Summer 2001 National Data Request

(1997/99 Study Units)

Guidelines for Preparing Ground Water GIS Coverages for National Synthesis

6/19/2001

Purpose

Timetable

Scope

Please send only updated, corrected, or new coverages and metadata compiled since the last data aggregation. If only a metadata file needs to be changed, then submit only the updated metadata file.

Below is the list of SUCODEs listed in the NAWQA planning data base maintained by Rosemary Musson (5/24/2001). The goal is to have a coverage for each ground water network SUCODE. Some networks must be described by than one coverage (BND and TRG). Please note which coverages we are missing and submit them at this time. If you have dropped studies that still are in our list and should be deleted from it, or if you have done studies that are not in our list and should be added to it, please tell us.

Also please correct any coverage flagged by CHECKDATA.AML and send the new version of the coverage. Please correct any metadata that generates errors in mp and send the corrected metadata file.

So that we are all working from the same set of coverages and metadata, please check the coverages and metadata already submitted.

Sucode        Status
-----------   --------------------------------------------------
acadlusag1    *** Coverages needed *** (BND,TRG)
acadlus2      Dropped
acadlusrc1    *** Coverages needed *** (BND,TRG)
acadsus1      *** Coverage needed *** (BND)
acadsus2      *** Coverage needed *** (BND)

cooksus1a     Have coverage
cooksus1b     Have coverage

delrlusrc1    Dropped
delrsus1      Have coverage |
delrsus2      Have coverage |-Please fix metadata
delrsus3      Have coverage |
delrsus4      Dropped 

dlmvlusag1    *** Coverages needed *** (BND,TRG)
dlmvsus1      *** Coverage needed *** (BND)

grsllusrc1a   *** Coverages needed *** (BND,TRG) (use grsllusrc1?)
grsllusrc2    *** Coverages needed *** (BND,TRG) ??dropped??
grsllusrc1    Have coverage                       |-Please fix errors 
grslsus1      Have coverage                       |-listed in 
grslsus2      Have coverage                       |-checkdata report
grsllusag1    Dropped                             
grsldwgs1     *** Coverages needed *** (BND,TRG) ?

hpgwlusag1    Have TRG coverage, need BND coverage +
hpgwlusag2    *** Coverages needed *** (BND,TRG)   ++
hpgwlusag3    *** Coverages needed *** (BND,TRG)   ++
hpgwlusur1    Have TRG coverage, need BND coverage +
hpgwsus1a     *** Coverage needed ***              +
hpgwsus1b     *** Coverage needed ***              +
hpgwsus1c     *** Coverage needed ***              +
hpgwsus2      Have coverage
hpgwsus3      Dropped 
hpgwsus4      *** Coverage needed *** (BND)        +
hpgwsus5      *** Coverage needed *** (BND)        +
hpgwsus6      *** Coverage needed *** (BND)        +

ltenlusag1    Have coverage |-Please fix errors
ltensus1      Have coverage |-listed in 
ltensus2      Have coverage |-checkdata report
ltensus3      Dropped
ltenspr1      *** Coverage needed *** (BND) (use sus1?)
ltenspr2      *** Coverage needed *** (BND) (use sus2?)

miamluscr1    Have coverage                 |
miamlusrc1    Have coverage                 |-Please fix metadata
miamsusbvas1  Have coverage, renamed sus1   |
miamluscr1a   *** Coverage needed *** (BND,TRG) (use luscr1?)  x
miamsuscarb   Dropped
miamsustill   Dropped

moblluscr1    Have BND coverage, need TRG coverage  +
mobllusrc1    Have BND coverage, need TRG coverage  +
moblsus1      Have coverage
moblsus2      Dropped

necblusrc1    Have coverage |- Please fix metadata and
necbsus1      Have coverage |- errors listed in
necbsus2      Have coverage |- checkdata 
necbsus3      Have coverage |- report 

nroklusmi     Dropped
nroklusur     Dropped
nroksus1      Have coverage  +
nroksus2      Have coverage  +

oahusus1      Have coverage

sanalusag1    Dropped
sanalusrc1    Have coverage
sanasus1      Have coverage
sanasus2      Have coverage
sanasus3      *** Coverage needed ***  (BND)  +

uirbluscr1    Have coverage  +
uirblusrc1    Have coverage  +
uirbsus1      Have coverage  +
uirbsus2      Have coverage  +

yaki          No ground water studies

yelllusot1    *** Coverages needed ***  (BND,TRG)
yellsus1      Have coverage
yellsus2      Have coverage
yellsus3      Dropped

Background

We do not need you to submit coverages showing the ground water sampling sites or flow-path studies.

