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USGS:Biology arrow icon Biological Informatics Program arrow icon Vegetation Characterization Program arrow icon Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site arrow icon Spatial Vegetation Data FAQ Metadata

Spatial Vegetation Data FAQ Metadata

Frequently-anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?

Title: Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site Vegetation Mapping Project - Spatial Vegetation Data
Abstract:
Vegetation map of Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site provides local park-specific names for vegetation types, as well as crosswalks to the National Vegetation Classification System (NVCS), including association, alliance and formation level attributes. Crosswalks to the NVCS were determined on March 7, 2006.
  1. How should this data set be cited?

    Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program, 20061231, alpo_veg_map_association_2006.

    Online Links:

    This is part of the following larger work.

    Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program, 20061231, Vegetation Classification and Mapping at Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site.

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -77.281698
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -77.153808
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 39.858207
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 39.773127
    Description_of_Geographic_Extent: Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site and environs

  3. What does it look like?

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

    Calendar_Date: 31-Dec-2006
    Currentness_Reference: 20061231

  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?

      This is a Vector data set. It contains the following vector data types (SDTS terminology):

      • G-polygon (275)

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

      Grid_Coordinate_System_Name: Universal Transverse Mercator
      Universal_Transverse_Mercator:
      UTM_Zone_Number: 17
      Transverse_Mercator:
      Scale_Factor_at_Central_Meridian: 0.999600
      Longitude_of_Central_Meridian: -75.000000
      Latitude_of_Projection_Origin: 0.000000
      False_Easting: 500000.000000
      False_Northing: 0.000000

      Planar coordinates are encoded using coordinate pair
      Abscissae (x-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 0.000016
      Ordinates (y-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 0.000016
      Planar coordinates are specified in meters

      The horizontal datum used is North American Datum of 1983.
      The ellipsoid used is Geodetic Reference System 80.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378137.000000.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.257222.

  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?

    alpo_veg_map_association_2006
    attribute from shapefile table (Source: Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program)

    FID
    Internal feature number. (Source: ESRI)

    Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.

    Shape
    Feature geometry. (Source: ESRI)

    Coordinates defining the features.

    FORM_NAME
    formation level vegetation type (Source: National Vegetation Classification System)

    National Vegetation Classification System formation-level vegetation type names

    ALLIANCEID
    record number of polygon (Source: Add Record Number script in ArcView 3.2)

    unqiue number for each polygon

    VEG_STRC
    vegetation structure, leaf phenology and hydrologic regime of vegetation in polygon (Source: Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program)

    vegetation structure, leaf phenology and hydrologic regime of vegetation in polygon

    FORM_CODE
    code for formation level vegetation type (Source: National Vegetation Classification System)

    National Vegetation Classification System code for formation-level vegetation types

    LOCAL_NAME
    local park-specific name for vegetation type (Source: Fike 1999, Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program, National Vegetation Classification System)

    park-specific local names for vegetation association

    ALLIA_CODE
    code for alliance-level vegetation type (Source: National Vegetation Classification System)

    National Vegetation Classification System code for alliance-level vegetation types

    ASSOC_SCI
    scientific name for vegetation association (Source: National Vegetation Classification System)

    National Vegetation Classification System scientific name for vegetation associations

    ASSOC_ENG
    English name for vegetation association (Source: National Vegetation Classification System)

    National Vegetation Classification System English name for vegetation associations

    ASSOC_CODE
    code for vegetation association (Source: National Vegetation Classification System)

    National Vegetation Classification System CEGL code for vegetation associations

    ALLIAN_SCI
    Scientific name for vegetation alliance (Source: National Vegetation Classification System)

    National Vegetation Classification System scientific name for vegetation alliance

    ALLIAN_ENG
    English name for vegetation alliance (Source: National Vegetation Classification System)

    National Vegetation Classification System English name for vegetation alliance

  8. What biological taxa does this data set concern?

    Taxonomy:
    Keywords/Taxon:
    Taxonomic_Keyword_Thesaurus: none
    Taxonomic_Keywords: Standardized National Vegetation Classification System
    Taxonomic_Keywords: vegetation classification
    Taxonomic_Keywords: alliance
    Taxonomic_Keywords: community association
    Taxonomic_Classification:
    Taxon_Rank_Name: Kingdom
    Taxon_Rank_Value: Plantae

Who produced the data set?

