veg1851_v6

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?
• 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: veg1851_v6

Abstract:

This polygon coverage depicts "presettlement" vegetation in Oregon as described by surveyors for the General Land Office between 1851 and 1909, when surveying township and section lines. Most low-elevation sites with arable land were surveyed between 1851 and 1865, while most foothill and mountainous areas were surveyed between 1865 and 1895. Coverage currently includes the entire Willamette Valley and surrounding foothills, most of the tributary valleys of the McKenzie, Tualatin, and Yamhill rivers. The project, initiated in 1993, has to date been funded by the Oregon Division of State Lands, the Bureau of Land Management, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Bonneville Power Administration, the Oregon Community Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, and the City of Portland. The Principal Investigator is John A. Christy (Oregon Natural Heritage Program, The Nature Conservancy of Oregon), with GIS management by Linda Ashkenas, Paula Minear, and Doug Oetter (Oregon State University).

Supplemental_Information:

Coverage was created at 1:24,000 using databased transcriptions of survey notes for township and section lines, with standard USGS 7.5 topographic maps as a base. When resurveys offered more than one data set for a given line, data from the earliest survey were used whenever possible. Survey data for meander lines deviating from section lines, and for Donation Land Claim boundaries, were not used in this study.

Vegetation types were defined by descriptors used in the survey notes, supplemented when needed by distances to witness trees as recorded in the notes. Coverage was delineated using distances recorded as points along the survey lines. Vegetation in the interiors of sections was delineated using features depicted on the surveyor's township plat maps, historic air photos, modern soil maps, and best professional judgement based on topographic features.

Mylars were digitized by hand early in the project, and later scanned directly into ArcInfo using the ArcScan module. Once in ArcInfo the polygon coverage was built or cleaned with a fuzzy tolerance of 1 meter and polygons were attributed with the veg abbreviation. Edgematching and elimination of sliver polygons was done by hand to avoid losing tiny polygons that were necessary to the coverage (gravel bars, etc.).

Department of Corrections, Division of State Lands, and Oregon State University (Department of Fisheries and Wildlife) have all assisted with digitizing of these topo quads.

The final editing was performed at TNC by John Christy and John Hak. Zipped versions of the shapefiles were transferred to OSU, where Doug Oetter converted them to ARC/INFO vector coverages, and performed subsequent edits.

Version 1 appeared in the Willamette Valley Atlas version 1.

Version 1.1 was completed in January, 1999.

Version 2, which added significant areas to the coverage and separated wet from dry prairie, was completed December, 1999.

Version 3 (January 2000) featured updates to water features and wetlands.

Version 4 (April 2000) edited out unlabled polygons from v.3.

Version 5 (September 2000) added new data from the Sauvie Island area.

Version 6 (June 2002) differs in having (1) all polygons converted from the "stream" layer to the polygon layer, so the stream layer is now just line data, and (2) miscellaneous corrections to veg polygons that won't be obvious.

This coverage has topology, as evidenced by build process, and was cross-checked by GIS technicians at OSU, FSL, and State Corrections. Plots were checked and edited by John Christy, The Nature Conservancy, and Ed Alverson, Oregon Natural Heritage Program.

A section line coverage, prepared by Atterbury & Assoc., was used as the grid for placement of survey notations along section lines. It is available from the Oregon State Service Center for GIS. For proper interpretation of vegetation communities identified in this coverage, refer to the associated Word document, veg1851_v5.doc.

1. How should this data set be cited?

   Stan Gregory, Oregon State University, 20020705, veg1851_v6: Pacific Northwest Ecosystem Research, Corvallis, OR.

   Online Links:

   • <ftp://ftp.fsl.orst.edu/pub/pnwerc/river/veg1851_v6.zip>

   Other_Citation_Details:

   Version 6 replaces Version 5, which was released in Sept. 2000

   This is part of the following larger work.

   Pacific Northwest Ecosystem Research, 20000928.

   Online Links:

   • <http://www.orst.edu/dept/pnw-erc/>

   Other_Citation_Details:

   This coverage was created as part of the research undertaken by the Pacific Northwest Ecosystem Research Consortium (<http://osu.orst.edu/dept/pnw-erc>) funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under cooperative agreement with Oregon State University #CR824682.

