Coastal Wetlands
Data Set (DS) | Office for Coastal Management (OCM)GUID: gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:50447 | Updated: August 15, 2024 | Published / External
Summary
Short Citation
Office for Coastal Management, 2025: Coastal Wetlands, https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/50447.
Full Citation Examples
This data set represents the extent, approximate location and type of estuarine and marine wetland habitats in the United States and its Territories. These data delineate the areal extent of wetlands and surface waters as defined by Cowardin et al. (1979), which represents a biological definition of wetlands and deepwater habitats. There is no attempt to define the limits of proprietary jurisdiction of any Federal, State, or local government, or to establish the geographical scope of the regulatory programs of government agencies. Some wetland habitats may be under represented or excluded in certain areas because of the limitations of aerial imagery as the primary data source used to detect wetlands. These habitats include seagrasses or submerged aquatic vegetation that are found in the intertidal and subtidal zones of estuaries and near shore coastal waters and also some deepwater reef communities (coral or tuberficid worm reefs). These habitats, because of their depth and water clarity, go undetected by most aerial imagery. By policy, the Service also excludes certain types of "farmed wetlands" as may be defined by the Food Security Act or that do not coincide with the Cowardin et al. definition. Contact the Service's Regional Wetland Coordinator for additional information on what types of farmed wetlands are included on wetland maps. This dataset should be used in conjunction with the Wetlands_Project_Metadata layer, which contains project boundaries, specific wetlands mapping procedures and information on dates, scales and emulsion of imagery used to map the wetlands within specific project boundaries.
Distribution Information
-
Marine Cadastre Data Registry
For coastal and ocean planning
Controlled Theme Keywords
ESTUARINE WETLANDS, MARINE, oceans
Child Items
Type | Title |
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Entity | Coastal Wetlands |
Contact Information
Point of Contact
NOAA Office for Coastal Management (NOAA/OCM)
coastal.info@noaa.gov
(843) 740-1202
https://coast.noaa.gov
Extents
-170.847065° W,
145.830768° E,
71.390922° N,
-14.373719° S
2017-12
Item Identification
Title: | Coastal Wetlands |
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Status: | Completed |
Publication Date: | 2023-07-21 |
Abstract: |
This data set represents the extent, approximate location and type of estuarine and marine wetland habitats in the United States and its Territories. These data delineate the areal extent of wetlands and surface waters as defined by Cowardin et al. (1979), which represents a biological definition of wetlands and deepwater habitats. There is no attempt to define the limits of proprietary jurisdiction of any Federal, State, or local government, or to establish the geographical scope of the regulatory programs of government agencies. Some wetland habitats may be under represented or excluded in certain areas because of the limitations of aerial imagery as the primary data source used to detect wetlands. These habitats include seagrasses or submerged aquatic vegetation that are found in the intertidal and subtidal zones of estuaries and near shore coastal waters and also some deepwater reef communities (coral or tuberficid worm reefs). These habitats, because of their depth and water clarity, go undetected by most aerial imagery. By policy, the Service also excludes certain types of "farmed wetlands" as may be defined by the Food Security Act or that do not coincide with the Cowardin et al. definition. Contact the Service's Regional Wetland Coordinator for additional information on what types of farmed wetlands are included on wetland maps. This dataset should be used in conjunction with the Wetlands_Project_Metadata layer, which contains project boundaries, specific wetlands mapping procedures and information on dates, scales and emulsion of imagery used to map the wetlands within specific project boundaries. |
Purpose: |
To support ocean planning activities pursuant to the Executive Order Regarding the Ocean Policy to Advance the Economic, Security, and Environmental Interests of the United States, the Energy Policy Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Rivers and Harbors Act, and the Coastal Zone Management Act. |
Supplemental Information: |
Bureau Code: 006:48, Program Code: 006:055 |
Keywords
Theme Keywords
Thesaurus | Keyword |
---|---|
Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Science Keywords |
EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOSYSTEMS > AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS > WETLANDS > ESTUARINE WETLANDS
|
Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Science Keywords |
EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOSYSTEMS > AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS > WETLANDS > MARINE
|
ISO 19115 Topic Category |
oceans
|
Spatial Keywords
Thesaurus | Keyword |
---|---|
Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Location Keywords |
CONTINENT > NORTH AMERICA > UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
|
UNCONTROLLED | |
None | Exclusive Economic Zone |
None | Outer Continental Shelf |
None | Territorial Sea |
None | United States of America |
Physical Location
Organization: | Office for Coastal Management |
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City: | Charleston |
