LAKES: major lakes of the northeast United States

Metadata also available as: OUTLINE - TEXT

Frequently-anticipated questions:

• What does this data set describe?
  1. How should this data set be cited?
  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?
  3. What does it look like?
  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
  5. What is the general form of this data set?
  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?
  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?
• Who produced the data set?
  1. Who are the originators of the data set?
  2. Who also contributed to the data set?
  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
• Why was the data set created?
• How was the data set created?
  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?
  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?
• How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?
  1. How well have the observations been checked?
  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?
  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
  5. How consistent are the relationships among the data, including topology?
• How can someone get a copy of the data set?
  1. Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?
  2. Who distributes the data?
  3. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?
  4. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?
  5. How can I download or order the data?
• Who wrote the metadata?

Title: LAKES: major lakes of the northeast United States

Abstract:

This ArcView shapefile represents the larger, major lakes within the United States. The shapefile dataset was provided by Environmental Research Institution, Inc. (ESRI) as data distribution with their software.

Supplemental_Information:

U.S. Lakes (LAKES) is an ESRI shapefile with polygon features. This is a subset of the original dataset. It has been clipped to the extent of the Gulf of Maine surficial sediment GIS project area.

1. How should this data set be cited?

   Paskevich, Valerie, 2003, LAKES: major lakes of the northeast United States: U.S. Geological Survey, Coastal and Marine Geology Program, Woods Hole Field Center, Woods Hole, MA.

   Online Links:

   • <http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2003/of03-001/data/basemaps/usa/water/lakes.zip>
   • <http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2003/of03-001/data/basemaps/usa/water/lakes.zip>

   This is part of the following larger work.

   Poppe, L.J., Paskevich, V.F., Williams, S.J., Hastings, M.E., Kelley, J.T., Belknap, D.F., Ward, L.G., FitzGerald, D.M., and Larsen, P.F., 2003, Surficial Sediment Data from the Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank, and vicinity: a GIS Compilation: Open-File Report 03-001, U.S. Geological Survey, Coastal and Marine Geology Program, Woods Hole Field Center, Woods Hole, MA.

   Online Links:

   • <http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2003/of03-001>
   • <http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/openfile/of03-001>

   Other_Citation_Details:

   Data is released via CD-ROM media. This digital publication may also be available via the web at pubs.usgs.gov

2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

   West_Bounding_Coordinate: -77.877236

   East_Bounding_Coordinate: -71.198121

   North_Bounding_Coordinate: 45.000040

   South_Bounding_Coordinate: 42.392842

3. What does it look like?

   lakes (GIF)

   Overview showing the extent of the clipped LAKES shapefile for the Gulf of Maine surficial sediment GIS project area.

4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?

   Calendar_Date: 2003

   Currentness_Reference: publication date

5. What is the general form of this data set?

   Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector digital data

6. How does the data set represent geographic features?
   1. How are geographic features stored in the data set?

      This is a Vector data set. It contains the following vector data types (SDTS terminology):

      • G-polygon (6)

   2. What coordinate system is used to represent geographic features?

      Horizontal positions are specified in geographic coordinates, that is, latitude and longitude. Latitudes are given to the nearest 0.000000. Longitudes are given to the nearest 0.000000. Latitude and longitude values are specified in Decimal degrees.

      The horizontal datum used is North American Datum of 1983.
      The ellipsoid used is Geodetic Reference System 80.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378137.000000.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.257222.
      

7. How does the data set describe geographic features?

   lakes.dbf

   Shapefile Attribute Table (Source: ESRI)

   FID

   Internal feature number. (Source: ESRI)

   Range of values
   Minimum:	0.006
   Maximum:	6.783

   Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.

   Shape

   Feature geometry. (Source: ESRI)

   Coordinates defining the features.

   AREA

   Area of Polygon in native units (Source: Software Computed)

   Range of values
   Minimum:	54.765
   Maximum:	7746.332
   Units:	decimal degrees

   NAME

   Lake Name (Source: User Defined)

   Value	Definition
   Lake Champlain	Lake Champlain
   Lake Ontario	Lake Ontario
   Lake Winnipesaukee	Lake Winnipesaukee
   Seneca Lake	Seneca Lake

   Character String

1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)
   • Valerie Paskevich

2. Who also contributed to the data set?

   Please review the cross reference information for the original data set credit.

