Land use and land cover of the San Joaquin Valley of California and surrounding areas

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Frequently-anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?

Title:
Land use and land cover of the San Joaquin Valley of California and surrounding areas
Abstract:
Land use and land cover of the San Joaquin Valley of California and surrounding areas.
Supplemental_Information:
This is probably the final draft of verison 1 of the ESRP land cover data. There is a version 2 planned with additional data sources and improved methodology for regular updates.
  1. How should this data set be cited?

    California State University, Stanislaus, Endangered Species Recovery Pro, 2004-07-10, Land use and land cover of the San Joaquin Valley of California and surrounding areas.

    Online Links:

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -122.516853
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -118.429511
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 38.026002
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 34.474789

  3. What does it look like?

    esrplulc.jpg (JPEG)
    Sample image of land use land cover data

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

    Beginning_Date: 1990
    Ending_Date: 2003
    Currentness_Reference: ground condition

  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):

      • G-polygon (34128)

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

      The map projection used is Albers Conical Equal Area.

      Projection parameters:
      Standard_Parallel: 34.000000
      Standard_Parallel: 40.500000
      Longitude_of_Central_Meridian: -120.000000
      False_Easting: 0.000000
      False_Northing: -4000000.000000

      Planar coordinates are encoded using coordinate pair
      Abscissae (x-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 0.001024
      Ordinates (y-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 0.001024
      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?

    lulc200406

    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 in meters square

    PERIMETER
    perimeter in meters

    SRCUSED
    Abbreviated data source or combination of sources. See attribute SOURCE for definitions.

    SRCYEAR
    Year of the source used for attribute values

    NEWCODE
    Land use/land cover code based on a modified version of the 1976 USGS Anderson Level 2 classification system. See attribute DESCRIP for definitions. (Source: A Land Use And Land Cover Classification System For Use With Remote Sensor Data, Anderson et all, 1977 (USGS Geological Survey Professional Paper 964) with additions and modifications by CSUS/ESRP.)

    CONFIDENCE
    Code to indicate the processing steps used to determine attribute values. See attribute NOTES for definitions.

    CLASSITEM
    Level 1 (more generalized) land use/land cover class (Source: A Land Use And Land Cover Classification System For Use With Remote Sensor Data, Anderson et all, 1977 (USGS Geological Survey Professional Paper 964).)

    DESCRIP
    Level 2 land use/land cover classifiation (Source: A Land Use And Land Cover Classification System For Use With Remote Sensor Data, Anderson et all, 1977 (USGS Geological Survey Professional Paper 964) with additions and modifications by CSUS/ESRP.)

    LEGCLASS
    A more generalized land use/land cover classification used for maps.

    SOURCE
    Definitions for the short codes in attribute SRCUSED

    NOTES
    Definitions to the numeric codes used in attribute CONFIDENCE

    Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:
    To normalize the attribute data between sources, we cross-walked their native classification to a common classification based on the USGS Anderson level II classification system (Anderson et al. 1976). This classification system was modified to include classes of interest in the San Joaquin Valley such as retired farmland, idle farmland, desert scrub, and Valley-foothill riparian communities.
    Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation:
    Anderson J.R., E.E. Hardy, J.T. Roach, and R.E. Witmer. 1976. A Land Use And Land Cover Classification System For Use With Remote Sensor Data. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 964. Out of print, but available online at: <http://www.ncrs.fs.fed.us/4153/deltawest/landcover/LLCoverPub.html>

Who produced the data set?

  1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)

  2. Who also contributed to the data set?

    CSU Stanislaus, Endangered Species Recovery Program

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

    CSUS/ESRP
    c/o Scott Phillips
    GIS Analyst

    gis@esrp.csustan.edu

Why was the data set created?

To help assess the availability of suitable habitat for upland species of the San Joaquin Valley

How was the data set created?

  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?

    DWR (source 1 of 8)
    California Department of Water Resources Division of Planning and Local Assistance, 20030601, Land Use Data.

