USGS:Biology Biological Informatics Program Vegetation Characterization Program Lacreek National Wildlife Refuge Boundary FAQ Metadata

Boundary 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?
• 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?

Title:

Approved Acquisition Boundary for Lacreek National Wildlife Refuge

Abstract:

An approved acquisition (AA) boundary delineates the area that has been approved (by executive order, decision document, Migratory Bird Conservation Commission approval, etc.) to be included in a National Wildlife Refuge. Approval does not necessarily indicate that the entire area inside this boundary has been (or ever will be) acquired by the Service. The AA boundary also includes Refuge land interests currently held by the Service (e.g., fee, easements, leases, etc.). Data used to locate this boundary was obtained from the Service Realty program.

Supplemental_Information: NA

1. How should this data set be cited?

   U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (S, Refuges & Wildlife, Region 6, Division , 200403, Approved Acquisition Boundary for Lacreek National Wildlife Refuge.

   Online Links:

   • <http://biology.usgs.gov/npsveg/lacr/index.html#geospatial_veg_info>

2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

   West_Bounding_Coordinate: -101.702

   East_Bounding_Coordinate: -101.513

   North_Bounding_Coordinate: 43.177

   South_Bounding_Coordinate: 43.046

   Description_of_Geographic_Extent: LaCreek National Wildlife Refuge and environs

3. What does it look like?

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

   Calendar_Date: Mar-2004

   Currentness_Reference: Research of Region 6 Realty files

5. What is the general form of this data set?

   Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: Map

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.

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

      Grid_Coordinate_System_Name: Universal Transverse Mercator

      Universal_Transverse_Mercator:

      UTM_Zone_Number: 14

      Transverse_Mercator:

      Scale_Factor_at_Central_Meridian: .9996

      Longitude_of_Central_Meridian: -99

      Latitude_of_Projection_Origin: 0

      False_Easting: 500000

      False_Northing: 0

      Planar coordinates are encoded using coordinate pair
      Abscissae (x-coordinates) are specified to the nearest .001
      Ordinates (y-coordinates) are specified to the nearest .001
      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.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.257.
      

7. How does the data set describe geographic features?

   Entity_and_Attribute_Overview: USFWS National Wildlife Refuge Boundary

   Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation:

   An approved acquisition boundary as it applies to Region 6 and to the digital legislative boundary set forth in 97-01, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Lands Boundary Data Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) is defined as an area that is approved for acquisition into a National Wildlife Refuge; it may also include lands that have been acquired by fee, lease, certain types of easements, agreement, and permit, etc.. See SOP under "Labeling Files and Geographic Features - Legislative Boundary" (in process 1) for information on arc and polygon items and item values. Polygon items in addition to those referenced in the SOP include: ARC_ACRES (replaces SOP ACREAGE item), REC_ACRES and METHOD (these two items are no longer considered applicable, and therefore are not populated; however, the items are being retained to maintain consistency with coverages created previously that contain these items). There is also an arc- item named METHOD; codes in this item indicate the method of creation of arcs. Arcs coded as "Dig-DRG" were screen-digitized from the DRG; those coded as "c" were created to close gaps made by editing preexisting line work. Un-coded arcs came from HAPET data. If more information is needed regarding the creation of HAPET arcs, the contact number is: (701) 250-4413.

1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)
   • U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (Service), Refuges & Wildlife, Region 6,

2. Who also contributed to the data set?

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

   USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program Coordinator
   U.S. Geological Survey, Center for Biological Informatics, MS 302, Room 8000, Building 810, Denver Federal Center
   Denver, Colorado 80225
   USA
   

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

The intended application of the data is to serve as a spatial reference for other data layers in GIS and mapping applications. It is specifically not intended to be used as a land survey or representation of land for conveyance or tax purposes.

1. From what previous works were the data drawn?

   None (source 1 of 2)

   U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Refuges and Wildlife, Region 6, Divisio, unknown, Various information from Division of Realty.

   Type_of_Source_Media: Paper

   Source_Contribution:

   Used to determine the current location and extent of the approved acquisition boundary. A document summarizing the specific information used to determine the extent of the approved acquisition boundary is on file in Region 6 Realty (document location: Refuges/RE, LA-South Dakota, Lacreek NWR, General file folder).

   DRG (source 2 of 2)

   U.S. Geological Survey, unknown, 7.5 Minute Topographical Quadrangle(s) for the area covering Lacreek National Wildlife Refuge approved acquisition boundary..

   Type_of_Source_Media: Digital Raster Graphics (DRGs)

   Source_Contribution:

   Features on the DRG were screen-digitized to create a portion of the approved acquisition boundary line work.

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

   Date: Mar-2004 (process 1 of 1)

   A copy of the digital Lacreek ownership (fee and less-than-fee) boundary was edited to create this coverage. The user-defined arc and polygon items required by the legislative (approved acquisition) boundary project were added. The polygon labels were edited. Arc and polygon items were populated. The coverage was rebuilt and run through quality control steps.

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

1. How well have the observations been checked?

   Arc and polygon item values are rechecked by data entry staff for omissions and against the original data for accuracy.

2. How accurate are the geographic locations?

   Data are stored in ArcInfo double precision.

3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

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

   Arcs that represent the entire approved acquisition boundary were included. Line work was checked for omissions.

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

   The digital boundary was compared to source material for completeness. Software capabilities were used to ensure arcs have no dangling nodes and intersection errors and to check polygons for label errors.

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

Access_Constraints: None

Use_Constraints:

Refuge boundary data were compiled for resource applications. It is inappropriate to use this data in legal situations, or other applications where spatial error cannot exceed the USGS 7.5' mapping standards. This data is specifically not intended to be used as a land survey or representation of land for conveyance or tax purposes. Approval to acquire land inside the AA boundary does not necessarily indicate that the entire area inside this boundary has been (or ever will be) acquired by the Service.

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

   USGS Center for Biological Informatics
   USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program Coordinator
   United States Geological Survey, Center for Biological Informatics
   Denver, Colorado 80225
   USA
   

   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?

   Digital data were compiled for use in NPS decision making.

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 (i.e., GIF or JPG format files) 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. The related graphics are intended to aid the data user in acquiring relevant data; it is not appropriate 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 NPS server and not indirectly through other sources which may have changed the data in some way. Although these data have been processed successfully on computer systems at the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Park Service, no warranty expressed or implied is made regarding the utility of the data on other systems 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.

4. How can I download or order the data?
   • Availability in digital form:

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

   • Cost to order the data: None

Dates:

Last modified: Mar-2004
Last Reviewed: 06-Nov-2006

Metadata author:

USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program Coordinator
U.S. Geological Survey, Center for Biological Informatics, MS 302,
Room 8000, Building 810, Denver Federal Center
Denver, Colorado 80225
USA

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

Metadata standard:

FGDC-STD-001.1-1999 Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata, 1998 Part 1: Biological Data Profile, 1999 (FGDC-STD-001-1998)

Metadata extensions used:

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