Data Management Plan

This data set contains vector polygons depicting locations of critical habitat and essential habitat areas, and vector points depicting locations for aquaculture, artificial reefs, recreational fishing areas, repeated measurement sites, and water intakes in Northwest Peninsular Florida. 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 ESI Human-Use data layers consists of: PARKS-MANAGED AREAS Polygons; NAVIGATION-MARINE Points; POLITICAL-JURISDICTIONAL Polygons, Points; RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Polygons, Points; SOCECON Polygons, Lines, Points; and NATURAL HAZARD Polygons.

The above reflects the southern coastal extent. Offshore data extend to 26.4897 degrees N.

Process Steps:

• 2016-12-01 00:00:00 - Human Use features were generated by Florida Wildlife Research Institute (FWRI). Data was compiled by first selecting from the complete dataset on FWRI's enterprise ArcSDE database that fell within the area of interest for the Northwest Florida ESI Atlas. Additional data was compiled from various sources including the following: EPA facilities were downloaded from the EPA Open Data website (https://catalog.data.gov/dataset/us-epa-region-4-rmp-facilities), FEMA Regions data were downloaded from the NOAA Coastal Services Center website (https://coast.noaa.gov/), and US Army Corps of Engineers district data were downloaded from the website US Army Corps of Engineer GeoPlatform (https://geoplatform.usace.army.mil/home/groups.html). The Florida State Parks data were downloaded from the Florida Geographic Data Library (FGDL) website (http://www.fgdl.org). Critical habitats were downloaded from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service website (https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/report/table/critical-habitat.html). Lock and dam and ferry locations were downloaded from the Florida Geographic Data Library (FGDL) website (http://www.fgdl.org). Storm surge inundation areas were selected from the complete dataset on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Sea, Lake and Overland Surges from Hurricanes (SLOSH) model. Features were then selected out of the downloaded data based on attributes within the area of interest for the Northwest Florida ESI Atlas. The above digital and/or hardcopy sources were compiled by the project biologist to create the data layers. 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 data layers 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).