California Ocean Uses Atlas: Non-Consumptive sector

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Frequently-anticipated questions:


What does this data set describe?

Title: California Ocean Uses Atlas: Non-Consumptive sector
Abstract:
This dataset is a result of the California Ocean Uses Atlas Project: a collaboration between NOAA's National Marine Protected Areas Center and Marine Conservation Biology Institute. The Project was designed to enhance ocean management through geospatial data on the full range of significant human uses of California's ocean environment from the shoreline to the 200 nm EEZ boundary. Data was gathered from regional ocean experts and users through participatory GIS methods. For more information on the project scope, background and related data products, please visit www.mpa.gov.
  1. How should this data set be cited?

    National Marine Protected Areas Center, and Marine Conservation Biology Institute, 20100104, California Ocean Uses Atlas: Non-Consumptive sector: NOAA - National Marine Protected Areas Center, Monterey, CA.

    Online Links:

    This is part of the following larger work.

    National Marine Protected Areas Center, and Marine Conservation Biology Institute, 20100104, California Ocean Uses Atlas.

    Online Links:

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -129.005271
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -116.299841
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 42.097550
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 30.415166

  3. What does it look like?

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

    Calendar_Date: 03-Mar-2010
    Currentness_Reference: publication date

  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 (1)

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

      Grid_Coordinate_System_Name: Universal Transverse Mercator
      Universal_Transverse_Mercator:
      UTM_Zone_Number: 10
      Transverse_Mercator:
      Scale_Factor_at_Central_Meridian: 0.999600
      Longitude_of_Central_Meridian: -123.000000
      Latitude_of_Projection_Origin: 0.000000
      False_Easting: 500000.000000
      False_Northing: 0.000000

      Planar coordinates are encoded using coordinate pair
      Abscissae (x-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 0.000100
      Ordinates (y-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 0.000100
      Planar coordinates are specified in meters

      The horizontal datum used is North American Datum of 1983.
      The ellipsoid used is Geodetic Reference System 80.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378137.000000.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.257222.

  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?

    Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:
    The Non-Consumptive sector contains 9 ocean uses: -Beach use: includes walking, running, digging, resting, shell collecting, wildlife viewing, driving, camping, kite flying, bonfires, picnicking, dog walking; excludes beach renourishment, dredging, scientific/educational specimen collecting, seascape viewing from boats or from shoreward of the beach, surf fishing, swimming; -Motorized boating: includes personal watercraft, outboard motors, private motorized vehicles; excludes fishing boats and wildlife viewing charters, cruise ships; -Paddling: includes kayaking, canoeing, rowing, outrigger paddling; excludes motorized craft, surfing, wind-surfing; -Sailing: includes sailboats, overnight anchoring; excludes sailing kayaks and canoes; -SCUBA/snorkeling: includes SCUBA diving, tethered diving, snorkeling (free diving); excludes surface swimming; -Surface water sports: includes surfing, wind-surfing, kite surfing; excludes paddled boats, snorkeling; -Swimming: includes short- and long-distance surface swimming any distance from shore; excludes SCUBA diving, tethered diving, snorkeling (free diving); -Tidepooling: includes use of rocky shores for naturalist, leisure, or educational purposes; excludes intertidal collection or subsistence harvest of living marine species (i.e. plants, invertebrates and fish) for consumption, bait, aquaria or research; -Wildlife viewing at sea: includes any commercial boat-based or aerial wildlife viewing at sea; excludes shore-based wildlife viewing; For all uses mapped in this sector, the use footprint and dominant use areas are included in the dataset. The use footprint (aka the Maximum Footprint of Use) includes all areas in which the use is known to occur with some regularity, regardless of frequency or intensity. The dominant use areas include areas where the use is most commonly pursued and are defined as areas within the general use footprint that are routinely used by most users most of the time. Future use areas are also included for certain uses where participants anticipated an increase in spatial extent or intensity. Future use areas reflect an anticipated significant and disproportionate (relative to other areas) change in patterns of use through either a lateral expansion of a dominant use area or an increase in intensity of use, or both in the foreseeable future but within the next ten years.
    Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation:
    For more information on use definitions and types, see the readme document within the geodatabase or visit <http://mpa.gov/science_analysis/atlas.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?

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

    NOAA - National Marine Protected Areas Center
    c/o Mimi D'Iorio
    GIS and Database Manager
    99 Pacific St. Suite 100-F
    Monterey, CA 93940
    U.S.A.

    (831)645-2703 (voice)
    (831)242-2051 (FAX)
    Mimi.Diorio@noaa.gov


Why was the data set created?

The California Ocean Uses Atlas Project fills a critical information gap in ocean management by providing an unprecedented, comprehensive, consistent and spatially explicit picture of human uses for management agencies, policy makers and stakeholders interested in sound and equitable ocean governance. Using participatory GIS concepts and applications, the Atlas Project generated spatial data and map products illustrating patterns, intensity, and temporal changes in a wide range of human uses in three broad categories of use: (i) fishing, (ii) non-consumptive, and (iii) industrial activities. The resulting datasets depict patterns of ocean use on a broad scale appropriate for a variety of ocean planning and management needs. This dataset contains the non-consumptive activities, and is part of the larger California Ocean Uses Atlas database.