State/Province: | SC |
Data Set Information
Data Set Scope Code: | Data Set |
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Maintenance Frequency: | None Planned |
Data Presentation Form: | Map (digital) |
Entity Attribute Overview: |
NWICode, stateName, aquaticSetting, NMWIClass, NWIClass2, NWISubclass, NWISubclass2, NWIWaterRegime, specialModifier, salinityRegime, salinityCode, biotic, bioticCode, substrate, substrateCode |
Distribution Liability: |
https://www.marinecadastre.gov/about/disclaimer.html |
Data Set Credit: | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service |
Support Roles
Point of Contact
Date Effective From: | 2017-11-29 |
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Date Effective To: | |
Contact (Organization): | NOAA Office for Coastal Management (NOAA/OCM) |
Address: |
2234 South Hobson Ave Charleston, SC 29405-2413 |
Email Address: | coastal.info@noaa.gov |
Phone: | (843) 740-1202 |
URL: | https://coast.noaa.gov |
Extents
Currentness Reference: | Publication Date |
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Extent Group 1
Extent Group 1 / Geographic Area 1
W° Bound: | -170.847065 | |
---|---|---|
E° Bound: | 145.830768 | |
N° Bound: | 71.390922 | |
S° Bound: | -14.373719 |
Extent Group 1 / Time Frame 1
Time Frame Type: | Discrete |
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Start: | 2017-12 |
Spatial Information
Spatial Representation
Representations Used
Grid: | No |
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Vector: | Yes |
Text / Table: | No |
TIN: | No |
Stereo Model: | No |
Video: | No |
Reference Systems
Reference System 1
Coordinate Reference System |
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Access Information
Security Class: | Unclassified |
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Data Use Constraints: |
For coastal and ocean planning |
Distribution Information
Distribution 1
Download URL: | https://marinecadastre.gov/downloads/data/mc/CoastalWetland.zip |
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Distributor: | |
Description: |
Marine Cadastre Data Registry |
Data Quality
Accuracy: |
Please see source data documentation |
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Completeness Report: |
Untested |
Conceptual Consistency: |
These data are logically consistent |
Lineage
Sources
Wetlands
Contact Role Type: | Originator |
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Contact Type: | Organization |
Contact Name: | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service |
Publish Date: | 2021-07-02 |
Extent Type: | Discrete |
Extent Start Date/Time: | 2021 |
Citation URL: | https://www.fws.gov/wetlands/ |
Process Steps
Process Step 1
Description: |
Data Download, Preparation, and Filtering Data was downloaded from the NWI (https://www.fws.gov/wetlands/Data/State-Downloads.html) for each state encompassing the coastal United States. Data for a total of 25 states were downloaded. Each File Geodatabase of raw data from NWI inherently contains 4 feature classes including all wetlands data for that state, historical mapping information, metadata documentation as spatial data describing data compilation information for different regions, or projects within a state, and a dataset extent boundary. The NWI feature class containing wetlands data was extracted for each state and reviewed separately for each step of the data preparation process, until final data compilation. A number of the raw datasets contained errors within the spatial index. The spatial index for every dataset was reset as an initial processing step. Coastal wetlands included in this dataset were defined by the NWI classification codes of system Marine (M) and system Estuarine (E). All sub-classifications below these two systems were included. Other systems were excluded from the coastal wetlands dataset. In order to accommodate XY tolerances in meters as part of the geometry review, filtered data was projected to North_America_Albers_Equal_Area_Conic, EPSG 102008. This projection also ensured adherence to the NOAA standard of using GRS_1980. Prepared data was saved in a new File Geodatabase, as a feature dataset by state. Data was stored as such in order to build topology as part of the geometry review. |
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Process Date/Time: | 2021-12-22 00:00:00 |
Process Step 2
Description: |
Geometry Review Topology was built within ArcGIS Pro version 2.8.3 for each state feature dataset separately, in order to identify and repair errors. A series of tests was conducted to determine the optimal topology XY resolution parameter. Generally, this parameter should be no less than 0.001 meters. It was determined that resolutions tested that were greater than 0.1 meters (0.5 meters, 1 meter, 4 meters) significantly altered the data when validated. A resolution of 0.1 meters was found to be optimal for these data and used consistently across all project topologies. Appropriate topologic rules for evaluating a single polygon dataset were applied to all state datasets. These rules were a) features must not overlap, and b) features must not contain gaps. Errors were then evaluated and repaired. All overlaps were removed across all states. A large number of gaps were identified for each state, as any portion of a feature that did not touch another feature was identified as a gap. Non-adjacent features are inherently a valid part of NWI wetlands, and are permitted, however smaller gaps and slivers as errors do also exist. Assessment of gaps was conducted initially to mark the vast majority of the large gaps as exceptions. This allowed smaller, gap errors to be