USGS:Biology Biological Informatics Program Vegetation Characterization Program Colonial National Historical Park Accuracy Assessment Metadata

Accuracy Assessment Metadata

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Metadata:

• Identification_Information
• Data_Quality_Information
• Spatial_Data_Organization_Information
• Spatial_Reference_Information
• Entity_and_Attribute_Information
• Distribution_Information
• Metadata_Reference_Information

Identification_Information:

Citation:

Citation_Information:

Originator:

Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage

Publication_Date: 200510

Title:

Locations of thematic accuracy assessment sampling points in Colonial National Historical Park

Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector digital data

Online_Linkage: <http://biology.usgs.gov/npsveg/colo/index.html>

Larger_Work_Citation:

Citation_Information:

Originator: Karen Patterson

Publication_Date: 200806

Title:

Patterson, K.D. 2008. Vegetation Classification and Mapping at Colonial National Historical Park, Virginia. Technical Report NPS/NER/NRTR--2008/129. National Park Service. Philadelphia, PA.

Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: document

Description:

Abstract:

This shapefile depicts the locations of thematic accuracy assessment sampling points used in the vegetation mapping of Colonial National Historical Park. It was developed by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage. The data were created following general guidelines set forth by the USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program. Accuracy assessment field work was performed in August through October 2005 by staff of the Virginia Division of Natural Heritage.

Purpose:

This data set was created to identify the locations of sampling points used to assess the thematic accuracy of the Colonial National Historical Park vegetation map.

Time_Period_of_Content:

Time_Period_Information:

Single_Date/Time:

Calendar_Date: 200510

Currentness_Reference: ground condition

Status:

Progress: Complete

Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: None planned

Spatial_Domain:

Description_of_Geographic_Extent: Colonial National Historical Park and environs

Bounding_Coordinates:

West_Bounding_Coordinate: -76.835518

East_Bounding_Coordinate: -76.489147

North_Bounding_Coordinate: 37.285860

South_Bounding_Coordinate: 37.190824

Keywords:

Theme:

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: None

Theme_Keyword: Vegetation map

Theme_Keyword: National Park Service

Theme_Keyword: Thematic accuracy assessment

Theme_Keyword: Vegetation association

Place:

Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: National Park System Unit Name Thesaurus

Place_Keyword: Colonial National Historical Park

Place:

Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: National Park System Unit Code Thesaurus

Place_Keyword: COLO

Place:

Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: Geographic Names Information System

Place_Keyword: James City County, Virginia

Place_Keyword: Surry County, Virginia

Place_Keyword: York, Virginia

Place_Keyword: City of Williamsburg, Virginia

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

Access_Constraints: None

Use_Constraints: None

Point_of_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization:

Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage

Contact_Position: Ecologist

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: mailing and physical

Address: 217 Governor Street

City: Richmond

State_or_Province: Virginia

Postal_Code: 23219

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: 804-786-5990

Native_Data_Set_Environment:

Microsoft Windows XP Version 5.1 (Build 2600) Service Pack 2; ESRI ArcCatalog 9.2.1.1332

Data_Quality_Information:

Logical_Consistency_Report: ESRI point geometry.

Completeness_Report:

Each accuracy assessment point is represented by one point in the shapefile. All points fall within vegetation map polygons.

Lineage:

Process_Step:

Process_Description:

The number and distribution of accuracy assessment sampling points was determined by map class abundance and frequency as recommended in the USGS/NPS Vegetation Mapping protocols (The Nature Conservancy and Environmental Systems Research Institute 1994c), with one regional modification to accomodate the vegetation pattern seen in the park (Patterson 2008). A stratified random sampling approach was used, distributing the sampling effort across polygons representing natural or semi-natural vegetation greater than 0.5 ha. Polygons representing seven Anderson land-use classes were not included in the sample design: Beaches; Industrial and Commercial Complexes; Mixed Urban or Built-up Land; Other Urban or Built-up Land; Residential; Transportation, Communications, and Utilities; and Water. Four classes of cultural vegetation, Cultural Meadow, Dense Hardwood Regeneration, Mixed Successional Scrub, and Semipermanent Impoundment were also excluded from the accuracy assessment. These classes represent very distinct, intensively managed features that were easily delinated from aerial photography or classes with a few, very small polygons that were completely surveyed on-the-ground during the mapping phase of the project. Additionally, five map classes that naturally occur in small patches and were not mapped by photo interpretation, but through chance encounters in the field, were excluded from the sampling design: Coastal Plain Depression Wetland (Red Maple - Sweetgum - Willow Oak Type), Coastal Plain Depression Wetland (Swamp Tupelo Type), Coastal Plain Dry Calcareous Forest, Piedmont / Low Elevation Mixed Oak / Heath Forest, and Successional Sweetgum Forest. These map classes had very few (1-8) polygons and the polygons were mostly below minimum mapping unit (0.5 ha) and were completely surveyed on-the-ground during the mapping phase of the project. Three map classes that were created to indicate vegetation that may have formerly represented natural communities, but is now too altered to assign to a natural community classification, were excluded from the accuracy assessment. The polygons in these classes were mapped only due to chance encounters, were surveyed completely during the mapping phase of the project: Disturbed Calcareous Forest, Disturbed Depressional Wetland, Disturbed Seepage Swamp. One hundred and eighty-three randomly selected accuracy assessment sampling points were generated using the Random Point Generator v. 1.3 (Jenness 2005) in ArcView 3.3. All points were reviewed over topographic maps and aerial photos. Points were reassigned if the randomly selected point fell on a road, outside the park boundary or if there were potential access limitations. In August through October 2005, all 183 accuracy assessment points were located in the field by VADNH staff using a Garmin Map76S WAAS enabled GPS. Field staff determined the map class at the accuracy assessment point using a dichotomous key to the vegetation map classes and detailed vegetation descriptions.

