CT_VICINITY_GEO.SHP: Connecticut and Vicinity State Boundary Polygon (Geographic, WGS84)

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Frequently-anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?

Title:
CT_VICINITY_GEO.SHP: Connecticut and Vicinity State Boundary Polygon (Geographic, WGS84)
Abstract:
Connecticut and Vicinity State Boundary Polygon includes State for Connecticut and nearby portions of Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island. The data layer was created by extracting boundary line features and polygon attribute information from the individual 1:24,000-scale or 1:25,000-scale data sources produced by the respective State governments. These state-level data sources were either based directly on Digital Line Graph (DLG) files produced by the U.S. Geological Survey or created by State governmental agencies that digitized and attributed town boundaries published on the 1:24,000-scale USGS topographic quadrangle maps. This information does not depict official state established by the respective state and municipal governments. It may contain some boundary line errors.
Supplemental_Information:
In 2006, the State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection developed automated procedures to systematically maintain feature topology and attribute integrity for a set of related political boundary data for Northeastern United States in ArcInfo coverage format. These data layers include the following ArcInfo coverages: Northeastern United States Political Boundary Master (NORTHEASTM), Northeastern United States State Boundaries (NORTHEASTSTAT), Northeastern United States County Boundaries, (NORTHEASTCNTY), and Northeastern United States Town Boundaries (NORTHEASTTOWN). Automated procedures were developed using ArcInfo Workstation 9.1 software and the Arc Macro Language (AML) as a scripting environment to programmatically derive all layers from the Northeastern United States Political Boundary Master layer (NORTHEASTM) by merging adjacent polygon features as a result of dissolving adjacent features based on similar attribute values. For example, the Northeastern United States State Boundaries (NORTHEASTSTAT) is produced as a result of first deleting polygon attributes from a copy of the Northeastern United States Political Boundary Master (NORTHEASTM) that do not describe state level information (such as TOWN_COD and CNTY_COD) and subsequently dissolving these polygon features on the remaining attributes (such as STATE_COD). This results in merging all adjacent town polygon features that are members of the same State into single polygon features for the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, and Rhode Island.
  1. How should this data set be cited?

    State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection, U.S. Geological Survey, National Mapping Program (data compiler), MassGIS (data compiler and publisher), New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (data compiler and publisher), State of New York (data compiler and publisher), and Rhode Island Geographic Information System (data compiler and publisher), 20081020, CT_VICINITY_GEO.SHP: Connecticut and Vicinity State Boundary Polygon (Geographic, WGS84): State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection, Hartford, Connecticut, USA.

    Online Links:

    This is part of the following larger work.

    Poppe, L.J., McMullen, K.Y., Ackerman, S.D., Blackwood, D.S., Schaer, J.D., Forrest, M.R., Ostapenko, A.J., and Doran, E.F., 2011, Sea-Floor Geology and Topography Offshore in Eastern Long Island Sound: Open-File Report 2010-1150, U.S. Geological Survey, Coastal and Marine Geology Program, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Woods Hole, MA.

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details: 1 DVD-ROM

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -74.122391
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -71.125590
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 42.613052
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 40.511388

  3. What does it look like?

    <https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2010/1150/data/basemaps/shoreline/ct_vicinity_geo.gif> (GIF)
    Full view of Connecticut and Vicinity State Boundary polygon features
    <http://www.cteco.uconn.edu/metadata/dep/browsegraphic/connecticutvicinitystatectview.gif> (GIF)
    View of Connecticut and Vicinity State Boundary polygon and line features for greater Connecticut area

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

    Calendar_Date: 2011
    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?

      Indirect_Spatial_Reference:
      Includes State code, State name, County code, and County name for the States of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island.
      This is a Vector data set. It contains the following vector data types (SDTS terminology):
      • G-polygon (1103)

    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 0.000001. Longitudes are given to the nearest 0.000001. Latitude and longitude values are specified in Decimal degrees.

      The horizontal datum used is D_WGS_1984.
      The ellipsoid used is WGS_1984.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378137.000000.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.257224.

      Vertical_Coordinate_System_Definition:
      Altitude_System_Definition:
      Altitude_Datum_Name: National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929
      Altitude_Resolution: 1
      Altitude_Distance_Units: feet
      Altitude_Encoding_Method: Implicit coordinate

  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?

    ct_vicinity_geo
    Includes polygon features depicting the geographic areas for individual states on the mainland and in open water. Along the coast, certain states may be represented by more than one polygon feature. For example, in addition to representing the portion of a state on the mainland, polygon features also are present defining islands in the state along the coast. The inclusion of island features along the coast varies according to state. (Source: State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection)

    FID
    Internal feature number. (Source: ESRI)

    Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.

    Shape
    Feature geometry. (Source: ESRI)

    Coordinates defining the features.

