The NHD data was originally created by the USGS and EPA along with other federal, state, and local agencies. The FDEP is the NHD data steward for Florida. This data was originally in geodatabase format. When in shapefile format the data loses the network functionality of the geodatabase. Please contact the FDEP if you need the original geodatabase.
Last Updated, May, 2006.
This layer replaces NHDLMP - National Hydrography Dataset Landmarks, Point, which was distributed in previous versions of FGDL.
NHD data was originally developed at 1:100,000-scale and exists at that scale for the whole country. This high-RESOLUTION NHD, generally developed at 1:24,000/1:12,000 scale, adds detail to the original 1:100,000-scale NHD. (Data for Alaska, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands was developed at high RESOLUTION, not 1:100,000 scale.) Local RESOLUTION NHD is being developed where partners and data exist. The NHD contains reach codes for networked features, flow direction, names, and centerline representations for areal water bodies. Reaches are also defined on water bodies and the approximate shorelines of the Great Lakes, the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and the Gulf of Mexico. The NHD also incorporates the National Spatial Data Infrastructure framework criteria established by the Federal Geographic Data Committee.
A note about data scale:
Scale is an important factor in data usage. Certain scale datasets are not suitable for some project, analysis, or modeling purposes. Please be sure you are using the best available data.
1:24000 scale datasets are recommended for projects that are at the county level. 1:24000 data should NOT be used for high accuracy base mapping such as property parcel boundaries. 1:100000 scale datasets are recommended for projects that are at the multi-county or regional level. 1:125000 scale datasets are recommended for projects that are at the regional or state level or larger.
Vector datasets with no defined scale or accuracy should be considered suspect. Make sure you are familiar with your data before using it for projects or analysis. Every effort has been made to supply the user with data documentation. For additional information, see the References section and the Data Source Contact section of this documentation. For more information regarding scale and accuracy, see our webpage at: <http://geoplan.ufl.edu/education.html>
This statement is generally true for the most common sources of NHD data. Other sources and methods may have been used to create or update NHD data. In some cases, additional information may be found in the NHDMetadata table.
The feature class NHDPoint was converted to shapefile via ArcCatalog 9.2. Feature Type and Descriptions were joined to the shapefile based on the field FCODE. The join table was based of information gathered at: <http://nhd.usgs.gov/NHDinGEO_FCODEs_by_layer.pdf>
Additional details to be used in metadata were gathered from the following link: <http://nhd.usgs.gov/NHD.pdf>
- All records were upcased. - Changed projection file to FGDL Albers - DESC_ field was added and calculated based on FCODE Descriptions - A DESCRIPT field was added based on Feature Type - A FGDLAQDATE field was added based on date GeoPlan downloaded the data