more visible. Gap errors were scanned at a scale of 1:12,000 and fixed where possible. Given the number of errors and the scope of this project, best efforts to resolve gap errors were made, but some remain in the final data compilation. Self-intersecting polygons are another geometry error that was assessed. These are instances where a single polygon intersects itself. Checks for these geometry errors was first conducted using the ESRI Check Geometry and Repair Geometry tools and the ESRI validation rule. The OGC validation rule was evaluated, but not used in all cases, as it requires that no non-linear features exist. Non-linear features do exist in NWI data, and eliminating these features resulted in drastic changes to the raw data, causing additional overlapping polygons, gaps, and slivers. It was determined that conducting Check Geometry with the OGC validation rule resulted in more errors than it resolved, and under the scope of this project additional clean-up to mitigate these created errors was not possible. QGIS software was also used to locate self-intersecting polygons by checking validation. The GEOS option was set to on, and the option to Ignore Ring Self Intersections was not checked. Errors were identified in QGIS, but resolved in ArcGIS Pro. Given the magnitude of the number of these errors best efforts were made to clean up the majority of errors, however some still remain. Finally, the extent of the feature class was reset using the ArcGIS Pro function, RecalculateFeatureClassExtent |
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Process Date/Time: | 2021-12-22 00:00:00 |
Process Step 3
Description: |
Attribution Attribution was based on information in the NWI classification scheme. NWI classifications were also cross-walked with CMECS codes, and these coded domains and descriptions were also included in the attribution. The raw NWI data contains a field titled ATTRIBUTE that defines the NWI classification code. These alphanumeric classification codes correspond to nomenclature, defined by NWI, that best describes a particular wetland habitat. NWI provides a lookup table for each code that defines each portion of the classification code. Attribution was applied to the coastal wetlands dataset that broke out each classification code and described the system, subsystem, class, subclass, and any modifiers including water regime, special modifiers, water chemistry, and soil for each wetland feature. These definitions were derived directly from NWI. Wetland classifications were broadly reviewed, and in some cases suggested edits were provided by NOAA OCM to fix incorrect classifications. A crosswalk of NWI classification codes and CMECS codes was provided by NOAA OCM. This crosswalk was used to define the CMECS biotic definition, biotic code, substrate definition, and substrate code for each wetland feature. |
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Process Date/Time: | 2021-12-22 00:00:00 |
Process Step 4
Description: |
Data Compilation Following geometry review and attribution, projects were merged together based on region. Regions include: the Atlantic coast, the Gulf coast, the Pacific coast, Alaska, and U.S. territories and islands. Data was compiled at these scales instead of the national scale to make viewing and using the data more manageable. Adjacent NWI state datasets overlap each other. Overlapping state datasets share identical features except at the boundaries of the dataset, where features are cut-off at a hard boundary line. For this reason, adjacent state datasets could not simply be merged together, as merged products would contain duplicate and overlapping non-identical features. This overlapping needed to be handled first: Using state dataset extents overlapping data between states was clipped out of neighboring datasets. State datasets were then merged together and it was confirmed that data along the created stitch line met perfectly without overlaps or gaps created. Data between the now adjacent, but not overlapping, state datasets were merged together to create a single polygon spanning both state datasets where applicable. In instances where NWI classifications differed between adjacent polygons, the differentiation between the polygons remained. |
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Process Date/Time: | 2021-12-22 00:00:00 |
Process Step 5
Description: |
Data Integration and Tuning All regions were projected to NAD83 All regions were combined using the ArcGIS Pro function MERGE The estuarine and marine subtidal features were removed Field size settings were reduced to approximate field size values The ArcGIS Pro function REPAIR GEOMETRY with the OGC parameter was executed The ArcGIS Pro functions RECALCULATE FEATURE CLASS EXTENT was executed |
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Process Date/Time: | 2023-07-21 00:00:00 |
Child Items
Rubric scores updated every 15m
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Type | Title |
---|---|---|
Entity | Coastal Wetlands |
Catalog Details
Catalog Item ID: | 50447 |
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GUID: | gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:50447 |
Metadata Record Created By: | Anna Verrill |
Metadata Record Created: | 2017-11-29 15:26+0000 |
Metadata Record Last Modified By: | Daniel Martin |
Metadata Record Last Modified: | 2024-08-15 13:45+0000 |
Metadata Record Published: | 2017-12-07 |
Owner Org: | OCM |
Metadata Publication Status: | Published Externally |
Do Not Publish?: | N |
Metadata Last Review Date: | 2017-12-07 |
Metadata Review Frequency: | 1 Year |
Metadata Next Review Date: | 2018-12-07 |