Please DO NOT submit a "simplified" version of the coverage (clip coverage), such as a rectangular boundary or buffer around the maximum extent of the well locations.

If you manage your data in shapefiles, please convert the shapefiles to coverages with the requested projection and send the coverages. Please do not send shapefiles.

We suggest that you use USGS metadata tools to create your documentation files. Here is an EXAMPLE of METADATA for a fictitious ground water polygon coverage. Metadata requirements are discussed further in the following sections.

The study unit Ground Water Specialist and GIS specialist should work together to complete this request.

Circular 1112 by Gilliom and others contains a description of ground water study design, SUS well selection strategy, the selection of land use studies, and LUS well selection strategy. The study unit Ground Water Specialist should provide specific information on the ground water study design for each of the metadata files. Please prepare the following:

The polygon coverage that delineates the entire areal extent of the hydrogeologic unit defined for study, which is, in most cases, the subunit survey boundary (SUS).

This boundary includes the full range of land uses, not only the targeted land use.

a) For example, for a subunit survey (sus1), an agricultural land-use study of vineyards (lusor1), and an agricultural land-use study of almonds (lusor2) (all three in the eastern alluvial fans-San Joaquin Valley) -- first prepare a coverage that represents the boundary of the eastern alluvial fans-San Joaquin Valley, which also is the overall boundary for all three studies.

Although the same polygon represents the overall boundary of the SUS and both LUSs, we need one coverage for each network. So please make three coverages: one for the SUS, one for the vineyard LUS, and one for the almond LUS. Each coverage should have a customized metadata file that describes how the wells were selected for that network.

In this example, these coverages would result:

OVERALL BOUNDARY     SUCODE
1.  SUS1_BND         xxxxsus1
2.  LUSOR1_BND       xxxxlusor1  (same as SUS1_BND)
3.  LUSOR2_BND       xxxxlusor2  (same as SUS1_BND)

b) If a land-use study was not nested within one of the subunit surveys, submit a separate coverage representing the overall boundary of the hydrolgeologic unit within which the LUS is located and metadata for that coverage.

OVERALL BOUNDARY     SUCODE
1.  LUSCR1_BND       xxxxluscr1

The polygon coverage that delineates the targeted land use (LUS) within the overall area described in #1.

Continuing the example from #1a, this would be one coverage of the vineyard land use that is targeted for study and a second coverage of the almonds land use that is targeted for study. The targeted land use LUS coverage(s) would be nested within the corresponding overall boundary coverage. Submit a metadata file for each targeted land use coverage. The coverage metadata should describe the relationship of the LUS to the overall boundary coverage and how the wells were selected.

TARGETED LAND USE     OVERALL BOUNDARY                        SUCODE      
1. LUSOR1_TRG         1.  LUSOR1_BND  (same as SUS1_BND)      xxxxlusor1  
2. LUSOR2_TRG         2.  LUSOR2_BND  (same as SUS1_BND)      xxxxlusor2  

In the second example #1b, one coverage of targeted land use would result:

TARGETED LAND USE     OVERALL BOUNDARY                        SUCODE      
1. LUSCR1_TRG         1.  LUSCR1_BND  (not an SUS)            xxxxluscr1  

Here is an illustration showing the concept of LUS boundaries being nested within the SUS boundary. (This example contains three gif files, each about 6 KB.) (See also the map showing the location of ground-water chemistry sites in Circular 1159, p.24, for a similar example.)

