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SDE Feature Class
Tags
Atlantic salmon, habitat survey, spawning habitat, rearing habitat
This dataset is meant to be used in tracking general Atlantic salmon habitat survey work on selected Maine streams by staff of the Maine Dept. of Marine Resources - Division of Sea Run Fisheries and Habitat as well as others involved in Atlantic Salmon research, management and conservation.This dataset is designed to be used in a variety of management and planning activities including habitat protection efforts.
This coverage was developed from field surveys conducted on the mainstem and selected tributaries of the Aroostook, Dennys, Ducktap, East Machias, Kennebec, Machias, Passagassawakeag, Penobscot, Pleasant, Presumpscot, Saco, Sheepscot, St. George, Tunk and Union Rivers in Maine by staff of the Maine Dept. of Marine Resources - Division of Sea Run Fisheries and Habitat. These surveys were conducted to identify important Atlantic salmon habitat including spawning and rearing areas. The majority of the survey data was collected using Trimble Pro, Pro-XL and GeoExplorer3 receivers and survey files were differentially corrected to provide 2-5 meter accuracy. Surveys for some reaches were collected with minimal or no GPS control points and the attributes were overlaid on a stream centerline created using either a GPS-acquired line, a line derived from MEGIS/USGS 1:24,000 hydrography data, or a line drawn as a centerline based on MEGIS digital orthophotography. The dataset includes information on habitat categories and areas, and an indication of spawning and rearing potential. This data is referred to as Level 3, or detailed habitat survey data, to be contrasted with the Level 2 habitat data which contains the most detailed data for individual habitat units.
There are no credits for this item.
There are no restrictions on the use of this data. However, this coverage should not be redistributed without permission from the Data Source and/or the Automation Agency. Secondary distribution must have this documentation appended. Credit should always be given to the Data source and/or the Automation Agency when the data is transferred or printed.
Extent
West | -71.108594 | East | -67.130169 |
North | 46.982379 | South | 43.483104 |
There are no restrictions on the use of this data. However, this coverage should not be redistributed without permission from the Data Source and/or the Automation Agency. Secondary distribution must have this documentation appended. Credit should always be given to the Data source and/or the Automation Agency when the data is transferred or printed.
Attribute Table
MeSRFH
Internal feature number.
Esri
Feature geometry.
ESRI
Unique Identifier
MeSRFH
Year survey was completed
MeSRFH
Type of survey conducted
USFWS
Broad habitat category
MeSRFH
All riffles and runs.
MeSRFH
The survey crew's assessment that usable spawning habitat is present. The primary characteristic considered is substrate. Flows and depths are considered secondarily. The survey crew assigns a percentage of the habitat unit that is suitable for spawning, or identifies one or more limited spawning patches.
USFWS, MeSRFH
The name of the stream as derived from the Maine Dept. of Marine Resources, Sea Run Fisheries and Habitat Division MaineSalmon database, and based primarily on names taken from USGS 1:24,000 topographic map data.
Name of the major watershed in which the habitat unit is located.
MeSRFH
Area within the habitat unit in square meters that is considered suitable for spawning. Defined by one of two methods: Spawning Patch Dimensions - if a single, small, discrete portion of the habitat unit was considered potentially useful for spawning, the dimensions of the patch were recorded (units coded as Habcat = "Flat" can be coded as spawning units); or Proportion of Habitat Unit - if multiple spawning patches were present, or a single, large spawning patch was identified such that obtaining dimensions of the patch was difficult, estimation of the proportion of the habitat unit potentially useful for spawning was made and applied to Area to yield SpawnArea.
There are no restrictions on the use of this data. However, this coverage should not be redistributed without permission from the Data Source and/or the Automation Agency. Secondary distribution must have this documentation appended. Credit should always be given to the Data source and/or the Automation Agency when the data is transferred or printed.
This coverage was developed from field surveys conducted on the mainstem and selected tributaries of the Aroostook, Dennys, Ducktap, East Machias, Kennebec, Machias, Passagassawakeag, Penobscot, Pleasant, Presumpscot, Saco, Sheepscot, St. George, Tunk and Union Rivers in Maine by staff of the Maine Dept. of Marine Resources - Division of Sea Run Fisheries and Habitat. These surveys were conducted to identify important Atlantic salmon habitat including spawning and rearing areas. The majority of the survey data was collected using Trimble Pro, Pro-XL and GeoExplorer3 receivers and survey files were differentially corrected to provide 2-5 meter accuracy. Surveys for some reaches were collected with minimal or no GPS control points and the attributes were overlaid on a stream centerline created using either a GPS-acquired line, a line derived from MEGIS/USGS 1:24,000 hydrography data, or a line drawn as a centerline based on MEGIS digital orthophotography. The dataset includes information on habitat categories and areas, and an indication of spawning and rearing potential. This data is referred to as Level 3, or detailed habitat survey data, to be contrasted with the Level 2 habitat data which contains the most detailed data for individual habitat units.
