Georgia 2015 ESI NAVIGATION-MARINE Polygons, Lines, Points

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

Time Frame Range starts with ESI Project Start Year, and ends with ESI Atlas Publication Year.

This feature class is part of the downloadable Esri Arc Geodatabase.

Overview of ESI data content and uses.

Guidelines for developing ESI data content and overview of ESI data structure. Useful for data collectors and users requiring more in depth information on the ESI process.

ESI Browse Graphic depicts the relationships between the spatial data layers and the attribute data tables for all potential ESI data layers and tables.

Date that the source FGDC record was last modified.

Converted from Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata (version FGDC-STD-001-1998) using 'fgdc_to_inport_xml.pl' script. Contact Tyler Christensen (NOS) for details.

Partial upload of Spatial Info section only.

Replaced entire Lineage section to populate new Source Contribution field.

Partial upload of Positional Accuracy fields only.

This description covers the mapping of all Socioeconomic features mapped as polygons: The mapping extent was dependent upon information availability and location of mapped coastal habitats and shorelines. Sources of data used to depict human-use resources in this data layer include digital datasets provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), NOAA, National Park Service (NPS), U.S. Census Bureau (USCB), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERR), Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), and Georgia's Department of Natural Resources (GADNR) Coastal Resources Division. Critical Habitat - designated critical habitat was mapped for the piping plover, North Atlantic right whale, and loggerhead sea turtle with data downloaded from USFWS. Commercial fishing - Commercial fishing areas show where shad fishing is approved according to GADNR Coastal Resources Division. Fishery Area - Fishery areas provided by GADNR Coastal Resources Division represent recreational and commercial oyster harvest areas. Management Areas - management areas provided by GADNR Coastal Resources Division represent easements, wildlife management areas, and natural areas. Marine Sanctuary - The Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary (GRNMS) boundary was provided by NOAA\x92s National Marine Sanctuaries Program. National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) - Boundary data was provided by the Sapelo Island NERR System. National Park - Boundaries for the Cumberland Island National Seashore, Fort Frederica National Monument, and Fort Pulaski National Monument were used from the National Park boundaries dataset downloaded from http://Data.gov. Nature Conservancy - Boundaries of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) properties and easements were provided by TNC. Wildlife Refuges - USFWS National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) data were downloaded from the USFWS National Cadastral Data. Anchorage areas - anchorage areas provided by Marine Cadastre. All polygons were edited to reflect the updated ESI shoreline.

This description covers all socioeconomic features mapped as lines: 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. Rail Route data were acquired from U.S. Department of Transportations's (USDOT) National Transportation Atlas Database. Shipping Lanes in US Waters data were provided by NOAA\x92s Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning office.

The following description relates to all socioeconomic data represented as points: 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: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), NOAA, Governors' South Atlantic Alliance (GSAA) coast and ocean portal, and Research Planning, Inc. Airports, heliports, ports, and marina data were acquired from USDOT's National Transportation Atlas Database. Known access and beach locations were compiled from NOAA's Office of Response and Restoration. Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GADNR) - Coastal Resources Division provided artificial reefs, marinas, recreational fishing, and repeated measurement sites. Governors' South Atlantic Alliance (GSAA) coast and ocean portal provided boat ramp data. USCG station and facility locations were derived from the USCG Units dataset hosted by http://sciencebase.gov. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (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. Abandoned vessel data comes from NOAA's Office of Coast Survey Automated Wrecks and Obstructions Information System (AWOIS). 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. 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. Army National Guard and Air National Guard base locations were digitized as points from addresses matching and verified with Google Earth imagery by Research Planning, Inc.

The above digital and/or hardcopy sources were compiled by the project biologist to create the ESI Human Use 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.