For urban land use studies, for the "targeted" coverage, please submit the coverage that results from the intersection of the areal extent of the aquifer being studied with the residential/commercial land use (minus transportation and industrial land use), provided that the wells were located to achieve at least 75 percent new residential/commercial land use. This is the coverage output from SHRINK.AML that is named "buf75". Please do not submit the input study area to SHRINK.AML or the "buf75s" coverage that is the one normally used for random site selection. For questions about the urban land use coverages, please contact Curtis Price (cprice) or Paul Squillace (pjsquill).

The polygon coverage of "locally improved" land use data, if available, for the study unit or for the ground water study area.

If you are using a source of land use data that is different from the Anderson Level II categories (GIRAS) updated with 1990 population, please submit the "improved" coverage and metadata. The improved land use coverage should include all land use categories, not just those targeted for study. The coverage should be what was used in the well-selection process. If you are using the Anderson Level II land use categories updated with 1990 population, you do not need to submit anything beyond what is requested in #2. If the improved land use is MRLC (NLCD) data, please send it anyway because we need what you used to design the ground water studies. If the improved land use is available for the whole study unit, send the whole study unit. You may clip the land use to the study unit boundary.

• COVERAGE NAMING CONVENTIONS:

  Please name each coverage according to the NETCODE of the ground water study.

  • Overall boundary: NETCODE_BND

    For example, SUS1_BND or LUSCR1_BND.

  • Targeted land use: NETCODE_TRG

    For example, LUSCR1_TRG or LUSRC1_TRG.

  Please name the improved land use coverage using the 4-letter study unit abbreviation if the coverage applies to the entire study unit or LUS NETCODE if the coverage applies only to the LUS.

  • Improved land use: SUID_ILU or NETCODE_ILU.

    For example, ACFB_ILU or LUSCR1_ILU.

  For all of the above, please use the standard netcodes described in the 1997 data dictionary. Please cross-check the coverage names with the network description table so that the netcodes are consistent. For example, if the netcode for a cropland LUS is luscr1, name the coverage LUSCR1_BND or LUSCR1_TRG. Do not name the coverage using LUSAG1 or LUSAG or LUSCR.

• PROJECTION PARAMETERS:

  Except for COOK and OAHU, please use the national projection parameters, with central meridian at -96. All study units please use North American Datum of 1983 (NAD83).

  The national projection parameters are:

        PROJECTION ALBERS
        UNITS METERS
        DATUM NAD83
        PARAMETERS  
        29 30 00    
        45 30 00    
        -96 00 00   
        23 00 00    
        0.0         
        0.0
    

  The projection parameters for COOK are:

        PROJECTION ALBERS
        UNITS METERS
        DATUM NAD83
        PARAMETERS
        55 00 00
        65 00 00
        -154 00 00
        50 00 00
        0.0
        0.0 
         

  The projection parameters for OAHU are:

        PROJECTION ALBERS
        UNITS METERS
        DATUM NAD83
        PARAMETERS
        08 00 00
        18 00 00
        -157 00 00
        00 00 00
        0.0
        0.0 
         

• POLYGON ATTRIBUTE TABLE TEMPLATES:

  Please include the following fields in the coverage .pat files:

  • Overall boundary:

    Minimum required items:
           
         AREA           4 12 F 3  
         PERIMETER      4 12 F 3  
         NETCODE_BND#   4  5 B    
         NETCODE_BND-ID 4  5 B    
         SUCODE        12 12 C    Please enter SUCODE as lower case.
      

  • Targeted land use:

    Minimum required items:
         AREA           4 12 F 3  
         PERIMETER      4 12 F 3  
         NETCODE_TRG#   4  5 B    
         NETCODE_TRG-ID 4  5 B    
         SUCODE        12 12 C    Please enter SUCODE as lower case.
      

  • Improved land use:

        Minimum required items:
         AREA           4  12 F 3  
         PERIMETER      4  12 F 3  
         SUID_ILU#      4   5 B    
         SUID_ILU-ID    4   5 B    
         LUCODE         2   2 I
           
        Optional item:
         LUDESC         20 20 C
      

    We realize that people might have a variety of source material for improved land use coverages, but we will benefit if everyone tries to use a consistent item name and definition for land use code (LUCODE,2,2,I). If you cannot convert your data to this format, we will accept other definitions as long as you explain everything in the coverage documentation.