This dataset is meant to be used in tracking general Atlantic salmon habitat survey work on selected Maine streams by staff of the Maine Dept. of Marine Resources - Division of Sea Run Fisheries and Habitat as well as others involved in Atlantic Salmon research, management and conservation.This dataset is designed to be used in a variety of management and planning activities including habitat protection efforts.
publication date
There are no restrictions on the use of this data. However, this coverage should not be redistributed without permission from the Data Source and/or the Automation Agency. Secondary distribution must have this documentation appended. Credit should always be given to the Data source and/or the Automation Agency when the data is transferred or printed.
There are no restrictions on the use of this data. However, this coverage should not be redistributed without permission from the Data Source and/or the Automation Agency. Secondary distribution must have this documentation appended. Credit should always be given to the Data source and/or the Automation Agency when the data is transferred or printed.
The database was audited for data entry errors through a series of reviews that checked for inconsistencies. Survey data was collected using a data library that limited errors in the field.
This coverage contains habitat data for portions of the Aroostook, Dennys, Ducktap, East Machias, Kennebec, Machias, Passagassawakeag, Penobscot, Pleasant, Presumpscot, Saco, Sheepscot, St. George, Tunk and Union River watersheds. There are tributaries in these watersheds that have not yet been surveyed and mapped.
2 - 5 meters (with differential correction) for GPS surveys on the Ducktrap, Machias, Passagassawakeag, Pleasant, Tunk, Union and portions of the Dennys, East Machias, Kennebec, Penobscot and Sheepscot Rivers (see Process Description below for exceptions). In general PDOP values for the GPS receivers were kept below 4.0 and Signal-to-Noise Ratio was greater than 6.0, resulting in sub-meter accuracy. During some parts of some surveys the PDOP mask was increased to values of greater than 4.0 due to poor signal reception. Base station files were acquired from the University of Maine Community Base Station. Accuracy is much more difficult to establish for the Aroostook, Presumpscot, St. George, Union and parts of the Dennys, East Machias, Kennebec, Penobscot and Sheepscot surveys as those GPS-Overlay surveys fit attribute information collected in the field with limited GPS control points onto a stream centerline of indeterminite accuracy. It is best to consider these surveys to be generally accurate within approximately 5 - 10 meters. In the case of the Narraguagus, Saco and Mainstem Penobscot Overlay surveys, only relative positional data existed and was fit to a stream centerline without any GPS control points, and thus, is the least accurate of the surveys.
For GPS surveys, GPS files of points and lines were created in individual river surveys using Trimble Pro, Pro-XL and GeoExplorer3 GPS receivers to capture feature attribute data, including habitat dimensions. These data files were converted to ESRI shapefiles, combined together, edited, and audited for errors. In GPS-Overlay surveys, GPS files of points were created using Trimble GeoExplorer3 GPS receivers to represent a limited set of control points and attribute data. Feature attribute data, including habitat dimensions, were collected on paper in the field, entered to a Microsoft Access database and audited, and then overlaid onto a GIS stream centerline, using the GPS control points to improve the accuracy of the overlay process. Overlay surveys use paper maps and datasheets without any GPS controls, but rather, rely on alignment of landmarks noted in original surveys with current GIS data, including stream centerlines, hydrography, road crossings, USGS topographic map data, and MEGIS digital orthophotography.
Three different processes were used to create subsets of the habitat data. The attribute SurveyType identifies which process was followed for each line (habitat unit) in this dataset.
