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Vegetation Map of the SICS area

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Frequently-anticipated questions:


What does this data set describe?

Title: Vegetation Map of the SICS area
Abstract:
The map shows the 8-class vegetation cover developed from Landsat TM data used for the SICS area.
Supplemental_Information:
The SICS study area is located in the southeast quadrant of Everglades National Park (ENP). It encompasses the interface of the wetlands of the Taylor Slough and southern C-111 canal drainage basins with nearshore tidal embayments of Florida Bay. The study area is bounded on the east by U.S. Highway 1, and C-111 canal and levee; on the north and west by ENP Road (SR27) and Old Ingraham Highway; and on the south by Florida Bay.
  1. How should this data set be cited?

    John W. Jones Virginia Carter (retired); Nancy B. Rybicki; Justin T. Reel; Henry A. Ruhl; David W. Stewart, 199907, Vegetation Map of the SICS area: Third International Symposium on Ecohydraulics Proceedings, International Association for Hydraulic Research, Salt Lake City, UT.

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details:
    The map was published as part of a paper presented at the Third International Symposium on Ecohydraulics, sponsored by the International Association for Hydraulic Research (IAHR), held in Salt Lake City, UT, on July 12-16, 1999.

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -81
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -80.33
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 25.5
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 25

  3. What does it look like?

    <http://time.er.usgs.gov/sics/vegmap.html> (GIF)
    SICS vegetation map

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

    Beginning_Date: 1997
    Ending_Date: 1999
    Currentness_Reference: ground condition

  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?

      Indirect_Spatial_Reference: SICS area
      This is a Raster data set. It contains the following raster data types:
      • Dimensions, type Grid Cell

    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: 0.9996
      Longitude_of_Central_Meridian: -81
      Latitude_of_Projection_Origin: 0
      False_Easting: 500000
      False_Northing: 0

      Planar coordinates are encoded using Row and Column
      Abscissae (x-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 30
      Ordinates (y-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 30
      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:
    Vegetation type is represented by the following colors:

    red - sawgrass dark blue - sawgrass/bunchgrass brown - sawgrass/rush yellow - rush (other) purple - evergreen blue-green - mangrove/water green - mangrove/buttonwood cyan - open water

    Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation: USGS personnel


Who produced the data set?

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

  2. Who also contributed to the data set?

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

    John Jones
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Project chief
    521 National Center
    Reston, VA 20192
    USA

    703 648-5543 (voice)
    703 648-4165 (FAX)
    jwjones@usgs.gov


Why was the data set created?

This map was created specifically for surface-water flow velocity indexing within hydrodynamic models created by the U.S. Geological Survey. Vegetation classes in this map represent mixes of vegetation types that share structural characteristics and ranges of flow resistance as determined through field, laboratory, and hydrodynamic model experiments. Some of these vegetation types are more typically segregated into separate classes. Therefore, the user is cautioned not to treat this map as a standard vegetation classification. This map's characteristics and your requirements should be carefully considered before adopting this map for your particular use. Surface water flow velocity in the wetlands of Taylor Slough, Everglades National Park, is controlled by factors such as water depth, land-surface gradient, wind effects, and the type and density of vegetation. To evaluate the effect of vegetation on this shallow surface-water flow for model development, it is necessary to extrapolate from point measurements of velocity and surface-water slope made concurrently with characterization of vegetation at locations throughout the slough to the entire model area. This map was created solely for the purpose of extrapolating field and laboratory measured vegetation resistances to flow to the area of Taylor Slough/The Everglades National Park being modeled in the Southern Inland Coastal System (SICS) model domain.


How was the data set created?

  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?

    image (source 1 of 1)
    Unknown, 1997, Landsat TM.

    Type_of_Source_Media: remote sensing image
    Source_Contribution:
    The Landsat TM satellite image was used as the basis of the vegetation classification and as the background on which to add ground truth data.

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

    Date: Unknown (process 1 of 1)
    Measurements of flow velocity and surface-water slope were made on four different dates on three west-to-east transects across Taylor Slough. Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates were used to establish the location of sampling points so that measurements could be repeated at the same site as desired. On three of these sampling dates, vegetation, including periphyton, was harvested from 0.5-m 2 quadrats in horizontal layers, either 10 or 20 cm thick, from the bed through the water column to the top of the plants. The plant material was sorted and measured and both plant material and periphyton were oven-dried at 105 deg. C for 12 hours or more to determine biomass of the individual components in grams dry weight per square meter (gdw/m 2 ). Species composition, density, leaf and(or) culm number and size, leaf area index (LAI), and biomass were determined for each layer.

    In addition, total biomass, total biomass minus periphyton biomass, and total LAI were calculated for each individual quadrat. The quadrats were grouped according to species composition and subsequently into density classes based on total biomass minus periphyton: sparse = 0-500 gdw/m 2, medium = 500-1000 gdw/m 2, dense = 1000-2000 gdw/m 2, and very dense = >2000 gdw/m 2.

