SIR2012-5290_ACAD_SaltmarshSLR_overview

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What does this data set describe?

Title: SIR2012-5290_ACAD_SaltmarshSLR_overview
Abstract:
In 2010-2012, The USGS investigated salt marshes in and around Acadia National Park (ANP) from Penobscot Bay to the Schoodic Peninsula to map the potential for landward migration of marshes using a static inundation model of a sea-level rise (SLR) scenario of 60 cm (2 ft). These inundation maps will enable resource managers to proactively adapt to sea level rise by identifying and targeting for conservation or further investigation low lying coastal areas adjacent to salt marshes that are not now protected, and to identify risks to infrastructure in the coastal zone. This study mapped static inundation based on digital elevation models derived from light detection and ranging (LiDAR) topographic data collected in October 2010. Land-surveyed control points were used to evaluate the accuracy of the LiDAR data in the study area and yielded a root mean square error (RMSE) of 11.3 cm. An independent accuracy assessment of the LiDAR data specific to salt-marsh land surfaces indicated a RMSE of 13.3 cm and 95-percent confidence bound of +/- 26.0 cm. LiDAR-derived digital elevation models and digital color aerial photography, collected during low tide conditions in 2008 with a pixel resolution of 0.5 meters, were used to identify the highest elevations of each salt marsh surface in the study area. The highest elevation of each marsh was determined, and the 60-cm of sea level rise was applied to that elevation. Inundation contours for +60-cm SLR were produced for 114 salt marshes in the study area. Confidence bounds (95-percent, +/- 26.0 cm) were delineated above and below the +60 cm inundation lines, and artificial structures such as roads and bridges, which may present barriers to salt-marsh migration, were mapped. All inundation lines are stored in a geodatabase for use in a Geographic Information System (GIS).
Supplemental_Information:
Geodatabase product of a U.S. Geological Survey study funded by National Park Service Climate Change Response funding, NPS PMIS # 161531, "Inventory and Protection of Salt Marshes from Risks of Sea Level Rise at Acadia National Park, Maine", 2012.
The database layers are collectively termed "appendix 1" of the USGS SIR report. Database layers included in appendix 1 include: Surveyed benchmarks used in surveying exercise (SIR2012_5290_ACAD_SurveyedBMs); Surveyed marsh points used for quality control for LiDAR data (SIR2012_5290_ACAD_Surveyedmarshpoints); Surveyed elevation reference marks for each surveyed marsh (SIR2012_5290_ACAD_SurveyedERMs); Salt marshes inventoried for this study (SIR2012_5290_ACAD_Saltmarshpolys); Inundation lines for each marsh under 60 cm of sea level rise (SIR2012_5290_ACAD_Inundationlines); Potential barriers to migration of salt marshes (SIR2012_5290_ACAD_Potentialbarriers).
The inundation lines presented are in no way a prediction of whether marsh migration will actually occur, only indications of where land will be inundated and would therefore be available for migration under 60 cm. of sea level rise.
  1. How should this data set be cited?

    U.S. Geological Survey, Maine Water Science Center, Augusta, Maine, 2012, SIR2012-5290_ACAD_SaltmarshSLR_overview: U.S. Geological Survey, Augusta, Maine.

    Online Links:

    This is part of the following larger work.

    Nielsen, Martha G., and Dudley, Robert W., 2012, Estimates of Future Inundation of Salt Marshes in Response to Sea Level Rise in and Around Acadia National Park, Maine: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report SIR 2012-5290, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia.

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details: XX p.

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -68.786498
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -68.002430
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 44.574048
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 44.147056

  3. What does it look like?

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

    Beginning_Date: 2010
    Ending_Date: 2012
    Currentness_Reference: Data are current as of 2012.

  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?

    2. What coordinate system is used to represent geographic features?

      The map projection used is NAD_1983_UTM_Zone_19N.

      Projection parameters:
      Scale_Factor_at_Central_Meridian: 0.9996
      Longitude_of_Central_Meridian: -69.0
      Latitude_of_Projection_Origin: 0.0
      False_Easting: 500000.0
      False_Northing: 0.0

      Planar coordinates are encoded using coordinate pair
      Abscissae (x-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 0.0001
      Ordinates (y-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 0.0001
      Planar coordinates are specified in meters

      The horizontal datum used is D North American 1983.
      The ellipsoid used is GRS 1980.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378137.0.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.257222101.