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details:
    We are currently incoprorating some of the more recent data, and some data for additional areas. The following surveys are represented in this edition: 1995 Contra Costa County (95CC) 1995 Madera County (95MA) 1995 Merced County (95ME) 1995 Shasta County (95SH) 1995 Yuba County (95YU) 1996 Kings County (96KG) 1996 San Joaquin County (96SJ) 1996 South Central Coast (96SX) 1996 Stanislaus County (96SS) 1997 Monterey County (97MT) Summer 1997 San Benito County (97ST) 1997 Santa Cruz County (97SZ) 1998 Kern County (98KN) 1999 Butte County (99BU) 1999 Napa County (99NA) 1999 Tulare County (99TU) 2000 Fresno County (00FR) 2002 San Benito County (02ST) 2003 Kings County (03KG)
    Type_of_Source_Media: online
    Source_Scale_Denominator: 24000
    Source_Contribution:
    Primary land use source where available. Primary source for urban and agricultural classification. Primary source to define the boundary of non-urban and non-agricultural lands.

    GAP (source 2 of 8)
    Analysis, California Gap , 19980630, Land-cover for California: Biogeography Lab, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: online
    Source_Scale_Denominator: 100000
    Source_Contribution:
    Provided land cover attribute information for non-agricultural and non-urban lands. Also used as a primary source of land use where no finer resolution or more current data was available.

    NWI (source 3 of 8)
    U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, National Wetlands Inventory, Unknown, National Wetlands Inventory: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, National Wetlands Inventory, St.Petersburg, Florida.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: online
    Source_Scale_Denominator: 24000
    Source_Contribution:
    Used to identify wetland communities in non-agricultural and non-urban areas

    FMMP (source 4 of 8)
    California Department of Conser, Division Of Land Resource Protection, Fa, Unknown, Important Farmland (agricultural land use).

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details:
    Both year 2000 and year 2002 data were used.
    Type_of_Source_Media: online
    Source_Scale_Denominator: 100000
    Source_Contribution:
    To suppliment DWR data on agricultural and urban land use where DWR data is unavailable. Also used to update the extent of urban land use.

    LULC (source 5 of 8)
    Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water/OST, 19980101, GIRAS Landuse/Landcover data for the Conterminous United States by quadrangles at scale 1:250,000.

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details:
    Originally downloaded an EPA FTP site (mountain.epa.gov) which is no longer online. Data appears to be currently available through the EPA BASINS program.
    Type_of_Source_Media: online
    Source_Scale_Denominator: 250000
    Source_Contribution:
    Provided level two classification of urban areas where no other level two source was available. Also used as a supliment to the GAP data which was based on LULC but used a larger minimum mapping unit than was used originally in the LULC data.

    WESTLANDS (source 6 of 8)
    District, Westlands Water , Unknown, Retired Farmland.

    Type_of_Source_Media: electronic mail system
    Source_Scale_Denominator: 100000
    Source_Contribution:
    Used to identify retired farmland in the Westlands Water District

    ETM_iso (source 7 of 8)
    CSU Stanislaus, Endangered Species Recovery Program, 20010101, Landsat 7 ETM+ Isoclass.

    Other_Citation_Details:
    Derived from summer 2000 Landsat ETM+ imagery of the San Joaquin Valley
    Type_of_Source_Media: online
    Source_Scale_Denominator: 100000
    Source_Contribution:
    Used to identify classification errors of communities in the San Joaquin Valley

    i (source 8 of 8)
    CSU Stanislaus, Endangered Species Recovery Program, Unpublished Material, ESRP secondary source interpretation.

    Other_Citation_Details:
    Secondary source abbreviations: USGS - USGS 1:24,000 topographic maps ETM - Landsat summer 2000 ETM+ imagery SPOT - SPOT year 2000 panchromatic imagery sf-fws - Scott Frazier, FWS Kern NWR Field - Field observations or local knowlege of Scott Phillisp, CSUS/ESRP
    Source_Scale_Denominator: 100000
    Source_Contribution:
    Edits based on single or multiple secondary sources including USGS 1:24,000 topographic maps, year 2000 SPOT panchromatic imagery, edits to Kern National Wildlife Refuge provide by Scott Frazier of FWS, year 2000 Landsat ETM+ images, field observations and local knowledge

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

    (process 1 of 10)
    Establish base of developed land use based on re-defined attributes of the DWR data and some FMMP data where DWR data was unavailable. Used GAP and LULC to supliment developed land classes where neither DWR nor FMMP where available.