    A variety of remotely sensed products were available for developing the vegetation cover maps, including 1:12,000-scale color digital orthophoto quadrangles and the color infrared (IR) aerial photographs from which these were made, a 68-class 1993-94 Landsat vegetation cover classification map of southern Florida developed by the former National Biological Service and the University of Florida, and several vegetation maps of parts of the Taylor Slough model area (Rintz and Loope, 1978; Olmsted et al., 1980; Olmsted et al., 1981). In addition, we acquired a set of 1997 Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) images that covered the model area.

    A geographic information system graphical user interface (DBView), which was developed specifically to assimilate and interpret spatial data (Stewart,1997), was used to manipulate and recombine the 68 classes in the south Florida Landsat map into six vegetation cover classes plus water using the color IR photographs, digital orthophoto quadrangles, and vegetation maps for guidance.

    Following a detailed examination of this vegetation map and correlation of the map with ground-truth information, a second vegetation cover map was developed using a January 1997 TM image. The Landsat TM instrument records both reflected (six bands) and emitted (thermal band) energy, respectively, for each ground area sampled. The ground spacing of reflected light measurements is nominally 30 m,while each thermal measurement represents an area 120 m on a side. Typically, the reflected and thermal data are processed separately. However, for this effort, the thermal data were oversampled to the 30-m resolution of the reflected bands. All data points within the resulting 7-band image were statistically grouped into 20 land-cover classes. The result of this process was then geometrically rectified to match the coordinate system used for all other field and remote sensing data collection. Using DBView, vegetation data collected in the field, and field observations, the 20 land-cover classes were further grouped into the seven vegetation classes and one water class.

    Evaluation of these two vegetation cover maps required field trips to many sites within or on the periphery of Taylor Slough, including the area to the east that includes the C-111 canal area criss-crossed by drainage canals and the area to the west along the main park road to Flamingo and the Old Ingraham Highway. A special field reconnaissance was made to northern Florida Bay to check the map classes along the Buttonwood Embankment (Craighead, 1969) and the edges of the tidal embayments where Taylor Slough flows into Florida Bay. In addition, the GPS locations of the samples were plotted directly on the vegetation cover maps using DBView to identify the vegetation class from which each sample came.

    Person who carried out this activity:

    John Jones
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Project chief
    521 National Center
    Reston, VA 20192
    USA

    703 648-5543 (voice)
    703 648-4165 (FAX)
    jwjones@usgs.gov

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

    Carter, Virginia Rybicki, Nancy B.; Reel, Justin, 199907, Classification of Vegetation for Surface-Water Flow Models in Taylor Slough, Everglades National Park: Third International Symposium on Ecohydraulics Proceedings, International Association for Hydraulic Research Association for Hydraulic Research (IAHR), Salt Lake City, UT.

    Online Links:

    Olmsted, I. C. Loope, L. L.; Russell, R. P, 1981, Vegetation of the southern coastal region of Everglades National Park between Flamingo and Joe Bay: Report T-620, National Park Service South Florida Research Center, Florida.

    Olmsted, I. C. Loope, L. L.; Rintz, R. E., 1980, A survey and baseline analysis of aspects of the vegetation of Taylor Slough, Everglades National Park: Report T-586, National Park Service South Florida Research Center, Florida.

    Stewart, D. W., 1997, A GIS interface for environmental systems analysis: application to the south Florida ecosystem: USGS Fact Sheet 193-97, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA.

    Online Links:

    Rintz, R. E. Loope, L. L., 1978, Vegetation map of Taylor Slough, Everglades National Park: National Park Service South Florida Research Center, Florida.

    Craighead, F. C., 1969, Vegetation and recent sedimentation in Everglades National Park: The Florida Naturalist October, Florida Audubon Society, Maitland, FL.


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?

    not applicable

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

    not applicable


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)

    Heather S.Henkel
    U.S. Geological Survey
    600 Fourth St. South
    St. Petersburg, FL 33701
    USA

    727 803-8747 ext 3028 (voice)
    727 803-2030 (FAX)
    hhenkel@usgs.gov

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

    Vegetation map of the SICS area

  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

    No warrantees are implied or explicit for the data

  4. How can I download or order the data?


Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 26-Mar-2007
Metadata author:
Heather Henkel
U.S. Geological Survey
600 Fourth Street South
St. Petersburg, FL 33701
USA

727 803-8747 ext 3028 (voice)
727 803-2030 (FAX)
sofia-metadata@usgs.gov

Metadata standard:
Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)


This page is <http://sofia.usgs.gov/metadata/sflwww/vegmap.faq.html>

U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, Center for Coastal Geology
Comments and suggestions? Contact: Heather Henkel - Webmaster
Generated by mp version 2.8.18 on Mon Apr 02 13:36:47 2007