Reclass
 Reinitializes
 RemoveSpurs
-Rescale
 Rgb
 Robinne
 Rosenfeld
@@ -206,7 +204,6 @@ cageo
 centerlines
 centred
 centres
-centroid
 cls
 codecov
 colour
@@ -219,7 +216,6 @@ darboux
 decorrelation
 depressionless
 dev
-differencing
 dinf
 directionality
 doi
@@ -282,7 +278,6 @@ lengthed
 lidar
 liu
 lq
-macOS
 magrittr
 medoid
 meso
@@ -303,12 +298,10 @@ neighbouring
 neighbours
 nn
 nodata
-normals
 num
 nw
 olympic
 parallelepiped
-parallelize
 parsable
 pearson
 planchon
@@ -318,13 +311,10 @@ pre
 pts
 quant
 quartic
-quartile
 ransac
 raster's
-rasters
 rbf
 reclass
-repo
 rgb
 rgdal
 sca
@@ -332,7 +322,6 @@ scattergram
 se
 shapetype
 sibson
-sigmoid
 sigmoidal
 silverman
 sinh
@@ -358,7 +347,6 @@ vals
 viewshed
 viewsheds
 viridi
-viridis
 wang
 watershedding
 wb
diff --git a/inst/extdata/STATSGO2.cpg b/inst/extdata/STATSGO2.cpg
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3ad133c04
--- /dev/null
+++ b/inst/extdata/STATSGO2.cpg
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+UTF-8
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/inst/extdata/STATSGO2.dbf b/inst/extdata/STATSGO2.dbf
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6b9cde508
Binary files /dev/null and b/inst/extdata/STATSGO2.dbf differ
diff --git a/inst/extdata/STATSGO2.prj b/inst/extdata/STATSGO2.prj
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e5d6720ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/inst/extdata/STATSGO2.prj
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+PROJCS["NAD_1983_UTM_Zone_18N",GEOGCS["GCS_North_American_1983",DATUM["D_North_American_1983",SPHEROID["GRS_1980",6378137.0,298.257222101]],PRIMEM["Greenwich",0.0],UNIT["Degree",0.0174532925199433]],PROJECTION["Transverse_Mercator"],PARAMETER["False_Easting",500000.0],PARAMETER["False_Northing",0.0],PARAMETER["Central_Meridian",-75.0],PARAMETER["Scale_Factor",0.9996],PARAMETER["Latitude_Of_Origin",0.0],UNIT["Meter",1.0]]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/inst/extdata/STATSGO2.shp b/inst/extdata/STATSGO2.shp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..816a48089
Binary files /dev/null and b/inst/extdata/STATSGO2.shp differ
diff --git a/inst/extdata/STATSGO2.shx b/inst/extdata/STATSGO2.shx
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bf3f98782
Binary files /dev/null and b/inst/extdata/STATSGO2.shx differ
diff --git a/man/sample_dem_data.Rd b/man/extdata-gis.Rd
similarity index 70%
rename from man/sample_dem_data.Rd
rename to man/extdata-gis.Rd
index 932d92db9..75cc87702 100644
--- a/man/sample_dem_data.Rd
+++ b/man/extdata-gis.Rd
@@ -1,13 +1,16 @@
 % Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
-% Please edit documentation in R/wbt.R
+% Please edit documentation in R/whitebox-package.R
 \name{sample_dem_data}
 \alias{sample_dem_data}
-\title{Convenience method for path to sample DEM}
+\alias{sample_soils_data}
+\title{Convenience method for path to sample DEM and soils data}
 \usage{
 sample_dem_data(
   destfile = file.path(system.file("extdata", package = "whitebox"), "DEM.tif"),
   ...
 )
+
+sample_soils_data()
 }
 \arguments{
 \item{destfile}{Path to target location of sample data. Will be downloaded if does not exist. Defaults to file path of extdata subfolder of whitebox package installation directory.}
@@ -18,7 +21,7 @@ sample_dem_data(
 character.
 }
 \description{
-Get a file path to DEM.tif stored in extdata subfolder of whitebox package installation directory. If needed, download the TIFF file from GitHub.
+Get a file path to DEM.tif or STATSGO2.shp stored in extdata subfolder of whitebox package installation directory.
 }
 \examples{
 
diff --git a/man/wbt_source.Rd b/man/wbt_source.Rd
index ff376b278..29f92e1ef 100644
--- a/man/wbt_source.Rd
+++ b/man/wbt_source.Rd
@@ -9,25 +9,42 @@ wbt_source(
   dsn = NULL,
   layer = NULL,
   force = FALSE,
+  tmpdir = tempdir(),
+  pattern = "wbt",
   verbose = wbt_verbose(),
   ...
 )
 }
 \arguments{
-\item{x}{A terra SpatVector or sf object, or a path to a file that can be read as a SpatVectorProxy}
+\item{x}{A terra SpatVector or sf object (in memory) or a path to a file that
+can be read as a SpatVectorProxy. Or a memory or file-based SpatRaster.
+When \code{x} has multiple layers/bands, the first layer is used by default; use
+the \code{layer} argument to select a specific layer/band.}
 
 \item{dsn}{Data source path / file name}
 
-\item{layer}{Data layer}
+\item{layer}{Data layer. For vectors, \code{layer} is interpreted as a layer
+name (character); for rasters, \code{layer} is interpreted as a band index or
+name (integer OR character)}
 