    LAND_CLASS
    Land Class - Distinguishes land from water. This dataset includes a large water polygon feature that may impact polygon drawing performance. To improve drawing performance, exclude all water features by using the following expression in a layer definition query: LAND_CLASS = "Land" (Source: State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection)

    ValueDefinition
    LandLand Feature - Mainland or island
    WaterWater Feature - Marine and selected large fresh waterbody

    CT_LEGEND
    Connecticut Legend - Classifies features to highlight and differentiate Connecticut from other states. (Source: State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection)

    ValueDefinition
    ConnecticutState of Connecticut
    Other StatesMassachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island
    WaterWater

    STATE_COD
    State Code (Source: State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection)

    ValueDefinition
    'blank'No State designation. Used to encode open water features.
    CTState of Connecticut
    MACommonwealth of Massachusetts
    NJState of New Jersey
    NYState of New York
    RIState of Rhode Island

    STATE_NAME
    State Name (Source: State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection)

    ValueDefinition
    'blank'No State designation. Used to encode open water features.
    ConnecticutState of Connecticut
    MassachusettsCommonwealth of Massachusetts
    New JerseyState of New Jersey
    New YorkState of New York
    Rhode IslandState of Rhode Island

    LABEL_FLAG
    Label Flag - Identifies polygons considered to be large and significant enough in size to be labeled on a map with State names. Polygons designated for labeling are assigned LABEL_FLAG values equal to "True", whereas small island polygons along coast, not typically labeled with State names, are assigned LABEL_FLAG values equal to "False". Label selected features with the MAP_LABEL attribute. (Source: State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection)

    ValueDefinition
    TruePolygon feature you can label with MAP_LABEL attribute
    FalsePolygon feature not to label with MAP_LABEL attribute

    MAP_LABEL
    Map Label Text - Text values from the STATE_NAME field used for map labeling purposes. Use the LABEL_FLAG field to query for polygon features to label with this field. (Source: State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection)

    Text value

    CT_LABEL_Y
    Connecticut Map Label - Map label text for Connecticut. Use this field to label Connecticut without using the LABEL_FLAG field to query for the appropriate features to label, which is a slower technique. (Source: State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection)

    STATE_NAME values only for polygon features where MAP_LABEL = 'True' and STATE_COD = 'CT'.

    CT_LABEL_N
    Not Connecticut Map Label - Map label text for all but the State of Connecticut. Use this field to label all states but Connecticut without using the LABEL_FLAG field to query for the appropriate features to label, which is a slower technique. (Source: State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection)

    STATE_NAME values only for polygon features where MAP_LABEL = 'True' and STATE_COD not equal to 'CT'.

    SHAPE
    Feature geometry. (Source: ESRI)

    Coordinates defining the features.

    SHAPE_area
    Area of feature in square feet based on the NAD 1983 State Plane Connecticut FIPS 0600 Feet projection. (Source: ESRI)

    Positive real numbers that are automatically generated when the dataset was loaded into the GeoDatabase format.

    SHAPE_len
    Circumference of feature in feet based on the NAD 1983 State Plane Connecticut FIPS 0600 Feet projection. (Source: ESRI)

    Range of values
    Minimum:69.6815153354
    Maximum:4075494.1648300001
    Units:feet
    Resolution:0.0000000001

    Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:
    Attributes identify and describe the geographic areas and state boundaries for the States of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island. Use the LAND_CLASS polygon feature attribute to cartographically distinguish land from water polygon features. Use the STATE_COD, STATE_NAME or MAP_LABEL attributes to label polygon features with state abbreviations or names. Use the LABEL_FLAG attribute to identify polygons large enough to label with state names at larger scales using the MAP_LABEL attribute. Or use the CT_LABEL_Y and CT_LABEL_N attributes to label just the state of Connecticut or all states but Connecticut without querying for the appropriate features and labeling them with the MAP_LABEL values, which is a slower technique. Use the CT_LEGEND polygon attribute to classify and highlight features in Connecticut different from the other states. This dataset includes a large water polygon feature that may impact polygon drawing performance. To improve drawing performance, exclude all water features by using the following expression in a layer definition query: LAND_CLASS = "Land"
    Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation:
    For additional information describing the data source for Connecticut refer to metadata available for the Connecticut Towns layer at <http://www.ct.gov/dep>.
    Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation:
    For additional information describing the data source for Massachussetts refer to metadata available for the Communtity Boundaries (Towns) layer at <http://www.mass.gov/mgis/>
    Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation:
    For additional information describing the data source for New Jersey refer to metadata available for the NJDEP Municipality Boundaries for the State of New Jersey (Clipped to Coast) layer at <http://www.nj.gov/dep/gis/>
    Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation:
    For additional information describing the data source for New York refer to metadata available for the New York State Municipalities layer at <http://giswww.westchestergov.com/>
    Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation:
    For additional information describing the data source for Rhode Island refer to metadata available for the esri-state-ritownp layer at <http://www.edc.uri.edu/rigis/>

Who produced the data set?

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

  2. Who also contributed to the data set?

    Please credit the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection as the originator of the dataset.

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

    State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection
    c/o Howie Sternberg
    79 Elm Street
    Hartford, Connecticut 06106-5127
    USA

    860-424-3540 (voice)
    860-424-4058 (FAX)
    dep.gisdata@po.state.ct.us

    Hours_of_Service: Monday to Friday, 08:30 to 16:30 Eastern Standard Time

Why was the data set created?

This data layer is intended for geographic display of Connecticut state boundaries at statewide and regional levels. This data layer is provided as a basemap for overlaying bathymetry data.