2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

   West_Bounding_Coordinate: -123.740569

   East_Bounding_Coordinate: -122.361436

   North_Bounding_Coordinate: 46.040233

   South_Bounding_Coordinate: 43.435445

3. What does it look like?

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

   Calendar_Date: 05-Jul-2002

   Currentness_Reference: publication date

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):

      • Complete chain (32937)
      • Label point (14862)
      • GT-polygon composed of chains (14862)
      • Point (4)

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

      Grid_Coordinate_System_Name: Universal Transverse Mercator

      Universal_Transverse_Mercator:

      UTM_Zone_Number: 10

      Transverse_Mercator:

      Scale_Factor_at_Central_Meridian: 0.999600

      Longitude_of_Central_Meridian: -123.000000

      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 0.000512
      Ordinates (y-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 0.000512
      Planar coordinates are specified in meters

      The horizontal datum used is North American Datum of 1927.
      The ellipsoid used is Clarke 1866.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378206.400000.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/294.978698.
      

7. How does the data set describe geographic features?

   veg1851_v6.aat

   FID

   Internal feature number. (Source: ESRI)

   Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.

   Shape

   Feature geometry. (Source: ESRI)

   Coordinates defining the features.

   FNODE#

   Internal node number for the beginning of an arc (from-node). (Source: ESRI)

   Whole numbers that are automatically generated.

   TNODE#

   Internal node number for the end of an arc (to-node). (Source: ESRI)

   Whole numbers that are automatically generated.

   LPOLY#

   Text description (Source: ESRI)

   Whole numbers that are automatically generated.

   RPOLY#

   Vegetation class label code (Source: ESRI)

   Whole numbers that are automatically generated.

   LENGTH

   Vegetation group label (Source: ESRI)

   Positive real numbers that are automatically generated.

   VEG1851_V6#

   Map symbol code (Source: ESRI)

   Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.

   VEG1851_V6-ID

   User-defined feature number. (Source: ESRI)

   veg1851_v6.pat

   FID

   Internal feature number. (Source: ESRI)

   Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.

   Shape

   Feature geometry. (Source: ESRI)

   Coordinates defining the features.

   AREA

   Area of feature in internal units squared. (Source: ESRI)

   Positive real numbers that are automatically generated.

   PERIMETER

   Perimeter of feature in internal units. (Source: ESRI)

   Positive real numbers that are automatically generated.

   VEG1851_V6#

   Internal feature number. (Source: ESRI)

   Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.

   VEG1851_V6-ID

   User-defined feature number. (Source: ESRI)

   VEGTEXTALL

   VEGABB

   TNC_GROUP

   SYMBOL

   Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:

   Codes have been assigned to designate each unique type of vegetation community, as delineated by VEGABB attribute in the .pat of this coverage. A complete listing and description of each category is included in the related document veg1851_v5.doc. VEGTEXTALL is a text description. The 84 unique VEGABB codes have been collapsed into 10 TNC_GROUP codes. The attribute SYMBOL is a map shading code.

1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)
   • Stan Gregory, Oregon State University

2. Who also contributed to the data set?

   Data should be credited to: John A. Christy, Edward R. Alverson, Molly P. Dougherty and Susan C. Kolar, Oregon Natural Heritage Program, The Nature Conservancy of Oregon. GIS processes should be credited to Oregon State University Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon Department of Corrections, and Oregon Division of State Lands.

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

The coverage was created to identify the types of vegetation present and to quantify their extent at the time of survey. In most cases, Vegetation present at the time of survey is a close approximation of vegetation prior to widespread changes wrought by Euroamerican settlement.

1. From what previous works were the data drawn?

   (source 1 of 1)

   The Nature Conservancy of Oregon Oregon Natural Heritage Program, 20000919, Historic ("Presettlement") Vegetation in Oregon as Recorded by General Land Office Surveyors.: The Nature Conservancy of Oregon, Portland, OR.