    Data sources used in this process:

    • DWR
    • FMMP
    • LULC
    • GAP

    (process 2 of 10)
    Cross checked, added to, and refined attribute information for urban areas from basemap established in step 1. This was done using ARC/INFO polygon overlay and topology editing tools (JOIN, ELIMINATE DISSOLVE).

    Data sources used in this process:

    • LULC
    • FMMP
    • GAP

    (process 3 of 10)
    Cross-checked and added to agricultural areas from basemap using more recent FMMP data. This was done using ARC/INFO polygon overlay and topology editing tools (JOIN, ELIMINATE DISSOLVE).

    Data sources used in this process:

    • FMMP

    (process 4 of 10)
    Added land cover classes from the GAP data within areas classified as generic "undeveloped" on our basemap from step 1. These include DWR lands classified as "Native Vegeation" or "Unirrigated Pasture" and FMMP lands classified as "Grazing Lands" or "Other Lands".

    Data sources used in this process:

    • GAP

    (process 5 of 10)
    Edited land cover classes for wetlands from the NWI data within areas classified as generic "undeveloped" on our basemap from step 1. These include DWR lands classified as "Native Vegeation" or "Unirrigated Pasture" and FMMP lands classified as "Grazing Lands" or "Other Lands".

    Data sources used in this process:

    • NWI

    (process 6 of 10)
    We built a mosaic of continuous Landsat ETM+ visible and infrared band data for our project area that was geographically adjusted to our base map.

    Data sources used in this process:

    • ETM_iso

    (process 7 of 10)
    We clipped the Landsat data to only the areas containing non-developed upland communities and classified the masked data to 16 categories using an Iterative Self-Organizing Data Analysis Technique (ISODATA). The two brightest and one darkest categories where converted to a shapefile.

    Data sources used in this process:

    • ETM_iso

    (process 8 of 10)
    We calculated the area of each individual polygon area from the last step. We converted our data to a shapefile and reviewed the data by zooming to each polygon in the reverse order of size. Where we found errors, we manually corrected the error and changed classifications using secondary sources such as the Landsat image, a higher resolution SPOT image, and USGS topographic maps. We stopped reviewing when we got down to an arbitrary polygon size of 85 ha.

    Data sources used in this process:

    • ETM_iso
    • ETM
    • SPOT
    • USGS
    • i

    (process 9 of 10)
    We added a class for retired farmand and used data and maps from Westlands Water District and the U.S. Departmen of Interior Land Retirement Program to reclassify retired farmland in Fresno, Kings, and Tulare counties. This was done through ARC/INFO UNION, ELIMINATE, and DISSOLVE.

    Data sources used in this process:

    • WESTLANDS
    • Field

    (process 10 of 10)
    We updated land use for the area of Kern National Wildlife Refuge with assistance of Scott Frazier of FWS, Kern NWR.

    Data sources used in this process:

    • sf-fws

  3. What similar or related data should the user be aware of?

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 observations, including topology?

    Shapefile converted from ARC/INFO coverage with polygon topology. Minimum mapping unit is 4 ha (about 10 acres).

How can someone get a copy of the data set?

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

Access_Constraints: None
Use_Constraints: None

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

    CSUS/ESRP
    c/o Scott Phillips
    GIS Analyst
    Not given
    Fresno, CA

    Not given (voice)
    gis@esrp.csustan.edu

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

    Downloadable Data

  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

    No warranty, expressed or implied is made by the ESRP regarding the utility of the data, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty. These data are geographic illustrations and do not represent legal boundaries.

  4. How can I download or order the data?

  5. What hardware or software do I need in order to use the data set?

    Software capable of reading ESRI Shapefiles. Specifications for file format are available from: <http://www.esri.com/software/opengis/openpdf.html>. Data may be distributed in Zip compressed format. Softwrae and source code for uncompressing files is available from <http://www.info-zip.org/UnZip.html>.

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 07-Oct-2004
Metadata author:
CSU Stanislaus, Endangered Species Recovery
c/o Scott Phillips
GIS Analyst
Not listed
Fresno, CA 93727
US

not listed (voice)
gis@esrp.csustan.edu

Metadata standard:
FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)
Metadata extensions used:

Generated by mp version 2.8.17 on Thu Oct 07 20:38:44 2004