• METADATA:

  Please prepare an ASCII file of FGDC-compliant metadata to describe each coverage. (See metadata tools). Name the metadata file COVERNAME.met.

  The coverage documentation must STAND BY ITSELF--that is, people should be able to use the coverage documentation to answer basic questions about the ground water network design without having to go back to planning design papers and other supporting documents. Please make sure that the metadata files give detailed information about the ground water network and well selection process. The study unit Ground-Water Specialist should help prepare the metadata or at least should review it.

  Here is an EXAMPLE of METADATA for a fictitious ground water study.

  Please explain in the documentation how the coverage was used in selecting the well locations and other unique features of the study design. Please describe the process/criteria for selecting the wells and what source coverages (e.g., geology, physiography, hydrology, and so forth) were intersected to derive the study boundary. If some wells had to be resampled, please explain why so that the data analysts can determine which data they want to use. Please record information about what type of land use is being studied, what crop types or urban areas are involved, and so forth. Please include what netcode corresponds to each boundary coverage.

  Please verify that the ground water sampling sites are located within the ground water study areas as defined by the GIS coverages. If some of the sites are located outside the boundary of the corresponding study area, please determine whether the boundary of the study area needs to be changed or whether the coordinates of the stations need to be verified. If the GIS coverage and a site location are correct, but a site still falls outside of the GIS boundary, then the documentation for the boundary coverage should explain why this occurs. For example, the documentation could state that the site was verified in the field to be sampling the correct location and the correct aquifer.

  If you prepare a "master" metadata file and use a copy of this file as the start for the metadata for each specific data set, please remember to tailor each succeeding file to the particular data set being described. If references to the first data set remain in the succeeding metadata files, the metadata does not make any sense.

• VERIFICATION

  Please verify the following:

  • A coverage exists for each ground water network in the network-description table (netdes.suid), excluding dropped studies.

  • Each coverage .pat file has the required item SUCODE, and SUCODE is correctly defined as 12,12,C.

  • Each polygon has a valid SUCODE (which corresponds to the SUID + NETCODE used to create the coverage name) or a blank SUCODE. All polygons WITHIN the ground water study are coded with a valid SUCODE.

    All polygons OUTSIDE the ground water study, including the universe polygon and any interior polygons that are "cut out" of the ground water study, are coded with a blank SUCODE.

  • The ARC coverages pass the CHECKDATA.AML. Please correct any errors identified by CHECKDATA.AML. Please use ARC/INFO version 7 workspace naming conventions.

  • Each coverage has an ASCII metadata file called covername.met. (You can use ArcCatalog to create the metadata but please export the metadata to ASCII text.)

  • Each ASCII metadata file is "FGDC-compliant" according to Peter Schweitzer's metadata parser (mp). (An AML interface to mp that allows you to run mp similar to an ARC/INFO command is available from Curtis Price.)

    Please use mp version 2.2.4 or later so that the metadata conforms to the content standard for digital geospatial metadata revised June 1998. Please correct any errors identified by mp.

    Please replace the default information generated as a template from the AML metadata tool called "FGDCMETA" with information specific to your data sets.

    See the surface water guidelines for suggestions on preparing multiple metadata files by editing the FGDCMETA.AML.

• SUBMIT COVERAGES AND METADATA:

  Copy all of the ground water coverages and ASCII metadata files into an empty directory, cd to that directory, and archive (tar) and compress (gzip) the entire directory. Then make the compressed archive file available in your anonymous ftp area or if it is not very large, attach it to a LotusNotes email message to Kerie Hitt (kjhitt). Name the archive file suidgw.tgz.

  (Here are tar and gzip and other utilities for NT users. Please do not use WinZip to archive ArcInfo data sets.)

  The syntax for the tar command to archive the files under unix is:

            tar -cf - * | gzip -c > /var/ftp/pub/suidgw.tgz
  
        suid = study-unit abbreviation
    

  Please email Kerie Hitt (kjhitt) with your FTP address when the file is available. Please include in your email any other explanatory material you think is necessary for us to understand your submission. Thank you.