Process_Date: 200510

Spatial_Data_Organization_Information:

Direct_Spatial_Reference_Method: Vector

Point_and_Vector_Object_Information:

SDTS_Terms_Description:

SDTS_Point_and_Vector_Object_Type: Entity point

Point_and_Vector_Object_Count: 183

Spatial_Reference_Information:

Horizontal_Coordinate_System_Definition:

Planar:

Grid_Coordinate_System:

Grid_Coordinate_System_Name: Universal Transverse Mercator

Universal_Transverse_Mercator:

UTM_Zone_Number: 18

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_Coordinate_Information:

Planar_Coordinate_Encoding_Method: coordinate pair

Coordinate_Representation:

Abscissa_Resolution: 0.000064

Ordinate_Resolution: 0.000064

Planar_Distance_Units: meters

Geodetic_Model:

Horizontal_Datum_Name: North American Datum of 1983

Ellipsoid_Name: Geodetic Reference System 80

Semi-major_Axis: 6378137

Denominator_of_Flattening_Ratio: 298.257222

Entity_and_Attribute_Information:

Detailed_Description:

Entity_Type:

Entity_Type_Label: colo_veg_aa_2005

Entity_Type_Definition: attribute table from shapefile

Entity_Type_Definition_Source:

Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: FID

Attribute_Definition: Internal feature number.

Attribute_Definition_Source: ESRI

Attribute_Domain_Values:

Unrepresentable_Domain:

Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Shape

Attribute_Definition: Feature geometry.

Attribute_Definition_Source: ESRI

Attribute_Domain_Values:

Unrepresentable_Domain: Coordinates defining the features.

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: AA_OBS_ID

Attribute_Definition: Accuracy assessment point number

Attribute_Definition_Source: NPS four letter park code plus unique number

Attribute_Domain_Values:

Unrepresentable_Domain: NPS four letter park code plus unique number

Distribution_Information:

Distributor:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization:

USGS Biological Resources Division, Center for Biological Informatics

Contact_Position: USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program Coordinator

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: Physical Address

Address: USGS

Address: Biological Resources Division, CBI

Address: Building 810, Room 8000

City: Denver

State_or_Province: Colorado

Postal_Code: 80225-0046

Country: USA

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: Mailing Address

Address: USGS

Address: Biological Resources Division, CBI

Address: PO BOX 25046, DFC, MS302

City: Denver

State_or_Province: Colorado

Postal_Code: 80225-0046

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: (303) 202-4220

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: (303) 202-4229

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: (303) 202-4219

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: gs-b-npsveg@usgs.gov

Resource_Description: Downloadable Data

Distribution_Liability:

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.

Standard_Order_Process:

Digital_Form:

Digital_Transfer_Information:

Format_Name: HTML

Digital_Transfer_Option:

Online_Option:

Computer_Contact_Information:

Network_Address:

Network_Resource_Name: <http://biology.usgs.gov/npsveg/colo/index.html>

Access_Instructions: Internet Access

Fees: None

Metadata_Reference_Information:

Metadata_Date: 20080408

Metadata_Review_Date: 20090423

Metadata_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization:

USGS Biological Resources Division, Center for Biological Informatics

Contact_Position: USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program Coordinator

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: mailing and physical address

Address: U. S. Geological Survey, Center for Biological Informatics

Address: MS 302, Building 810, Room 8000

Address: Denver Federal Center

City: Denver

State_or_Province: Colorado

Postal_Code: 80225

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: (303) 202-4220

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: (303) 202-4219

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: (303) 202-4229

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: gs-b-npsveg@usgs.gov

Metadata_Standard_Name: FGDC Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata

Metadata_Standard_Version: FGDC-STD-001-1998

Metadata_Time_Convention: local time

Metadata_Extensions:

Online_Linkage:

<http://metadata.nbii.gov/portal/community/Communities/Toolkit/Metadata/FGDC_Metadata/>

Profile_Name: Biological Data Profile FGDC-STD-001.1-1999