How was the data set created?

  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?

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

    Date: 2009 (process 1 of 10)
    Data were digitized by workshop participant groups in 4 subregions of California (Southern, Central, North Central, and Northern). The workshops were held between November 2008 and July 2009.

    Date: 2009 (process 2 of 10)
    Data from each group were reviewed following the workshop to: a. Detail any instructions from participants to add/remove areas in post-processing b. Review GIS technician and facilitator workshop notes for any relevant data-editing comments c. Discuss any areas that might require special attention or follow up.

    Date: 2009 (process 3 of 10)
    Data were processed by Project GIS Specialist to clean artifacts created during the live, participatory mapping process.

    Date: 2009 (process 4 of 10)
    All polygons were clipped to the appropriate California Atlas sub-region to remove land and any marine areas outside the scope of the workshop.

    Date: 2009 (process 5 of 10)
    Use-specific procedures were performed based on participant input. This involved removing areas that were stated as not occurring beyond a certain depth or distance from shore.

    Date: 2009 (process 6 of 10)
    A polygon-in-polygon analysis was run for each use using one nautical mile microblocks as the zonal layer to determine the number of groups that identified a use in each grid cell.

    Date: 2009 (process 7 of 10)
    Data normalized for each use. For the footprint and future use aspects, an analysis cell with any number greater than 0 became a 1. For dominant, if the number of workshop groups who mapped a cell as dominant was at or greater than 50% of the groups who mapped that use, the value became a 1. All other cells became a 0, so that the final field values are binary (1= Yes, 0 = No)

    Date: 2009 (process 8 of 10)
    After the previous steps were complete for every workshop region and use, the regions were merged into one statewide dataset.

    Date: 2009 (process 9 of 10)
    Merged regional data was analyzed for completeness and consistency. For areas where boundary patterns did not agree, contextual edits were made based on reviewing workshop notes and making logical edits where appropriate.

    Date: 2009 (process 10 of 10)
    The microblock polygons were dissolved for each use, retaining only the blocks where the use occurred. All dissolved polygons were then re-clipped to the study region and added to final geodatabase dataset.

  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?

    Attribute accuracy was maintained by comparing data before and after each process step, and by comparing final product to source data.

  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?

    Workshops were conducted at a maximum scale of 1:250,000. During post processing, original workshop polygons were aggregated to an ordered one nautical mile grid, so exact use locations within each block are not discernible. Data are intended to portray broad patterns for each use at a comparable scale to inform ocean management but are not intended for navigation or enforcement purposes.

  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?

    All uses in the Non-Consumptive sector were mapped for the entirety of the project area. In 3 of the 4 regional atlas workshops, an attempt was made to map uses of the ocean by tribal peoples. Two distinct approaches were taken. First, we mapped tribal activities taking place within the existing range of ocean uses addressed by the Atlas project (e.g. tribal pursuit of benthic fishing with fixed gear; beach use by tribal peoples). Most of the resulting tribal use patterns fell within either the general maximum footprint or the dominant use area drawn for those uses by other non-tribal participants and are thus not represented as uniquely tribal activities.Second, we attempted to map distinctly tribal use areas tied to specific geographic locations of special cultural, spiritual or historical significance. Although some tribal participants provided relevant information, not all tribal interests were represented in each workshop and some participants were reluctant to portray use patterns of other tribes. As a result, the resulting maps of tribal activity patterns may depict an incomplete or misleading picture of the full spectrum of tribal uses of the ocean in each region. Consequently, in order to avoid misinterpretation of the tribal use patterns, and to maintain data consistency and integrity throughout the Atlas maps, the tribal use data are not explicitly depicted in the public release of the atlas data or map products. They will, however, be provided to the California Marine Life Protection Act Initiative and to the tribal participants for their use, with appropriate explanatory information about their content and limitations. For additional information on the tribal ocean use data, please contact the MPA Center.

  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?

    Logical consistency was maintained by comparing data before and after each process step, and by comparing final product to source data.


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:
Atlas data describe broad uses of the ocean, and are not intended to be used for navigational purposes or provide information on regulations affecting human activities.

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

    NOAA - National Marine Protected Areas Center
    c/o Mimi D'Iorio
    GIS and Database Manager
    99 Pacific St.
    Monterey, CA 93940
    U.S.A.

    (831)645-2703 (voice)
    (831)242-2051 (FAX)
    Mimi.Diorio@noaa.gov

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

  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

    Atlas data describe broad uses of the ocean, and are not intended to be used for navigational purposes or provide information on regulations affecting human activities.

  4. How can I download or order the data?


Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 03-Mar-2010
Metadata author:
NOAA - National Marine Protected Areas Center
c/o Nicholas Hayden
Atlas GIS Specialist
99 Pacific St.
Monterey, CA 93940
U.S.A.

(831)645-2709 (voice)
(831)242-2051 (FAX)
Nicholas.Hayden@noaa.gov

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


Generated by mp version 2.9.6 on Wed Mar 03 16:46:54 2010