   Type_of_Source_Media: online

   Source_Scale_Denominator: unknown

   Source_Contribution:

   The Nature Conservancy of Oregon constructed a pre-settlement land cover map for the Willamette Valley by interpretting the survey notes of the General Land Office taken over a period from 1851-1909.

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

   Date: 05-Jul-2002 (process 1 of 1)

   Coverage was created at 1:24,000 using databased transcriptions of survey notes for township and section lines, with standard USGS 7.5 topographic maps as a base. When resurveys offered more than one data set for a given line, data from the earliest survey were used whenever possible. Survey data for meander lines deviating from section lines, and for Donation Land Claim boundaries, were not used in this study. Vegetation types were defined by descriptors used in the survey notes, supplemented when needed by distances to witness trees as recorded in the notes. Coverage was delineated using distances recorded as points along the survey lines. Vegetation in the interiors of sections was delineated using features depicted on the surveyor's township plat maps, historic air photos, modern soil maps, and best professional judgement based on topographic features. Mylars were digitized by hand early in the project, and later scanned directly into ArcInfo using the ArcScan module. Once in ArcInfo the polygon coverage was built or cleaned with a fuzzy tolerance of 1 meter and polygons were attributed with the veg abbreviation. Edgematching and elimination of sliver polygons was done by hand to avoid losing tiny polygons that were necessary to the coverage (gravel bars, etc.) Department of Corrections, Division of State Lands, and Oregon State University (Department of Fisheries and Wildlife) have all assisted with digitizing of these topo quads. The final editing was performed at TNC by John Christy and John Hak. Zipped versions of the shapefiles were transferred to OSU, where Doug Oetter converted them to ARC/INFO vector coverages, and performed subsequent edits.

   Person who carried out this activity:
   

   Doug Oetter
   Oregon State University
   Faculty Research Assistant
   Dept. of Forest Science
   Oregon State University
   Corvallis, OR 97331
   USA
   

   541-737-8417 (voice)
   541-758-7760 (FAX)
   

1. How well have the observations been checked?

   See related document veg1851_v5.doc

2. How accurate are the geographic locations?

   Unknown.

3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

   Unknown.

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

   Data set is complete.

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

   Polygon topology is present.

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

Access_Constraints:

This coverage will be edited by Nature Conservancy botanists and revised further as mapping proceeds. DO NOT COPY OR CITE THIS VERSION WITHOUT FIRST CONTACTING THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR, JOHN A. CHRISTY [OREGON NATURAL HERITAGE PROGRAM, 503.731.3070 x342].

Use_Constraints:

Data along section lines are generally accurate, although some survey lines were abandoned after subsequent resurveys. Vegetation in the interiors of sections was delineated using secondary sources, and these coverages will not meet current map standards. Surveyors township plat maps, while accurately depicting points along survey lines, provide only sketches of features in the interiors of sections, and do not meet map standards. The same holds true for modern soil maps, which depict approximate boundaries of given soil types, based on limited sampling and interpretation of topography. We estimate map accuracy of position be within 10 meters along section lines, if section corners are the same as at the time of survey, and 100-300 meters in the interiors of sections, depending on topographic features.

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

   Oregon State University
   c/o Doug Oetter
   Faculty Research Assistant
   Dept. of Forest Science
   Oregon State University
   Corvallis, OR 97331
   USA
   

   541-737-8417 (voice)
   541-758-7760 (FAX)
   oetter@fsl.orst.edu
   

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

   VEG1851_V6

3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

   While strong efforts are made to ensure data set accuracy, complete accuracy of every data set cannot be guaranteed.

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

     Data format:	Compressed archived ARC/Info workspace Size: 18.660
     Network links:

   • Cost to order the data: none

Dates:

Last modified: 05-Jul-2002

Metadata author:

Doug Oetter
Oregon State University
Faculty Research Assistant
Dept. of Forest Science
Oregon State University
Corvallis, OR 97331
USA

541-737-8417 (voice)
541-758-7760 (FAX)
oetter@fsl.orst.edu

Metadata standard:

FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)

Metadata extensions used:

• <http://www.esri.com/metadata/esriprof80.html>
• <http://www.esri.com/metadata/esriprof80.html>