Geographic Information System

This report contains Geographic Information System (GIS) data in both vector and raster format. The vector data are provided in shapefile formats compatible with Environmental Systems Research Institute's (ESRI) ArcView and ArcGIS software. These data are in the Geographic Coordinate System (GCS) in World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS84). The raster data are provided in GeoTIFF format and ESRI binary grid format. These raster data are provided in GCS WGS84 and a Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM), Zone 19, North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83) projection. Data layers archived here should not require additional processing to be used in ESRI software.

For users 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 displaying of spatial data. The user will need to add the selected data layers by using ArcExplorer's "add data" button. 

Data Description

This report includes links to several data layers (or themes) that can be used to create views of the Rhode Island Sound study area. GeoTIFF files, with 2-m resolution, produced from the NOAA bathymetric survey are provided in GCS WGS84 and UTM, Zone 19, NAD 83 projections. GeoTIFFs of the bathymetry are in color and are hill-shaded. ArcRaster grids of the multibeam bathymetric data are provided at 2-m resolution in both GCS WGS84 and UTM, Zone 19, NAD 83 projections.

Ancillary vector data that are provided in the GCS WGS84 datum consist of polygon data layers that provide (1) a base map of the coastline for the Rhode Island Sound GIS project area; (2) an outline of the study area; and (3) interpretations of sea-floor features. Point data layers, also in GCS WGS84, are provided for the sediment data and locations of bottom photos. Photographs can be hyperlinked from the shapefile 2011-006_995botphotos.shp; for detailed instructions on how to hyperlink, see the 'Entity and Attribute Overview' section of the metadata for this file. The photographic data are provided in both medium- and full-resolution JPEG image formats.

The top level of this report on the DVD-ROM contains an ArcView project file (h11995.apr) created in ArcView 3.3 and an ESRI ArcMap document (h11995.mxd) created in ArcMap 9.2, but saved as an ArcMap 9.0/9.1 document to make it accessible to older versions of the software.

Each GIS data layer in 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, h11995_mb2m_geo), which is linked to a browse graphic (an illustration of the dataset) 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 (there is no browse graphic for the navigation data).

Federal Geographic Data Committee metadata for the individual data layers are provided in HTML, frequently asked questions (FAQ) (in HTML format), and text versions in the table below. In addition to these formats of the metadata, the WinZip files contain the XML version of the metadata viewable in ArcCatalog. Selecting associated metadata files from the table below will open the information in a new browser window.

A compressed (.zip), downloadable archive file containing the components of the shapefile, grid, or image for each data layer is also provided. Compressed, downloadable files were created by using the Windows program WINZIP® v8.0. Users who do not have software capable of uncompressing the archived files can obtain a free version from Pkware, Inc.

BATHYMETRIC IMAGERY

BATHYMETRIC GRIDS

SEDIMENT AND PHOTOGRAPHIC DATA LAYERS

NAVIGATION DATA LAYER

INTERPRETIVE DATA LAYER

BASE-MAP DATA

Individuals interested in accessing the NOAA Descriptive Report, which contains detailed descriptions of the data-acquisition and data-processing methods, can view it as h11995_dr.pdf.

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