3. To whom should users address questions about the data?

   Valerie Paskevich
   U.S. Geological Survey
   Information Specialist
   384 Woods Hole Road
   Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598
   USA
   

   (508) 548-8700 x2281 (voice)
   (508) 457-2310 (FAX)
   vpaskevich@usgs.gov
   

This ArcView shapefile may be used as a general basemap data layer to illustrate the lakes of the United States.

1. From what previous works were the data drawn?

   lakes.shp (source 1 of 1)

   Environmental Research Institut, Inc. (ESRI), 19990801, ESRI Data & maps: Environmental Research Institution, Inc. (ESRI), Redlands, CA.

   Type_of_Source_Media: CD-ROM

   Source_Contribution:

   The LAKES shapefile was taken in it's complete form from the ESRI data distribution disk.

2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?

   (process 1 of 2)

   The individual complete lakes shapefile was copied from the ESRI data distribution disk.

   Person who carried out this activity:
   

   Valerie Paskevich
   U.S. Geological Survey
   Information Specialist
   384 Woods Hole Road
   Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598
   USA
   

   (508) 548-8700 x2281 (voice)
   (508) 457-2310 (FAX)
   vpaskevich@usgs.gov
   

   Data sources used in this process:

   • lakes.dbf
   • lakes.shp
   • lakes.shx

   Data sources produced in this process:

   • lakes.dbf
   • lakes.shp
   • lakes.shx

   Date: 06-Nov-2002 (process 2 of 2)

   The lakes shapefile was clipped using the ArcView extension Xtools to fit the extent of the Gulf of Maine surficial sediment GIS project view area. The Area attribute was then recomputed using the Xtools extension to reflect the new polygon values.

   Person who carried out this activity:
   

   Valerie Paskevich
   U.S. Geological Survey
   Information Specialist
   384 Woods Hole Road
   Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598
   USA
   

   (508) 548-8700 x2281 (voice)
   (508) 457-2310 (FAX)
   vpaskevich@usgs.gov
   

   Data sources used in this process:

   • lakes.dbf
   • lakes.shp
   • lakes.shx

   Data sources produced in this process:

   • lakes.dbf
   • lakes.shp
   • lakes.shx

1. How well have the observations been checked?

2. How accurate are the geographic locations?

3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?

   This data set contains the US lakes shapefile clipped to the extent of the Gulf of Maine surficial sediment GIS project view area

5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?

   none

Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?

Access_Constraints: None

Use_Constraints: None

1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)

   U. S. Geological Survey
   c/o Valerie Paskevich
   Computer Specialist
   384 Woods Hole Road
   Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598
   USA
   

   (508) 548-8700 x2281 (voice)
   (508) 457-2310 (FAX)
   vpaskevich@usgs.gov
   

2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?

   Downloadable Data: Regional Mapping of Surficial Sediments: Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank, Aggregates and Habitats Projects, lakes.shp

3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

   Although this derived data set and it's lineage dataset have been used by the USGS, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by the USGS as to the accuracy of the data and/or related materials. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by the USGS in the use of these data or related materials.

4. How can I download or order the data?
   • Availability in digital form:

     Data format:	The three ArcView shapefiles (lakes.dbf, lakes.shp, lakes.shx) comprising the ArcView polygon, 'prj' and 'avl' files, metadata text file and browse graphic. in format ArcView Shapefile (version 3.2) ESRI polygon shapefile Size: 6.113
     Media you can order:	CD-ROM (Density 650 Mbytes) Note: The user must have a computer system with a CD-ROM available. To browse the information contained on this CD-ROM, the user must have a current WWW browser available. The user must also have software installed on their computer to unzip the archived file.

   • Cost to order the data: none

5. What hardware or software do I need in order to use the data set?

   The United States base map overlay is available as an ArcView shapefile format. The user must have ESRI's ArcView 3.0 or greater software to read and process the data file. In lieu of Arcview, the user may utilize another GIS application package capable of importing the data.

Dates:

Last modified: 11-Mar-2003

Metadata author:

U. S. Geological Survey
c/o Valerie Paskevich
Information Specialist
384 Woods Hole Rd.
Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598
USA

(508) 548-8700 x2281 (voice)
(508) 457-2310 (FAX)
vpaskevich@usgs.gov

Metadata standard:

FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)

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