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

    • Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program

  2. Who also contributed to the data set?

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

    Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program
    Ecologist
    208 Airport Drive
    Middletown, Pennsylvania 10755
    USA

    (717) 948-3962 (voice)
    (717) 948-3957 (FAX)

Why was the data set created?

To provide an up-to-date digital geospatial vegetation database containing base line information about the park's vegetation associations to the park's resource managers in order to ensure effective, long-term management of the natural resources held in trust.

How was the data set created?

  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?

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

    Date: 31-Dec-2006 (process 1 of 1)
    A general cover-type vegetation map was delineated from interpretation of the 2003 digital aerial photo mosaic. Seventy-seven vegetation plots were sampled in the park. These data were analyzed to determine the number and distribution of vegetation associations present in the park. The vegetation cover type map was then revised and attributed with the association names. One hundred thirty-four thematic accuracy assessment points were randomly placed within the association map, following a stratified random sampling plan. Based on the accuracy assessment data the association map was revised further.

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

    Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program, 20061231, Vegetation Community Classification and Mapping at Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site.

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

  1. How well have the observations been checked?

    The Kappa index for the vegetation association map was 68.7% +/- 6.9%, with the overall percent accuracy calculated as 72.4%.

  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?

  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

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

    Shapefile covers entire park area.

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

    Check Topology script was run on shapefile in ArcView 3.2. No silvers or gaps were found.

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: none

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

    USGS/CSS/Core Science Analytics and Synthesis
    c/o USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program Coordinator
    Denver Federal Center, Building 810, Room 8000, MS 302
    Denver, Colorado 80225

    (303) 202-4220 (voice)
    303-202-4219 (FAX)
    gs-b-npsveg@usgs.gov

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

    Downloadable Data

  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

    The U.S. Geological Survey and the National Park Service shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of the data described and/or contained herein. These data and related graphics (if available) are not legal documents and are not intended to be used as such.

    The information contained in these data is dynamic and may change over time. The data are not better than the original sources from which they were derived. It is the responsibility of the data user to use the data appropriately and consistent within the limitations of geospatial data in general and these data in particular. Any related graphics (if available) are intended to aid the data user in acquiring relevant data; it is not approriate to use the related graphics as data.

    The U.S. Geological Survey and the National Park Service gives no warranty, expressed or implied, as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of these data. It is strongly recommended that these data are directly acquired from an U.S. Geological Survey and National Park Service servers and not indirectly through other sources which may have changed the data in some way. 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 utility of the data on another system or for general or scientific purposes, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty. This disclaimer applies both to individual use of the data and aggregate use with other data. It is also strongly recommended that careful attention be paid to the contents of the metadata file associated with these data. Mention of trade names or commercial products in this metadata report does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use by the U. S. Department of the Interior, U. S. Geological Survey and National Park Service.

  4. How can I download or order the data?

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 27-Nov-2006
Last Reviewed: 12-May-2010
Metadata author:
USGS/CSS/Core Science Analytics and Synthesis
c/o USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program Coordinator
Denver Federal Center, Building 810, Room 8000, MS 302
Denver, Colorado 80225

(303) 202-4220 (voice)
303-202-4219 (FAX)
gs-b-npsveg@usgs.gov

Metadata standard:
FGDC Biological Data Profile of the Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001.1-1999)
Metadata extensions used:

Generated by mp version 2.9.12 on Wed May 12 06:17:46 2010
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