How was the data set created?

  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?

    Source 1 - TOWN (Connecticut) (source 1 of 12)
    State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection (da, and U.S. Geological Survey, National Mapping Program (data compiler), 19940101, Connecticut Towns: State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection, Hartford, Connecticut, USA.

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details:
    The USGS is the collector of the data (compiler). The State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection is the creator and maintainer of the data layer (editor) and producer (publisher) of this information for use. The 2005 Edition essentially includes the same set of geographic features published in 1994. However, the 2005 Edition differs from information published in 1994 primarily as a result of minor corrections and improvements to feature geometry and feature attribute information. Some feature attribute information (data fields) have been slightly modified and made easier to use. This layer includes information that is relatively static and does not change over time. Data is not updated. Data compiled at 1:24,000 scale.
    Type_of_Source_Media: disc
    Source_Scale_Denominator: 24000
    Source_Contribution:
    Town is a 1:24,000-scale, polygon and line feature-based layer that includes state, county and town (municipal) boundary features depicted on the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle maps for the State of Connecticut. This layer only includes information for Connecticut. Line features include State, county, and town (municipal) boundaries. Polygon features depict the geographic areas for individual towns (municipalities). Data is in ArcInfo coverage format in the Connecticut State Plane Coordinate System of 1983 (NAD 83). Map units are in feet.

    Source 2 - METWP24_06302005 (Maine) (source 2 of 12)
    Maine Office of Geographic Information Systems (MEGIS), 20050622, metwp24_06302005: Maine Office of Geographic Information Systems (MEGIS), Augusta ME.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: disc
    Source_Scale_Denominator: 24000
    Source_Contribution:
    METWP24 depicts political boundaries, common town names, and geocodes for Maine at 1:24,000 scale. The coverage was created from USGS, 7.5 minute map series, town boundaries. The Maine GIS base layer COAST, which contains Maine's coastal Mean High Water (MHW) mark and Maine islands, was used in the development of METWP24. Polygon data was originally obtained in ESRI Shapefile format in Universal Transverse Mercator 1983, Zone 19, map units meters. The name of the shapefile is metwp24p_06302005.shp.

    Source 3 - TOWNS.E00 (Massachusetts) (source 3 of 12)
    MassGIS, 2002, Communtity Boundaries (Towns): MassGIS, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: disc
    Source_Scale_Denominator: 25000
    Source_Contribution:
    The political boundary data layer is a 1:25,000 scale data layer containing the boundaries of the 351 communities (cities and towns) in Massachusetts. The seaward boundary of coastal communities has been defined at mean high water in this datalayer. Data is in ArcInfo coverage format in the Massachusetts State Plane Coordinate System of 1983 (NAD 83). Map units are in meters.

    Source 4 - PB.E00 (New Hampshire) (source 4 of 12)
    Complex Systems Research Center, University of New Hampshire, 19920101, New Hampshire Political Boundaries at 1:24,000 Scale: Systems Research Center, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire, USA.

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details: None
    Type_of_Source_Media: disc
    Source_Scale_Denominator: 24000
    Source_Contribution:
    The New Hampshire Political Boundaries (PB) coverage provides a digital representation of corporate boundaries at the town, county, and state level. It was derived from the 1:24,000-scale USGS Digital Line Graphs (DLGs). Data is in ArcInfo coverage format in the New Hampshire State Plane Coordinate System of 1983 (NAD 83). Map units are in feet.

    Source 5 - MUNCOAST.SHP (New Jersey) (source 5 of 12)
    NJ Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), Office of Information Resources Management (OIRM), and Bureau of Geographic Information Systems (BGIS), 20050817, NJDEP Municipality Boundaries for the State of New Jersey (Clipped to Coast): New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), Trenton, New Jersey, USA.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: disc
    Source_Scale_Denominator: 24000
    Source_Contribution:
    Municipal boundaries in New Jersey were gathered from USGS topoquads and other sources in 1987. Since that time, updates to the data have been limited to noting consolidations of boundaries. The scale of the original data varies, relying primarily on 1:24,000 topoquads. Polygon feature data is in ESRI Shapefile format in the State Plane Coordinate System, North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83), Zone 2900. Map units are in feet.

    Source 6 - NYSMUN.E00 (New York) (source 6 of 12)
    Unknown, Unknown, New York State Municipalities: Unknown, Unknown.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: disc
    Source_Scale_Denominator: 24000
    Source_Contribution:
    The GIS program for Westchester County, New York provided this data file in response to an inquiry for a 1:24,000-scale town boundary layer for the State of New York. No metadata included with the nysmun.e00 data source. Includes state, county, city, town, and village political boundaries. Data is assumed to be 1:24,000-scale. The SWIS Code identified polygon features down to the village level. Data is in ArcInfo coverage format in the New York State Plane Coordinate System of 1983 (NAD 83), Zone 4801. Map units are in feet.

    Source 7 - S44BTP88.E00 (Rhode Island) (source 7 of 12)
    Rhode Island Geographic Information System (RIGIS), 1989, esri-state-ritownp: Rhode Island Geographic Information System (RIGIS), Providence, Rhode Island, 02908-5872, USA.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: disc
    Source_Scale_Denominator: 24000
    Source_Contribution:
    State, county, city, and town political boundarie for Rhode Island with name and id coded attributes and city and town name annotation. Data is in ArcInfo coverage format in the Rhode Island State Plane Coordinate System of 1983 (NAD 83), Zone 5176. Map units are in feet.

