Accuracy Assessment FAQ Metadata

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Frequently-anticipated questions:

• What does this data set describe?
  1. How should this data set be cited?
  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?
  3. What does it look like?
  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
  5. What is the general form of this data set?
  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?
  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?
  8. What biological taxa does this data set concern?
• Who produced the data set?
  1. Who are the originators of the data set?
  2. Who also contributed to the data set?
  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
• Why was the data set created?
• How was the data set created?
  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?
  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?
  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?
  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?
  5. How consistent are the relationships among the data, including topology?
• How can someone get a copy of the data set?
  1. Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?
  2. Who distributes the data?
  3. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?
  4. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?
  5. How can I download or order the data?
• Who wrote the metadata?

What does this data set describe?

1. How should this data set be cited?

   The Pennsylvania Science Office of The Nature Conservancy, 20050930, jofl_veg_aa_2004.

   Online Links:

   • <http://biology.usgs.gov/npsveg/ftp/vegmapping/jofl/joflaa.zip>

   This is part of the following larger work.

   The Pennsylvania Science Office of The Nature Conservancy, 20050930, Vegetation Classification and Mapping at Johnstown Flood National Memorial.

2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

   West_Bounding_Coordinate: -78.778745

   East_Bounding_Coordinate: -78.767304

   North_Bounding_Coordinate: 40.351453

   South_Bounding_Coordinate: 40.340643

   Description_of_Geographic_Extent: Johnstown Flood National Meorial and environs

3. What does it look like?

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

   Calendar_Date: 30-Sep-2005

   Currentness_Reference: 20050930

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):

      • Entity point (34)

   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: -81.000000

      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 0.000001
      Ordinates (y-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 0.000001
      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?

   jofl_veg_aa_2004

   attributes of 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.

   AA_OBS_ID

   accuracy assessment point number (Source: NPS four letter park code plus unique number)

   NPS four letter park code plus unique number

   UTM_X

   Easting coordinate of site location. (Source: USGS)

   Easting coordinate added using XTools Pro.

   UTM_X

   Northing coordinate of site location. (Source: USGS)

   Northing coordinate added using XTools Pro.

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)
   • The Pennsylvania Science Office of The Nature Conservancy

2. Who also contributed to the data set?

   Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program, Pennsylvania Science Office of The Nature Conservancy, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy

3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
   The Pennsylvania Science Office of The Nature Conservancy
   Ecologist
   208 Airport Drive
   Middletown, Pennsylvania 17055
   USA
   

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

Why was the data set created?

To identify the locations of sampling points used assess the thematic accuracy of the Johnstown Flood National Memorial vegetation association map.

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: 30-Sep-2004 (process 1 of 1)

   The number and distribution of sampling points was determined according to the USGS/NPS Vegetation Mapping protocols. A stratified random sampling approach was used, distributing the sampling effort across the seven vegetation associations. Due to the small size of Johnstown Flood National Memorial and the limited number of polygons, a census of the vegetation map was attempted. Thirty-four of the 36 polygons attributed with vegetation association names were sampled; two polygons that were excluded from sampling to due their small size. In order to randomly determine the location of these sampling points in the polygons, the random number generator function in Microsoft Excel was used to create 600 sets of random x,y coordinates that fell within the boundaries of Johnstown Flood National Memorial. These coordinates were imported into ArcView 3.2 and overlain onto the vegetation map. The first pair of coordinates listed in the table of coordinates to fall within a polygon at least 50 m from the polygon boundary was selected. All other points that fell within that polygon were deleted. This procedure was carried out until all points were assigned. Each accuracy assessment point was then located in the field using a Trimble Geo XM GPS unit during August and September 2004.

   Data sources used in this process:

   • C:\NPS 6 Parks\NPS 6 parks GIS\JOFL GIS\WPC data points\jofl_aa_points.shp.xml

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?

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?

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

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

   ESRI point geometry.

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?
   • Availability in digital form:

     Data format:	HTML
     Network links:	<http://biology.usgs.gov/npsveg/jofl/index.html>

   • Cost to order the data: None

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:

Last modified: 23-Sep-2005
Last Reviewed: 01-Jun-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:

• <http://www.nbii.gov/portal/server.pt/community/fgdc_metadata/255>