Data Management Plan

This data set contains vector polygons depicting boundaries for the Army Corp of Engineers, Coast Guard, county, EPA, FEMA, tribal lands and state waters; vector points are used to depict locations of Coast Guard installations in South Carolina.

As a whole, the ESI data characterize the marine and coastal environments and wildlife by their sensitivity to spilled oil, and include information for three main components: shoreline habitats, sensitive biological resources, and human-use resources. The entirety of the South Carolina ESI Human-Use data layers consists of: PARKS-MANAGED AREAS Polygons, Points; NAVIGATION-MARINE Polygons, Points, Lines; POLITICAL-JURISDICTIONAL Polygons, Points; RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Polygons, Points; SOCECON Polygons, Points, Lines; and NATURAL HAZARD Polygons.

This reflects the extent of all land and water features included in the overall South Carolina ESI study region. The bounding box for this particular feature class may vary depending on occurrences identified and mapped.

Process Steps:

• 2015-08-01 00:00:00 - The following applies to all data mapped in the SOCECON feature dataset. The mapping extent was dependent upon information availability and location of mapped coastal habitats and shorelines. The main sources of data used to depict human-use resources for this data layer were digital data sets provided by the following agencies: NOAA's Office of Coast Survey (OCS), South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control's (SCDHEC) Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR), NOAA's Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) Emergency Response Division (ERD), U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Logistics Geospatial Integration Center, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), National Park Service (NPS), Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI), Research Planning, Inc. (RPI), NOAA's Tides and Currents, NOAA's National Coastal Data Development Center (NCDDC), NOAA's Chemical Impacts Team (CIT), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Navigation Data Center, NOAA's Office for Coastal Management (OCM), and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Abandoned vessel data comes from NOAA's Office of Coast Survey Automated Wrecks and Obstructions Information System (AWOIS). Known access locations were compiled by South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control's (SCDHEC) Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management. Airport, heliport, port, and lock and dam points were acquired from USDOT's National Transportation Atlas Database. SCDNR provided data for artificial reefs and boat ramps. Beach locations were compiled from NOAA OR&R. Coast Guard unit locations were acquired from the USCG Logistics Geospatial Integration Center. USEPA Facility (EPAF) locations represent facilities that maintain a risk management plan describing its hazards and prevention activities as required by the EPA Risk Management Plan Rule (RMP), facilities that manufacture, process, or use certain chemicals in amounts above established levels regulated by the EPA Toxic Release Inventory System (TRIS) program, facilities with permits from the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), and facilities that the EPA has identified and monitors for storing certain quantities of oil (OIL). The data were provided by the USEPA to NOAA's Emergency Response Division. Historic sites were depicted from sites in the NPS National Register of Historic Places. Marina and water intake data were provided by SCDHEC. National Guard locations were acquired from ESRI. Office for Coastal Management provided data for renewable energy. Repeated measurement site (RMS) locations for marine observation sites and tide gauges were obtained through NOAA's National Data Buoy Center (NDBC), and the Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS). Mussel Watch program RMS locations were obtained from the NOAA Chemical Impacts Team. River mile markers were acquired from U.S. Army Corps of Engineer (USACE) Navigation Data Center. Washover locations are represented by points that were generated by Research Planning, Inc. at a scale of 1:8,000. (A washover, or washover fan, is a relatively flat surface on the top of a barrier spit complex that slopes gently landward. It is usually created when water forced landward by breaking waves flows across the top of the barrier spit during high spring tides or storms. This process creates a flattened-off surface along which sand is transported across the top of the spit into the standing water (lagoon) or marsh landward of the spit. The resulting deposit usually has a fan-like shape.) Waste Disposal Sites were generated from Ocean Disposal Site areas to point features.
• 2015-08-01 00:00:00 - The above digital and/or hardcopy sources were compiled by the project biologist to create the feature classes in the SOCECON feature dataset. Depending on the type of source data, three general approaches are used for compiling the data layer: 1) information gathered during initial interviews and from hardcopy sources are compiled onto U.S. Geological Survey 1:24,000 topographic quadrangles and digitized; 2) hardcopy maps are digitized at their source scale; 3) digital data layers are evaluated and used "as is" or integrated with the hardcopy data sources. See the Lineage section for additional information on the type of source data for this data layer. The ESI, biology, and human-use data are compiled into the standard ESI digital data format. A second set of interviews with participating resource experts are conducted to review the compiled data. If necessary, edits to the SOCECONPT data layer are made based on the recommendations of the resource experts, and final hardcopy maps and digital data are created.

Data can be accessed by downloading the zipped ArcGIS geodatabase from the Download URL (see Distribution Information). Questions can be directed to the ESI Program Manager (Point Of Contact).