    Source 8 - BNDHASH.E00 (Vermont) (source 8 of 12)
    Vermont Center for Geographic Information (VGI), 20051117, BoundaryOther_BNDHASH: Vermont village, town, county, state and RPC boundaries, from best available sources 2005A, Vermont Center for Geographic Information, GIS Database Administrator, Waterbury, Vermont, 05676, USA.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: disc
    Source_Scale_Denominator: 24000
    Source_Contribution:
    The BNDHASH data layer depicts Vermont villages, towns, counties, Regional Planning Commissions (RPC), State administrative, and LEPC (Local Emergency Planning Committee) boundaries. It is a mosaic of generally 'best available' boundaries from various data sources. Data is in ArcInfo coverage format in the Vermont State Plane Coordinate System of 1983 (NAD 83). Map units are in meters. BNDHASH includes the ArcInfo coverage region subclasses. The REGION.TOWNS subclass includes Vermont towns and was used as the data source for Vermont.

    Source 9 - NORTHEASTM (Northeastern United States Political Boundary Master) (source 9 of 12)
    State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection (da, U.S. Geological Survey, National Mapping Program (data compiler), MassGIS (data compiler and publisher), Maine Office of Geographic Information Systems (data compiler and publisher), Complex Systems Research Center, University of New Hampshire (data compiler, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (data compiler and publisher), State of New York (data compiler and publisher), Rhode Island Geograrhic Information System (data compiler and publisher), and Vermont Center for Geograrhic Information (data compiler and publisher), 2006, Northeastern United States Political Boundary Master: State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection, Hartford, Connecticut, USA.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: disc
    Source_Scale_Denominator: 24000
    Source_Contribution:
    NORTHEASTM is a 1:24,000-scale, polygon and line feature-based layer that includes state, county, town (municipal), and some village boundary features for the States of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Line features include state, county, town (municipal), and village boundaries (primarily for New York). Polygon features are intended to depict the geographic areas for individual towns (municipalities) so that they can be aggregated up and combined to form county and state polygon features in derived data sets. Data is in ArcInfo coverage format in the Connecticut State Plane Coordinate System of 1983 (NAD 83). Map units are in feet. This information does not depict official state, county and town boundaries established by the respective state and municipal governments.

    Source 10 - NORTHEASTSTAT (Northeastern United States State Boundary) (source 10 of 12)
    State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection (da, U.S. Geological Survey, National Mapping Program (data compiler), MassGIS (data compiler and publisher), Maine Office of Geographic Information Systems (data compiler and publisher), Complex Systems Research Center, University of New Hampshire (data compiler, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (data compiler and publisher), State of New York (data compiler and publisher), Rhode Island Geographic Information System (data compiler and publisher), and Vermont Center for Geographic Information (data compiler and publisher), 2006, Northeastern United States State Boundary: State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection, Hartford, Connecticut, USA.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: disc
    Source_Scale_Denominator: 24000
    Source_Contribution:
    NORTHEASTSTAT is a 1:24,000-scale, polygon and line feature-based layer that includes state boundary features for the States of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Line features include state boundaries. Polygon features are intended to depict the geographic areas and state boundaries for display as background information on a map or in an interactive mapping application. Data is in ArcInfo coverage format in the Connecticut State Plane Coordinate System of 1983 (NAD 83). Map units are in feet. This information does not depict official state boundaries established by the respective state governments.

    Source 11 - Northeast_State_Poly.shp (source 11 of 12)
    State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection (da, U.S. Geological Survey, National Mapping Program (data compiler), MassGIS (data compiler and publisher), Maine Office of Geographic Information Systems (data compiler and publisher), Complex Systems Research Center, University of New Hampshire (data compiler, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (data compiler and publisher), State of New York (data compiler and publisher), Rhode Island Geographic Information System (data compiler and publisher), and Vermont Center for Geographic Information (data compiler and publisher), 20060703, Northeastern United States State Boundary Polygon: State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection, Hartford, Connecticut, USA.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: disc
    Source_Scale_Denominator: 24000
    Source_Contribution:
    Northeast_State_Poly.shp is a 1:24,000-scale polygon feature-based layer that includes state boundary information for the States of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Polygon features are intended to depict the geographic areas for individual states. Northeast_State_Poly.shp is in Shapefile format.

    Source 12 - Northeast_State_Poly (source 12 of 12)
    State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection (da, U.S. Geological Survey, National Mapping Program (data compiler), MassGIS (data compiler and publisher), Maine Office of Geographic Information Systems (data compiler and publisher), Complex Systems Research Center, University of New Hampshire (data compiler, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (data compiler and publisher), State of New York (data compiler and publisher), Rhode Island Geographic Information System (data compiler and publisher), and Vermont Center for Geographic Information (data compiler and publisher), 20060703, Northeastern United States State Boundary Polygon: State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection, Hartford, Connecticut, USA.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: disc
    Source_Scale_Denominator: 24000
    Source_Contribution:
    Northeast_State_Poly is a 1:24,000-scale polygon feature-based layer that includes state boundary information for the States of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Polygon features are intended to depict the geographic areas for individual states. Northeast_State_Poly is in GeoDatabase Feature Class format.

