Background

Data on this publication 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 analysis. This integrated package provides researchers the ability to integrate, analyze, display and map the various datasets to help with economic and social policy-making decisions regarding the environment.

This project uses the Environmental Systems Research Institute's (ESRI) ArcView™ and ArcGIS™ software as its Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping tool. Data layers archived here should not require additional processing to be utilized within the ESRI software. This does not mean that a user will not wish to do additional processing, especially if utilizing a different GIS software package or spheroid, but that it is not necessary to do additional processing simply to utilize the data in its minimum archive format.

ArcMap project view with NOS80k, backscatter imagery, surficial sediment data and boundaries of the Cape Cod National Seashore Park visible.

For those who don't have the ESRI software or a compatible GIS data browser available on their computer, a free viewer, ArcExplorer™, is available from ESRI. Currently ArcExplorer™ version 9.1 software is available for Microsoft Windows, UNIX, and Linux operating systems. ArcExplorer™ version 9.0 is available for the Macintosh OS X platform. There is no prepared project file for use with ArcExplorer™. If the user chooses ArcExplorer™, it will be necessary to add the selected data layers to their defined project file.

Each GIS data layer from this publication is cataloged below for easy access. The individual data layers are described below and include the shapefile name (e.g. rafa04011_botphotos), 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.

Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) metadata for the individual data layers is provided in three versions (HTML, FAQ, text). Selecting associated metadata files from the table below will open the information in a new browser window. An "Extensible Markup Language" (XML) version of the metadata is also available in the individual data directories. This version of the metadata is made available for use with ESRI's ArcCatalog™ software.

A 'zip' compressed, downloadable archive file containing the elements comprising the ESRI shapefile for each data layer is also provided. Compressed downloadable files were created using the Windows program WINZIP™ v8.0. For those users who do not have software capable of uncompressing the archived zip files, they may obtain a free version of the software from Winzip Computing, Inc. or Pkware, Inc. In addition to the ESRI shapefile, the surficial sediment data layers are available in an ASCII text format and Microsoft Excel spreadsheet formats to allow users who may not have access to GIS software to have access to the source data in an alternate way to view and examine the datasets. The first record of the ASCII file and Excel spreadsheet contains the name of the data fields for that file.

 BACKSCATTER IMAGERY

BATHYMETRY DATA (Grid and Images)

 BOTTOM PHOTOGRAPHS

 GEOLOGY

 SURFICIAL SEDIMENT DATA

BASEMAP DATA