Identification_Information: Citation: Citation_Information: Originator: Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage Publication_Date: 200510 Title: Accuracy Assessment Points for Colonial National Historical Park Vegetation Mapping Project Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector digital data Online_Linkage: http://biology.usgs.gov/npsveg/ftp/vegmapping/colo/coloaa.zip 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 BRD Center for Biological Informatics Contact_Person: USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program Coordinator Contact_Address: Address_Type: mailing and physical address Address: Denver Federal Center, Building 810, Room 8000, MS 302 City: Denver State_or_Province: Colorado Postal_Code: 80225 Contact_Voice_Telephone: (303) 202-4220 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: 20100518 Metadata_Contact: Contact_Information: Contact_Organization_Primary: Contact_Organization: USGS BRD Center for Biological Informatics Contact_Person: USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program Coordinator Contact_Address: Address_Type: mailing and physical address Address: Denver Federal Center, Building 810, Room 8000, MS 302 City: Denver State_or_Province: Colorado Postal_Code: 80225 Contact_Voice_Telephone: (303) 202-4220 Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 303-202-4219 Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: gs-b-npsveg@usgs.gov Metadata_Standard_Name: FGDC Biological Data Profile of the Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata Metadata_Standard_Version: FGDC-STD-001.1-1999 Metadata_Extensions: Online_Linkage: http://www.nbii.gov/portal/server.pt/community/fgdc_metadata/255