Sensitivity of Coastal Environments and Wildlife to Spilled Oil: Upper Coast of Texas: INDEX (Index Polygons)

This data set contains vector polygons representing the boundaries of all hardcopy cartographic products produced as part of the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) for the Upper Coast of Texas. This data set comprises a portion of the ESI data for the Upper Coast of Texas. ESI data characterize the marine and coastal environments and wildlife by their sensitivity to spilled oil. The ESI data include information for three main components: shoreline habitats, sensitive biological resources, and human-use resources.

The ESI data were collected, mapped, and digitized to provide environmental data for oil spill planning and response. The Clean Water Act with amendments by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 requires response plans for immediate and effective protection of sensitive resources.

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Prepared by Research Planning, Inc., Columbia, South Carolina for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service, Office of Response and Restoration, Emergency Response Division, Seattle, Washington.

In addition to the geographic data layers, relational attribute or data tables are used to store information in the ESI data structure.(See the Browse_Graphic section for links to entity relationships, which describe the relationships between the attribute tables in the ESI data structure.) This particular geographic data layer (INDEX) does not link to other ESI tables.

A complete description of entity types, attributes, and attribute values for ESI atlases can be found in the NOAA ESI Guidelines (http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/esi_guidelines).

Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by NOAA regarding the utility of the data on any other system, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty. NOAA warrants the delivery of this product in computer-readable format. If problems are encountered in downloading the ESI data or with file corruption, contact NOAA (see Distributor).

These data represent a snapshot in time and temporal changes may have occurred. The data are not intended to include all biological or human-use resources present in an area; they focus on species and resources particularly sensitive to oiling. In the event of a spill, they should be used for a first assessment only. The data providers are the experts with regard to individual resources. They should be contacted to confirm if more current data exist or if in-depth information is needed about a particular resource.

Contact NOAA if you require the ESI data be provided to you on CD/DVD (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 files, Shapefiles, and a file Geodatabase (the recommended format). 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.;

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DO NOT USE MAPS FOR NAVIGATIONAL PURPOSES.

Besides the above warning, there are no use constraints on these data. Note that the ESI database should not be used to the exclusion of other pertinent data or information held by state or federal agencies or other organizations. Likewise, information contained in the database cannot be used in place of consultations with environmental, natural resource, and cultural resource agencies, or in place of field surveys. Recognize that the information contained in the ESI database represents known concentration areas or occurrences of natural, cultural, and human-use resources, but does not necessarily represent the full distribution or range of each species or resource. This is particularly important to recognize when considering potential impacts to protected resources, such as endangered species, wetlands, etc. Acknowledgment of the originators, publishers, contributors, and sources listed would be appreciated in products derived from these data.

The software packages used to develop the atlas are Environmental Systems Research Institute's ARC/INFO(R) (version 10.0) and SQL SERVER(R) (version 2005). The hardware configuration is PCs with Windows Operating System 7.

The Spatial_Data_Organization Information section refers only to the source files in the ARC export format. The following files are included in the data set: benthic.e00, birds.e00, esil.e00, esip.e00, fish.e00, habitats.e00, hydro.e00, index.e00, invert.e00, m_mammal.e00, mgt.e00, nests.e00, reptiles.e00, socecon.e00, and t_mammal.e00. Associated relational and desktop data tables provided in Arc export and text format are bio_lut.e00, biofile.e00, biores.e00, breed.e00, breed_dt.e00, seasonal.e00, soc_dat.e00, soc_lut.e00, sources.e00, species.e00, and status.e00.

A multi-stage error checking process is used to verify both attribute accuracy and logical consistency throughout data production. The process includes a standardized data entry methodology, hardcopy data review by in-house and external resource experts, a final Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) process, and multiple automated logical consistency checks. Quantitative data (such as densities, counts, abundances, or concentrations) provided by resource experts for inclusion in the data set may vary widely in attribute accuracy, depending upon the methodology used to collect and compile such data. For a more detailed evaluation of source data attribute accuracy, contact the sources listed in the Lineage section.

The index polygons in this data layer were generated in ArcInfo from the coordinates of the USGS 1:24,000 topographic map corners. Some small amount of positional error may be present along the arcs forming the boundaries of these polygons, particularly away from the polygon corners. Some boundaries were developed from pre-existing digital and hardcopy sources and reflect the positional accuracy of these original data. See the Lineage and Process_Description sections for more information on the original source data and how these data were integrated or manipulated to create the final data set.

These data represent the boundaries of all hardcopy cartographic products and digital data extents produced as part of the Upper Coast of Texas ESI atlas.

A multi-stage error checking process, described in the above Attribute_Accuracy_Report, is used to verify both attribute accuracy and logical consistency throughout data production. This process includes multiple automated logical consistency checks that test the files for missing or duplicate data, rules for proper coding, GIS topological consistencies (such as dangles, unnecessary nodes, etc.), and SQL SERVER(R) to ARC/INFO(R) consistencies. After the data are delivered to NOAA, they are again subjected to a number of quality and consistency checks.