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

    Date: 03-Jul-2006 (process 1 of 5)
    Create NORTHEASTM (Northeast United States Political Boundary Master) - The following steps describe how an ArcInfo Coverage named NORTHEASTM was created using data sources from the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Vermont. All data sources were downloaded directly from State GIS Web sites with the exception of data for the State of New York, which was provided by the GIS Program for Westchester County, New York. Each data source included town (municipal or township) boundary line features compiled at 1:24,000 scale (1 inch = 2,000 feet) with the exception of data from Massachusetts, which was compiled at 1:25,000 scale. Enclosing town polygon features along the shoreline, coastline features were connected to town boundary line features in each state data source. 1. Convert Data Sources to Connecticut State Coordinate System - All data sources were converted to ArcInfo Coverage format, if necessary. Each state data source was subsequently projected to the Connecticut State Plane Coordinate System, North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83), with map units set to feet. Following the projection, polygon and line ArcInfo Coverage feature topology was created for each state data source using the ArcInfo BUILD command. When necessary to successfully complete the ArcInfo Coverage BUILD process, the ArcInfo CLEAN command was used with DANGLE and FUZZY tolerances of 10 and 4 feet, respectively. 2. Edit Geometry of State Data Source Line Features - Line features from each state data source were copied to a separate ArcInfo Coverage for each state. Line feature geometry in each line feature state data source was visually inspected and political boundary line features extending into the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island Sound, and Gulf of Maine were deleted. Coastline features that enclosed towns along the coast and offshore islands were retained. The compiler observed inconsistencies between the individual state data sources relative to the inclusion of small coastal islands and the extent to which the coastline was defined by the (upstream) shorelines of small double line streams that flow into coastal waters. Some states included all islands along the coast or incorporated a hydrography-based shoreline that continued further upstream than in other states. These unique characteristics were preserved in each state data source with the exception of portions of the New York and Rhode Island shoreline data adjacent to Connecticut that were replaced with more accurate and complete line feature geometry from Connecticut. Otherwise, the compiler did not re-digitize or redefine coastline or island shoreline features in order to add all missing island features or apply a consistent shoreline definition across all states, for example. Each line feature data source was further visually inspected and, where necessary, feature overshoots, undershoots, and duplicates were corrected in order to ensure that all line features would properly connect to form town polygon feature boundaries in a step 8. These polygons would form land-based town areas and islands along the coast that are parts to these towns. 3. Edit Attributes of State Data Source Line Features - An attribute named DATA_SRC was added (and populated with values of "CT", "ME", "MA", "NJ", "NY", "RI", and "VT") to all features in each line feature state data source in order to retain the source of the geometry of each line feature once all state data sources combined in step 8. All other line feature attributes were deleted in each state data source. Once all state data sources are combined in step 8, a consistent attribution of state, county and town boundaries is later established in step 9. 4. Edit Geometry of State Data Source Label Points - Polygon label point features from each state data source were copied to a separate ArcInfo Coverage for each state. In each label point state data source, the location of label points was visually compared to the line features in the corresponding line feature state data source produced in step 2. Any label point that was not located inside a set of enclosing line features (to be used to form town polygon features) was deleted. These label points will be used to attribute the polygon features in step 8. In general, label points were deleted from the Connecticut and Maine data sources where political boundary line features extending into coastal waters were deleted in step 2. These label points were removed because they described areas of water associated with individual towns along the coast. Label points inside the shorelines of coastal islands were retained. Other visual checks were performed to ensure that only one label point was located within each set of enclosing line features, including islands along the coast. Each label point included town and county information as attributed by the individual state. 5. Edit Attributes of State Data Source Label Points - An attribute named STATE_COD was added (and populated with values of "CT", "ME", "MA", "NJ", "NY", "RI", and "VT") to each label point state data source in order to distinguish between States once all state data sources are combined in step 8. All label point state data sources included attributes corresponding to town (or village) numbers and town names. The compiler considered attributing the town polygon features using the FIPS55 codes available at <http://geonames.usgs.gov/>, but FIPS55 code values could not be easily matched to the town numbers and names in all of the state data sources so this idea was dropped. Consequently, the compiler established an alternative approach to encoding town and county designations by mapping (transferring) original attribute values included with individual state data sources to a set of common data fields. The compiler added the following common fields to each label point state data source: CNTY_FIELD, CNTY_COD, CNTY_NAME, TOWN_FIELD, TOWN_COD, and TOWN_NAME. These attributes record the field names and values used by the different states for attributing counties and towns. They establish a cross reference back to the attribution in the original data sources. For example, The TOWN_FIELD stores the name of the field used by the state to encode a town, municipality or township number. So for Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, New Hampshire, and Vermont, this field is populated with the following strings: "TOWN_NO", "GEOCODENUM", "TOWN-ID", "FIPS", "KEY", "SWIS", "OSP", and "FIPS6". The TOWN_COD field was subsequently populated with the numeric values stored in these fields. And the TOWN_NAME attribute was populated from text values stored in the field used by the state to encode a town, municipality or township name. For example, the attributes for the label point for the town of Andover, Connecticut are STATE_COD="CT", TOWN_FIELD="TOWN_NO", TOWN_COD=1, and TOWN_NAME="Andover"; attributes for the town of Ansonia, Connecticut are STATE_COD="CT", TOWN_FIELD="TOWN_NO", TOWN_COD=2, and TOWN_NAME="Ansonia"; attributes for the town of Abington, Massachusetts are STATE_COD="MA", TOWN_FIELD="TOWN-ID", TOWN_COD=1, and TOWN_NAME="Abington"; attributes for the town of Barrington, Rhode Island are STATE_COD="RI", TOWN_FIELD="OSP", TOWN_COD=1, and TOWN_NAME="Barrington"; and so on. CNTY_FIELD, CNTY_COD, and CNTY_NAME attributes were similarly populated. The VILLAGE attribute was added to preserve the names of villages and borough features included with data from New York. Once these state, county and town attribute values were transferred to the set of common fields, all other attributes in each label point state data source were deleted, resulting in an identical attribute schema for all label point state data sources. 6. Append Line Feature State Data Sources - Depending on the individual state, town boundary feature geometry was either based on 1:24,000-Scale Digital Line Graphs (DLG) and Quadrangle Map files from the USGS or digitized by states from either stable-base Mylar or unstable paper copies of USGS 1:24,000-scale (or 1:25,000-scale) Topographic Quadrangle maps. Consequently, line feature spatial accuracy varies from state to state and does always closely match along state boundaries. In order to append line feature data from seven states together, it was necessary to establish rules for determining which state boundary to use. First, all data would be matched to Connecticut for two reasons - (1) it is based on 1:24,000-scale DLG data from the USGS, the best digital data source for 1:24,000-scale political boundaries, and (2) Connecticut DEP desired a regional data that with boundary information for Connecticut that was consistent with information currently in use. It was also decided that the state boundary line geometry between all other state boundaries was to be based on a complete set of line features from the most accurate state data source. The state boundaries to preserve (i.e. match or snap to) were decided upon after reviewing the data source metadata and visually comparing state data source line feature geometry along state boundaries and choosing the more accurate line work. Beginning with a copy of the data from Connecticut, individual line feature data state data sources were appended (loaded) one at time and matched to the adjacent state according to the following feature matching rules - Massachusetts was matched to Connecticut, Massachusetts was matched to Rhode Island, Massachusetts was matched to New Hampshire, Massachusetts was matched to New York, New Hampshire was matched to Maine, New York was matched to Connecticut, New York was matched to New Jersey, Rhode Island was matched to Connecticut, Vermont was matched to Massachusetts, Vermont was matched to New York, and Vermont was matched to New Hampshire. For example, when Massachusetts was matched to Connecticut, all line features from the Connecticut data source were preserved, line features from the Massachusetts data source defining the CT-MA state boundary were deleted, and all (dangling and overshooting) municipal boundary line features from the Massachusetts data source extending towards Connecticut were connected to CT-MA state boundary line features from the Connecticut data source. Note, symbolizing line features on the DATA_SRC attribute visually depicts the results of matching the seven state data sources together. Once all line feature state data sources were loaded into a single ArcInfo Coverage, they were ready to form town polygon feature boundaries for the entire region in step 8. 7. Append Label Point Feature State Data Sources - All label point state data sources were appended into a single ArcInfo, ready to be used for attributing town polygon features for the entire region in step 8. 8. Combine Data Source Line and Label Point Features - Line features and label points in the two ArcInfo Coverages created in steps 6 and 7 were combined into a third ArcInfo Coverage. ArcInfo Coverage polygon and line feature topology was established using the ArcInfo CLEAN command with DANGLE and FUZZY tolerances of 10 and 4 feet, respectively. This process generated polygon features from the line features and attributed each polygon with information from the (one) label point feature located inside each polygon. For cartographic purposes, an additional attribute named LAND_CLASS was added to polygon features and populated with values of either "Land" or "Water" to distinguish between areas of land and water both on and offshore. Note, some state data sources included a few miscellaneous polygon features representing lakes, ponds, bays and coves. An additional polygon feature was manually added (digitized) to depict a large area of water off the coast of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island. For map labeling purposes, an attribute named LABEL_FLAG was added to polygon features to flag town polygon features considered large and significant enough in size to be labeled on a map with town names. Polygons designated for labeling were assigned LABEL_FLAG values equal to "True", whereas small island polygons along coast, not typically labeled with town names, were assigned LABEL_FLAG values equal to "False". 9. Attribute Line Features - For cartographic purposes, a line feature attribute named BOUNDARY was added and attributed with values of "State", "County", "Town", "Village", "Shoreline" and "Closure Line" using a combination of polygon and line feature topology relationships and manual editing techniques to populate the field. State and County boundaries were programmatically identified and attributed by comparing the ArcInfo Coverage topological relationships of adjacent polygon attributes. For example, a single line feature between (on the left and right side of the line of) two town poylgon features in different states is encoded as a state boundary line feature. A line feature that is not a state boundary line feature between two town polygon features in different counties is encoded as a county boundary feature, and so on.

