This report contains several data layers (or themes) that can be used to create views of the New London and Niantic survey areas. GeoTIFFs produced from the combined multibeam and LIDAR bathymetric surveys are provided in geographic, WGS84 projections. The GeoTIFFs are in color, vertically exaggerated, and hill shaded. ArcRaster grids of the combined multibeam and LIDAR bathymetric data are also provided in the geographic, WGS84 coordinate system.

Ancillary vector data are provided in the geographic, WGS84 coordinate system and consist of polygon data layers that provide base maps of the Long Island Sound project area coastline and outlines of the survey areas.

Data layers are provided with geographic coordinates to allow the data to be integrated into a Geographic Information System (GIS).  A GIS is defined as a system of hardware and software to support the display, manipulation, and analysis of spatial data for mapping and complex data-solving.  This integrated package provides researchers the ability to integrate, analyze, and map the various datasets to help with economic and social policy-making decisions regarding the environment.

Data layers archived here should not require additional processing to be utilized within the ESRI ArcView and ArcGIS software. This does not mean that a user will not wish to do additional processing, especially if a different GIS software package or spheroid is used, but that it is not necessary to do additional processing simply to utilize the data in its minimum archive format.

For those who do not have the ESRI software or a compatible GIS data browser available on their computer, a free viewer, ArcExplorer, is available from ESRI. The key functionality of ArcExplorer is the viewing of spatial data. The user will need to add the selected data layers by using ArcExplorer's add data button. 

Each GIS data layer from this publication is cataloged below for easy access. The individual data layers are described below and include the GeoTIFF, grid, or shapefile name (for example, nlondon_mblidar_geo.tif), which is linked to a browse graphic showing the data-layer extent and coverage. Selecting the data-layer name will result in the browse graphic being displayed in a separate browser window.

When accessing this report from the CD-ROM, the top level of the report contains an ArcView project file (nlnb.apr) created in ArcView 3.3 and an ESRI ArcMap document (nlnb.mxd) created in ArcMap 9.2, but saved as an ArcMap 9.0/9.1 document to make it accessible through older versions of the software.

Federal Geographic Data Committee metadata for the individual data layers are provided in a text version. Selecting associated metadata files from the table below will display the information in a new browser window.

A 'Zip' compressed, downloadable archive file containing the components of the GeoTIFF, grid, or shapefile for each data layer is also provided. Compressed downloadable files were created using the Windows program WINZIP v8.0. Those users who do not have software capable of uncompressing the archived Zip files can obtain a free version of the software from Pkware, Inc.

BATHYMETRIC IMAGERY

BATHYMETRIC GRIDS

BASE-MAP DATA

Individuals interested in accessing the NOAA Descriptive Reports, which contain detailed descriptions of the data-acquisition and -processing methods, can view them as h11441_dr.pdf, h11442_dr.pdf, h11224_dr.pdf and h11225_dr.pdf.