LOCATIONS AND ATTRIBUTES OF UTILITY-SCALE SOLAR POWER FACILITIES IN COLORADO AND NEW MEXICO, 2011 By Drew A. Ignizio and Natasha B. Carr 2012 U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 693 ABSTRACT: The data series consists of polygonal boundaries for utility-scale solar power facilities (both photovoltaic and concentrating solar power) located within Colorado and New Mexico as of December 2011. Attributes captured for each facility include the following: facility name, size/production capacity (in MW), type of solar technology employed, location, state, operational status, year the facility came online, and source identification information. Facility locations and perimeters were derived from 1-meter true-color aerial photographs (2011) produced by the National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP); the photographs have a positional accuracy of about ±5 meters (accessed from http://gis.apfo.usda.gov/arcgis/services). Solar facility perimeters represent the full extent of each solar facility site, unless otherwise noted. When visible, linear features such as fences or road lines were used to delineate the full extent of the solar facility. All related equipment including buildings, power substations, and other associated infrastructure were included within the solar facility. If solar infrastructure was indistinguishable from adjacent infrastructure, or if solar panels were installed on existing building tops, only the solar collecting equipment was digitized. The “Polygon” field indicates whether the "equipment footprint" or the full “site outline” was digitized. The spatial accuracy of features that represent site perimeters or an equipment footprint is estimated at +/- 10 meters. Facilities under construction or not fully visible in the NAIP imagery at the time of digitization (December 2011) are represented by an approximate site outline based on the best available information and documenting materials. The spatial accuracy of these facilities cannot be estimated without more up-to-date imagery – users are advised to consult more recent imagery as it becomes available. The “Status” field provides information about the operational status of each facility as of December 2011. This data series contributes to an Online Interactive Energy Atlas developed by the U.S. Geological Survey. The Energy Atlas synthesizes data on existing and potential energy development in Colorado and New Mexico and includes additional natural resource data layers. This information may be used by decision makers to evaluate and compare the potential benefits and tradeoffs associated with different energy development strategies or scenarios. Interactive maps, downloadable data layers, metadata, and decision support tools are included in the Energy Atlas. The format of the Energy Atlas facilitates the integration of information about energy with key terrestrial and aquatic resources for evaluating resource values and minimizing risks from energy development activities. DISCLAIMERS: Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Although this information product, for the most part, is in the public domain, it also contains copyrighted materials as noted in the text. Permission to reproduce copyrighted items for other than personal use must be secured from the copyright owner. Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system at the U.S. Geological Survey, no warranty expressed or implied is made regarding the display or utility of the data on any other system, or for general or scientific purposes, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty. The U.S. Geological Survey shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of the data described and/or contained herein. This data base, identified as DS 693, has been approved for release and publication by the Director of the U.S. Geological Survey. Although this database has been subjected to rigorous review and is substantially complete,the U.S. Geological Survey reserves the right to revise the data pursuant to further analysis and review. Furthermore, it is released on condition that neither the U.S. geological Survey nor the U.S. Government may be held liable for any damages resulting from its authorized or unauthorized use. CONTENTS: 00Readme.txt PDF Pamphlet (.pdf) for USGS Dataset 693 datafiles: GIS_Data The shapefiles are as follows: CO_MN_SolarFacilities.shp(.dbf/.prj/.sbn/.sbx/.shp.xml/.shx) INSTRUCTIONS AND DOCUMENTATION FOR U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY DATA SERIES 693 To access the data: The data files can be downloaded via the web from http://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/693/. A product description is avialable as a Portable Document Format (.pdf) pamphlet which requires Adobe Acrobat for viewing. Acrobat software runs on a variety of systems, and is available for download free of charge from Adobe at http://www.adobe.com. Software Recommended: Adobe Acrobat (8.x, 9.x, or X), or Adobe Acrobat Pro (8.x, 9.x X), or the free Adobe Reader (8.x, 9.x X), X is preferred. ArcGIS 10.0 preferred, older versions may also work.