    Person who carried out this activity:

    State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection
    c/o Howie Sternberg
    79 Elm Street
    Hartford, Connecticut 06106
    USA

    860-424-3540 (voice)

    Data sources used in this process:
    • Source 1 - TOWN (Connecticut)
    • Source 2 - METWP24_06302005 (Maine)
    • Source 3 - TOWNS.E00 (Massachusetts)
    • Source 4 - PB.E00 (New Hampshire)
    • Source 5 - MUNCOAST.SHP (New Jersey)
    • Source 6 - NYSMUN.E00 (New York)
    • Source 7 - S44BTP88.E00 (Rhode Island)
    • Source 8 - BNDHASH.E00 (Vermont)

    Data sources produced in this process:

    • Source 9 - NORTHEASTM (Northeastern United States Political Boundary Master)

    Date: 03-Jul-2006 (process 2 of 5)
    Create NORTHEASTSTAT (Northeastern United States State Boundary - The automated process for creating (deriving) the Northeastern United States State Boundary layer from the Northeastern United States Political Boundary Master layer is documented in an Arc Macro Language (AML) script named MAKENORTHEASTCOVER.AML for the political and administrative boundary category of data for the State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection. The MAKENORTHEASTCOVER.AML creates the Northeastern United States State Boundary layer by extracting and processing the necessary features from the Northeastern United States Political Boundary Master layer. The following describes the steps undertaken by the automated process to create the NORTHEASTSTAT ArcInfo Coverage. First, the following polygon attributes were deleted from a copy of the NORTHEASTM ArcInfo Coverage so that all remaining attributes only described state-level information: CNTY_FIELD, CNTY_COD, CNTY_NAME, TOWN_FIELD, TOWN_COD, TOWN_NAME, VILLAGE, and UNIQUEID. Second, polygon and line features were merged (dissolved and unsplit) based on similar attribute values using the ArcInfo Dissolve command with the NET option (argument). As a result, previously adjacent (town) polygons were combined to form larger state polygon features. Third, the following polygon feature attributes were added and populated with values for classifying, highlighting and differentiating polygon features in one state differently from all other states: CT_LEGEND, MA_LEGEND, ME_LEGEND, NH_LEGEND, NJ_LEGEND NY_LEGEND, RI_LEGEND, and VT_LEGEND. These attributes were added for cartographic purposes. Fourth, the STATE_NAME field, which stores state names, was added and populated to complement the STATE_COD attribute. Fifth, added the CT_LABEL_Y and CT_LABEL_N polygon attributes in order to easily label Connecticut or all states but Connecticut without using the LABEL_FLAG field to query for the appropriate features to label with MAP_LABEL attribute values, which is a slower technique. The name of the resulting ArcInfo Coverage created by this automated process is NORTHEASTAT.

    Person who carried out this activity:

    State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection
    c/o Howie Sternberg
    79 Elm Street
    Hartford, Connecticut 06106
    USA

    860-424-3540 (voice)

    Data sources used in this process:
    • Source 9 - NORTHEASTM (Northeastern United States Political Boundary Master)

    Data sources produced in this process:

    • Source 10 - NORTHEASTSTAT (Northeastern United States State Boundary)

    Date: 03-Jul-2006 (process 3 of 5)
    Export to Shapefile format - Converted polygon feature data from an ArcInfo coverage named NORTEASTSTAT to a Shapefile named Northeast_State_Poly.shp. Excluded the AREA, PERIMETER, NORTHEASTSTAT#, NORTHEASTSTAT-ID attributes from the Shapefile because their values are only maintained by ArcInfo software with spatial data that is ArcInfo coverage format. Includes all polygon features from the NORTHEASTSTAT ArcInfo Coverage.

    Person who carried out this activity:

    State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protections
    c/o Howie Sternberg
    79 Elm Street
    Hartford, Connecticut 06106
    USA

    860-424-3540 (voice)

    Data sources used in this process:
    • Source 10 - NORTHEASTSTAT (Northeastern United States State Boundary)

    Data sources produced in this process:

    • Source 11 - Northeast_State_Poly.shp

    Date: 03-Jul-2006 (process 4 of 5)
    Converted the source shapefile to ArcSDE GeoDatabase Feature Class format and defined new Feature Class named Northeast_State_Poly in ArcGIS 9.2. Imported the attribute definitions, loaded features and imported metadata from Northeast_State_Poly.shp shapefile. Once the data was loaded into the CT DEP's ARCSDE GeoDatabase, the information becomes available internally to CT DEP. For the purpose of distributing this information to the general public, these data are exported from the DEPs ArcSDE GeoDatabase and converted to shapefile format using the ArcGIS 9.2 CopyFeatures command.