      Vertical_Coordinate_System_Definition:
      Altitude_System_Definition:
      Altitude_Datum_Name: North_American_Vertical_Datum_1988
      Altitude_Resolution: 1.0
      Altitude_Distance_Units: Meters
      Altitude_Encoding_Method: Attribute values

  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?

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?

    Produced in cooperation with the National Park Service. Funding provided by the National Park Service. LiDAR data for the Northeast funded largely by USGS American Reinvestment and Recovery Act funds, and provided by the Maine Office of GIS. Acknowledgment of the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Park Service would be appreciated in products derived from these data.

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

    Martha G. Nielsen
    U.S. Geological Survey, Maine Water Science Office
    Hydrogist
    196 Whitten Rd.
    Augusta, Maine 04330

    207-622-8201 x116 (voice)
    207-622-8204 (FAX)
    mnielsen@usgs.gov

Why was the data set created?

These GIS layers were developed along with the final report (USGS SIR 2012-5290, Estimates of future inundation of salt marshes in response to sea level rise in and around Acadia National Park, Maine, by Martha Nielsen and Robert Dudley) for the identification of areas adjacent to salt marshes that are expected to be inundated after 60 cm of sea level rise occurs. The layers document the location and extent of the salt marshes, the extent of inundation expected around each marsh (with 95-percent confidence interval lines), potential manmade barriers to marsh migration, and all the surveying data collected as part of the project.

How was the data set created?

  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?

    LiDAR data for the Northeast (source 1 of 8)
    Photo Science, Inc., Unpublished Material, State of Maine (Raster DEM): LIDAR for the North East – ARRA and LiDAR for the North East Part II. (USGS Contract: G10PC00026, ARRA LIDAR Task Order Numbers) USGS Contract: G10PC00026 Task Order Number: G10PD02143 Task Order Numbers: G10PD01027 (ARRA) and G10PD02143 (non-ARRA).

    Other_Citation_Details:
    The LiDAR data were the primary outside source information for the study. The LiDAR data have a grid cell size of 2 m. Individual data tiles are 751x751 grid cells (1.5 km x 1.5 km) in size. As of October 2012, the LiDAR data are still availably only from state GIS offices. Final publication for public download has not been announced.
    The project area required LiDAR to be collected on 2.0 meter GSD or better and processed to meet a bare earth vertical accuracy of 15.0 centimeters RMSEz or better. Raster DEMs were tested by Photo Science for both vertical and horizontal accuracy. All data is seamless from one tile to the next, no gaps or no data areas. The vertical unit of the data file is in decimal meters with 2-decimal point precision. The reported RMSEz was 0.113 m. USGS independently developed a RMSEz for saltmarsh landcover types to be 0.133 m.
    Type_of_Source_Media: External hard drive
    Source_Scale_Denominator: 2400
    Source_Contribution:
    The LiDAR data were the primary outside data used in the study. The main use was to create accurate contours showing areas of upland that would be inundated with 60 cm of sea level rise (SLR) adjacent to saltmarshes in and around Acadia National Park. The USGS conducted an independent accuracy assessment of the elevation data to create 95-percent confidence interval contours on the SLR inundation contours. The data tiles were joined together into larger mosaics, and shaded relief images were created to for visualization of the land surface and to identify location/shape of potential barriers to migration of salt marshes.

    LT 2008 (source 2 of 8)
    of, Maine Office GIS, 2009, Low Tide orthophotos 2008..

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: unknown
    Source_Scale_Denominator: 2400
    Source_Contribution:
    Low-tide orthophotos from 2008 were used to delineate the polygon boundaries of most of the saltmarsh polygons used in the study, by looking at the visible changes in vegetation. They also were used to help identify the potential barriers to migration and to identify the type of barrier (road or railroad grade).

    LT central 2001 (source 3 of 8)
    of, Maine Office GIS, 20090326, Low Tide Central Coast 2001.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: unknown
    Source_Scale_Denominator: 2400
    Source_Contribution:
    The LT central coast 2001 aerial photos were used to help delineate some of the saltmarsh polygon boundaries, particularly on the western-most edge of the study area.

    NAIP 2009 (source 4 of 8)
    USDA-FSA Aerial Photography Field Office, 20091009, NAIP 2009: Maine Office of Geographic Information Systems (MEGIS), Augusta ME.