(1) The first process (SurveyType = 'GPS'), and that which provides the most accurate depiction of the data, comes from river surveys using sub-meter accuracy GPS units to gather data in the field. Discrete habitat units were delineated on the basis of one or more physical characteristics that separated them from adjacent habitat types. Habitat surveys were conducted during low-flow periods. For convenience, surveys were performed from upstream to downstream. Once a habitat unit was defined, appropriate attribute data were measured and recorded for the unit. Trimble Pro, Pro-XL and GeoExplorer3 GPS receivers were used to record positional and attribute information. Where possible, a PDOP mask was set at 4.0 to generate sub-meter accuracy. Some areas of the survey have higher PDOP values due to dense vegetation or satellite acquisition difficulties. Base station data was acquired from the University of Maine's Community Base Station and from Maine Technical Source's Community Base Station. GPS files were differentially corrected using Trimble Pathfinder Office software and exported to ESRI ArcInfo coverages or ArcView shapefiles. Data created in this way include: the mainstem of the Dennys River surveyed in 1994; the Cathance River, tributary to the Dennys River, surveyed in 2001; the Ducktrap River surveyed in 1996, 1998 and 1999; portions of the East Machias River surveyed in 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001; portions of tributaries to the Kennebec River surveyed in 1999 and 2001; the Machias River and tributaries surveyed in 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2003; part of the mainstem of the Passagassawakeag River in 2002; portions of tributaries to the Penobscot River surveyed in 1999, 2001, 2002 and 2003; the Pleasant River surveyed in 1996, 1997 and 1998; portions of the Sheepscot River surveyed in 1997 and 1998; and Tunk Stream suveyed in 2002.
(2) The second process (SurveyType = 'GPS-Overlay') created datasets in one of two ways to overlay habitat data on a stream centerline:
a) Historic habitat surveys used standard transects (e.g., 200 and 600 feet) to measure and record habitat compostion. A centerline of the subject stream was created using a Trimble Pro or Pro-XL GPS receiver, usually after the original survey, and the original survey data was overlaid on the centerline using ESRI's Dynamic Segmentation tools. Data created in this way include: portions of the East Machias surveyed in 1984; and the Narraguagus River surveyed in 1991, 1992, 1993 and 1998.
b) Recent habitat surveys collected control point locations with Trimble Pro-XL or GeoExplorer3 GPS receivers at selected major habitat breaks, and recorded attribute data separately on paper. The GPS points were later used to control how the attribute data was fit to a centerline of the river. These centerlines were generally acquired with respect to MEGIS 1996 1-meter digital orthophotography, and occasionally higher resolution MEGIS orthophotography where available. In certain cases where orthophotos were not available or sufficient to derive a centerline, MEGIS and USGS 1:24,000 scale hydrograpy data was used instead. Such surveys were conducted on the Aroostook mainstem and selected tributaries in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004; portions of the Kennebec mainstem and selected tributaries in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005; selected tributaries to the Penobscot in 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2005; portions of the mainstem of the Presumpscot River and a tributary in 2003, 2004 and 2005; the upper mainstem of the Sheepscot River in 2002; the St. George River in 2003; and the West Branch of the Union River in 2001.
(3) The third process (SurveyType = 'Overlay') created datasets by using similar techniques to the 'GPS-Overlay' method mentioned above.
a) Historic habitat surveys using a variety of transect lengths, sometimes fixed at 200 feet, and sometimes varied with habitat unit lengths, were used to measure and record habitat compostion. This process used field surveys that collected an abbreviated set of attribute information, and then manually divided a stream centerline into habitat units to fit in relation to landmarks noted in the original surveys. The centerlines for these surveys were created using the best available orthophotography for the subject river. 1983 surveys of the Saco River and four tributaries were digitized with this method using a centerline based primarily on MEGIS 2-foot true color orthophotos from 2003, and 1985 Penobscot River mainstem surveys were digitized with reference to MEGIS 1-meter black and white orthophotos from 1996.
b) This process used field surveys that collected an abbreviated set of attribute information, and then used ESRI's Dynamic Segmentation tools to overlay the data onto a stream centerline. The stream centerlines were derived from the 1:24,000 scale MEGIS/USGS hydrography datasets. Data created in this way include: Venture Brook, tributary to the Dennys; Barrows Stream and Palmer Brook, tributaries to the East Machias; Penobscot tributaries, Felts Brook in 1999 and portions of Souadabscook Stream in 1998; and Sheepscot tributaries, Ben Brook, Choate Brook, Dyer River and Trout Brook in 1999.
Metadata imported.
Dataset copied.
Metadata imported.
Dataset copied.
Metadata imported.
This dataset represents habitat units as lines, and includes attributes identifying spawning and rearing areas, habitat categories, habitat unit areas, as well as stream and drainage names. Note that codes of -99 signify that no data exists for that record.
Users must assume responsibility to determine the utility of these data.