-\item{force}{Force write of vector data to file? Default: FALSE (only write if file does not exist)}
+\item{force}{Force write of vector data to file? Default: FALSE (only write
+if file does not exist and new file is needed)}
+
+\item{tmpdir}{Directory to write temporary ESRI Shapefiles for vector input
+in memory or otherwise not already in shapefile. Default: \code{tempdir()}}
+
+\item{pattern}{Character vector giving the initial part of the temporary file
+name}
 
 \item{verbose}{Print information about data source and contents?}
 
-\item{...}{Additional arguments passed to \code{terra::writeVector()} or \code{sf::st_write()}}
+\item{...}{Additional arguments passed to \code{terra::writeVector()} or
+\code{sf::st_write()}, or \code{terra::writeRaster} (for rasters).}
 }
 \value{
-An R object with attributes \code{wbt_dsn} and \code{wbt_layer} set as needed to support reading and writing R objects from file by WhiteboxTools.
+An R object (SpatRaster, SpatVector, SpatVectorProxy, sf) with
+attributes \code{wbt_dsn} and \code{wbt_layer} set as needed to support reading and
+writing R objects from file by WhiteboxTools.
 }
 \description{
 Initialize an R object containing spatial data for use by WhiteboxTools
diff --git a/man/whitebox-package.Rd b/man/whitebox-package.Rd
index c675daa08..0eae16de6 100644
--- a/man/whitebox-package.Rd
+++ b/man/whitebox-package.Rd
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ The package options can be overridden with system environment variables: \code{R
 \code{\link[=wbt_init]{wbt_init()}}, \code{\link[=wbt_options]{wbt_options()}}, \code{\link[=install_whitebox]{install_whitebox()}}
 }
 \author{
-\strong{Maintainer}: Andrew Brown \email{brown.andrewg@gmail.com} [contributor]
+\strong{Maintainer}: Andrew Brown \email{brown.andrewg@gmail.com} (\href{https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4565-533X}{ORCID})
 
 Authors:
 \itemize{
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-wbt_source.R b/tests/testthat/test-wbt_source.R
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..82d9df5a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-wbt_source.R
@@ -0,0 +1,114 @@
+test_that("wbt_source (raster) works", {
+
+    skip_if_not_installed("terra")
+
+    f <- sample_dem_data()
+
+    # raster source from geotiff path
+    src <- wbt_source(f)
+
+    x <- attr(src, "wbt_dsn")
+
+    expect_true(grepl("\\.tif$", x))
+    expect_true(file.exists(x))
+
+    dem <- terra::rast(f)
+
+    # raster source from spatraster (with source file)
+    src <- wbt_source(dem)
+
+    x <- attr(src, "wbt_dsn")
+
+    expect_true(grepl("\\.tif$", x))
+    expect_true(file.exists(x))
+
+    dem2 <- dem*2
+
+    # raster source from spatraster (in memory)
+    src <- wbt_source(dem2)
+
+    x <- attr(src, "wbt_dsn")
+
+    expect_true(grepl("\\.tif$", x))
+    expect_true(file.exists(x))
+
+    tf <- tempfile(fileext = ".gpkg")
+    terra::writeRaster(dem, tf, gdal = c("RASTER_TABLE=one"))
+    terra::writeRaster(dem2, tf, gdal = c("RASTER_TABLE=two", "APPEND_SUBDATASET=YES"))
+
+    # raster source from non-geotiff
+    src <- wbt_source(tf)
+
+    x <- attr(src, "wbt_dsn")
+
+    expect_true(grepl("\\.tif$", x))
+    expect_true(file.exists(x))
+
+    # raster source from non-geotiff
+    src <- wbt_source(tf, layer = "two")
+
+    x <- attr(src, "wbt_dsn")
+
+    expect_true(grepl("\\.tif$", x))
+    expect_true(file.exists(x))
+
+    unlink(tf)
+})
+
+test_that("wbt_source (vector) works", {
+
+    skip_if_not_installed("terra")
+
+    f <- sample_soils_data()
+
+    # vector source from shapefile
+    src <- wbt_source(f)
+
+    x <- attr(src, "wbt_dsn")
+
+    expect_true(grepl("\\.shp$", x))
+    expect_true(file.exists(x))
+
+    vf <- terra::vect(f)
+
+    # vector source from spatvector (in memory)
+    src <- wbt_source(vf)
+
+    x <- attr(src, "wbt_dsn")
+
+    expect_true(grepl("\\.shp$", x))
+    expect_true(file.exists(x))
+
+    vf2 <- terra::vect(f, proxy = TRUE)
+
+    # vector source from spatvectorproxy
+    src <- wbt_source(vf2)
+
+    x <- attr(src, "wbt_dsn")
+
+    expect_true(grepl("\\.shp$", x))
+    expect_true(file.exists(x))
+
+    tf <- tempfile(fileext = ".gpkg")
+
+    terra::writeVector(vf, tf, layer = "one")
+    terra::writeVector(vf, tf, layer = "two", insert = TRUE)
+
+    # vector source from non-shapefile
+    src <- suppressWarnings(wbt_source(tf))
+    # terra warning for multiple layers but layer unspecified
+
+    x <- attr(src, "wbt_dsn")
+
+    expect_true(grepl("\\.shp$", x))
+    expect_true(file.exists(x))
+
+    src <- wbt_source(tf, layer = "two")
+
+    x <- attr(src, "wbt_dsn")
+
+    expect_true(grepl("\\.shp$", x))
+    expect_true(file.exists(x))
+
+    unlink(tf)
+})