Data Management Plan (Deprecated)

This data set contains vector lines and polygons representing the shoreline and coastal habitats of the Aleutian Islands classified according to the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) classification system.This data set comprises a portion of the ESI data for Aleutians East Borough and Aleutians West Coastal Resource Service Area (CRSA). These data identify the marine and coastal environments and wildlife. The ESI data include information for three main components: shoreline habitats, sensitive biological resources, and human-use resources.

Process Steps:

• 2001-11-01 00:00:00 - The intertidal habitats of the Aleutians East Borough were mapped using the ESI shoreline ranking scheme below. A typical ESI survey employs a combination of observational scale. Overflights, existing aerial photos and 1:63,360 topographic maps are examined and parameters such as tidal regime, wave energy, and long-shore sediment transport are assessed. If necessary, modifications to the base shoreline are made at this time. Overflights are flown at altitudes ranging from 300 to 600 ft. and speeds of 80 knots during spring low tides. During a five-hour interval of time centered on the peak low tide, the coast is flown and categorized. Mapping within this time interval ensures proper delineation of tidal flats and allows the maximum amount of the intertidal zone to be exposed and evaluated. ESI classifications are recorded onto 1:63,360 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) maps; small changes in the shoreline, such as inlet positions or new man-made structures, are noted. The final component is the ground verification of the overflight classification. Ideally, examples of each ESI category are surveyed on the ground. The maps compiled in the field are digitized by geographers, and the base shoreline is updated to reflect the observations made during the survey. For the Aleutians East atlas, the ESI shoreline types from the 1980 hardcopy ESI atlases of Bristol Bay and the southern Alaska Peninsula, were digitized and integrated with a newly acquired biological database. Intertidal habitats of the Aleutians West Coastal Resource Service Area (CRSA) were mapped using two systems: (1) the ESI shoreline ranking scheme, and (2) the Coastal Habitats shoreline ranking scheme. The shoreline of Unalaska Island was classified using the ESI ranking system during overflights conducted on 30 June-3 July 2000. In the case of Unalaska, ground-truthing locations included: the north shore of Beaver Inlet near Ugadaga bay; Summer Bay; Iliuliuk Bay; Dutch Harbor; the northern and eastern shores of Amaknak Island, and Captains Bay. The shorelines of all other islands in the Aleutians West CRSA, from Attu to Umnak, were mapped at a scale of 1:250,000 by the same coastal geologist using the more general Coastal Habitat classification system. Overflights of these islands were not conducted, hence the separate mapping scheme. While interest remains high in conducting traditional field-oriented ESI surveys for these islands, budget considerations and logistical factors such as fuel staging, a short field season, habitation, and helicopter availability must be addressed. The mapping done in the Coastal Habitat classification scheme is based on field experience gained in the Unalaska mapping effort, National Imaging and Mapping Agency (NIMA) 1:250,000 topographic maps, USGS bulletin series 1028 (1951-1971) and local expertise. These classifications are not field checked. The categories in the Coastal Habitat scheme are similar to those included in the previous Aleutians West CRSA Resource Inventory atlas. However, the Coastal Habitat scheme improves on the previous work in that individual beaches are mapped as distinct coastal habitats.

Contact NOAA for distribution options (see Distributor). ESI data are processed into multiple formats to make them useful to a wider community of GIS/mapping users. Distribution formats include ARC export, MOSS and Shape files, and MARPLOT map folders. An ArcView ESI project and ESI_Viewer product are also included on the distribution CDs for ease of use of the ESI data. The database files are distributed both in the NOAA standard relational database format (see NOAA Technical Memorandum NOS ORCA 115) and in a simplified desktop flat file format. This metadata document includes information on both of these database formats.;