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details:
    USDA-FSA Aerial Photography Field Office collected the aerial photography data.
    Type_of_Source_Media: unknown
    Source_Scale_Denominator: 40000
    Source_Contribution:
    The NAIP 2009 data were used to help inventory saltmarshes to use in the study and to initially map polgon boundaries for a few of the saltmarshes.

    LT DE 2009 (source 5 of 8)
    of, Maine Office GIS, 20091019, Low Tide Down East 2009.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: unknown
    Source_Scale_Denominator: 3600
    Source_Contribution:
    The LT DE 2009 aerial photos were used to help delineate polygon boundaries for a small number of the saltmarsh polygons used in the study.

    ACAD_Park_Boundary (source 6 of 8)
    Acadia National Park, US National Park Service, 201201, ParkBoundary_Poly_CARTO_201201: U.S. National Park Service, Bar Harbor, ME.

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details:
    NOTE: for official land status information, please contact the NPS Lands Office. This layer is produced, maintained, and used by Acadia National Park for cartographic purposes because it fits well with other local data. It does not represent an official or surveyed boundary and should not be used for land transaction purposes.
    Type_of_Source_Media: vector digital data
    Source_Scale_Denominator: 24000
    Source_Contribution:
    The Acadia National Park Boundary polygons were used to determine ownership or association of the salt marsh polygons and the upland inundated areas.

    Acad Veg (source 7 of 8)
    NPS Vegetation Mapping Program Coordinator, 20031001, Vegetation Spatial Database Coverage for the Acadia National Park Vegetation Mapping Project: U. S. Geological Survey Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, La Crosse, Wisconsin.

    Online Links:

    • https://irma.nps.gov/App/Reference/Profile/1045111

    Other_Citation_Details: Geospatial Dataset-1045111
    Type_of_Source_Media: unknown
    Source_Scale_Denominator: 15840
    Source_Contribution:
    Acadia NP vegetation mapping database was used as the first cut for the location of ACAD salt marshes for inclusion in this project. All the salt marshes identified in the Acad Veg shapefile were checked on higher-resolution aerial photos, and a few were not used because they looked unlikely to be actual salt marshes or were mis-coded on the original source.

    Bing maps imagery (source 8 of 8)
    USGS, 2010, Bing Bird's eye imagery: Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA.

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details:
    Copyright 2010 DigitalGlobe, Image courtesy of USGS Copyright 2012 Microsoft Corporation
    Type_of_Source_Media: online digital image
    Source_Scale_Denominator: 1200
    Source_Contribution:
    The Bing map server was used to fill in detailed aerial photo information in locations where the 2008 Low Tide photos were not available and other Maine aerial photos were not detailed enough to map the boundaries of salt marshes in the study area. Two salt marshes were digitized using the Bing maps imagery.

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

    Date: 2012 (process 1 of 1)
    All process steps for the individual data layers/elements are described in their respective metadata documents.

  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 in the accompanying data layers were checked.

  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?

    The locations are based on very-high resolution aerial photographs and topographic data. Most positions are accurate to within 1.5 meters.

  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

    Where elevations are included in the datasets, the data are accurate to within +/- 26 cm at a 95-percent confidence level.

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

    The data are complete.

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

    Data are internally consistent.

How can someone get a copy of the data set?

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

Access_Constraints: None.
Use_Constraints:
No legal use constraints. Users must assume responsibility in determining the usability of these data for their purposes.

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

    U.S. Geological Survey
    Ask USGS -- Water Webserver Team
    445 National Center
    Reston, VA 20192
    USA

    1-888-275-8747 (1-888-ASK-USGS) (voice)
    <http://water.usgs.gov/user_feedback_form.html>

  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?

    Downloadable Data

  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

    Although these data have been used by the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Department of the Interior, no warranty expressed or implied is made by the U.S. Geological Survey as to the accuracy of the data. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by the U.S. Geological Survey in the use of these data, software, or related materials. The use of firm, trade, or brand names in this report is for identification purposes only and does not constitute endorsement by the U.S. Geological Survey. The names mentioned in this document may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective trademark owners.

  4. How can I download or order the data?

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 20-Dec-2012
Metadata author:
U.S. Geological Survey, New England Water Science Center, Maine Office
Hydrologist
196 Whitten Rd.
Augusta, ME 04330
USA

207-622-8201 (voice)
mnielsen@usgs.gov

Metadata standard:
FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)

Generated by mp version 2.9.20 on Wed Mar 13 14:11:25 2013