    Spatial Reference Properties for Feature Class: Coordinate System: NAD_1983_StatePlane_Connecticut_FIPS_0600_Feet XY Domain MinX: -1337538.17925; MaxX: 2957429.11075 XY Domain MinY: -772494.257375; MaxY: 3522473.032625 Precision: 500

    Person who carried out this activity:

    State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection
    c/o Howie Sternberg
    79 Elm Street
    Hartford, Connecticut 06106
    USA

    860-424-3540 (voice)

    Data sources used in this process:
    • Source 11 - Northeast_State_Poly.shp

    Data sources produced in this process:

    • ct_vicinity_state_poly.shp

    Date: 21-Sep-2009 (process 5 of 5)
    The shapefile was projected from NAD83 Connecticut State Plane feet to geographic, WGS 84 using transformation 1, in ArcGIS 9.2 with the ArcToolbox - Data Management Tools - Projections and Transformations - Feature - Project tool.

    Person who carried out this activity:

    U.S. Geological Survey
    c/o Katherine McMullen
    Field and Laboratory Technician
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA 02643-1598
    USA

    508-548-8700 x2277 (voice)
    508-457-2310 (FAX)
    kmcmullen@usgs.gov

    Data sources used in this process:
    • ct_vicinity_state_poly.shp

    Data sources produced in this process:

    • ct_vicinity_geo.shp

  3. What similar or related data should the user be aware of?

How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?

  1. How well have the observations been checked?

    All attributes have valid values. These attribute values are directly based on or derived from attribute and or spatial (feature location) information supplied by the respective data sources. This information does not depict official boundaries established by the respective state and municipal governments. It may contain some state boundary line errors for all states.

  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?

    The horizontal positional accuracy of this data is assumed to approximate the United States National Map Accuracy Standards for 1:24,000 scale maps. According to this standard, not more than 10 percent of the locations tested are to be in error by more than 1/50 inch (40 feet) measured on the publication scale of a USGS 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle map. However, while appending the data sources together from the respective states, the compiler noticed variations in feature content definition within each data source (most notably along the coastline) and differences in digitizing quality of features along the boundaries between different states where such comparisons could be made. Some state boundaries were not as coincident as expected and some were more smoothly digitized than others, reflecting differences in their data sources and automation procedures. For example, some states based town boundary information on 1:24,000-Scale Digital Line Graphs and Quadrangle Map files from the USGS and others digitized this information directly from unstable paper copies of USGS 1:24,000-scale Topographic quadrangle maps.

  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

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

    This map layer includes boundaries for Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island. Data completeness reflected by the content of the original data sources.

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

    Polygon features conform to the following topological rules. Polygons are single part. There are no duplicate polygons. Polygons do not self overlap. Polygons do not overlap other polygons. Polygons are bound by lines. Line features conform to the following topological rules. Lines are single part. There are no duplicate lines. Lines do not self overlap. Lines do not overlap other lines. Lines intersect only at nodes, and nodes anchor the ends of all lines. Lines do not overshoot or undershoot other lines they are supposed to meet and intersect. The tests of logical consistency were performed by the State of Connecticut using ESRI ArcInfo software to maintain feature topology in ArcInfo coverage format. The data is topologically clean. The ArcInfo Clean function was repeatedly used following edits to verify topology and enforce a minimum distance between vertices of 4 feet (fuzzy tolerance) and a minimum allowed overshoot length of 10 feet (dangle length).

How can someone get a copy of the data set?

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

Access_Constraints:
None. The data is in the public domain and may be redistributed.
Use_Constraints:
No restrictions or legal prerequisites for using the data. The data is suitable for use at appropriate scale, and is not intended for maps printed at scales greater or more detailed than 1:24,000 (1 inch = 2,000 feet). Although this data set has been used by the State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by the State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection 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 State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection in the use of these data or related materials. The user assumes the entire risk related to the use of these data. Once the data is distributed to the user, modifications made to the data by the user should be noted in the metadata. When printing this data on a map or using it in a software application, analysis, or report, please acknowledge the State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection as the data publisher. For example, include the following data source description when printing this layer on a map: Political Boundaries - From the Northeastern United States State Boundary layer, published by CT DEP. Source map scale is 1:24,000.

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

    State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection
    c/o Howie Sternberg
    79 Elm Street
    Hartford, CT 06106-5127
    USA

    860-424-3540 (voice)
    860-4244058 (FAX)
    dep.gisdata@po.state.ct.us

    Hours_of_Service: Monday to Friday, 08:30 to 16:30 Eastern Standard Time
  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?

    Downloadable Data of the Connecticut and Vicinity State Boundary

  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

    Neither the U.S. Government, the Department of the Interior, nor the USGS, NOAA, nor the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (CT DEP), nor any of their employees, contractors, or subcontractors, make any warranty, express or implied, nor assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, nor represent that its use would not infringe on privately owned rights. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by the USGS or CT DEP in the use of these data or related materials. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

  4. How can I download or order the data?

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

    The information is in ESRI shapefile format. The user must have a geographic information sytem (GIS) application to capable of importing the information. The user must have software capable of uncompressing archived zip files.

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 19-Oct-2010
Metadata author:
U.S. Geological Survey
c/o Larry Poppe
Geologist
384 Woods Hole Road
Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598
USA

508-548-8700 x2314 (voice)
508-457-2310 (FAX)
lpoppe@usgs.gov

Hours_of_Service: Monday to Friday, 08:30 to 16:30 Eastern Standard Time
Metadata standard:
FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)
Metadata extensions used:

Generated by mp version 2.8.25 on Tue Oct 19 10:58:56 2010