FLORIDA GEOGRAPHIC DATA LIBRARY DOCUMENTATION

TITLE: NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALE CRITICAL HABITAT

Geodataset Name:       RIGHTWHALE_DEC07
Geodataset Type:       SHAPEFILE
Geodataset Feature:    Polygon
Feature Count:         1
GENERAL DESCRIPTION:
These data represent the critical habitat for Right Whale as designated by Federal Register Vol. 59, No. 28805, May 19, 1993, Rules and Regulations. This data represents the eastern boundaries of right whale southern critical habitat, digitized from NOAA Navigation Charts 11480A1 (Scale= 1:449,659) and 11460A1 (Scale= 1:466,940). Near the southern end of the critical habitat zone the navigation charts overlap. At this overlap, there are discrepancies between the charts; the critical habitat lines on the charts do not match. The finer scale navigation chart (11480A1) was given priority at this overlap, and the shapefile was edited to smooth the transition between the line discrepancies. A generalized state boundary (shoreline) was added to GIS layer in order to create a polygon. This west side shore boundary is not part of the legal description of the habitat area; its only intent is to create a polygon GIS layer.
DATA SOURCE(S):                    Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), Florida Marine Research Institute (FMRI), Endangered and Threatened Species (ETS)
SCALE OF ORIGINAL SOURCE MAPS:     Varies
GEODATASET EXTENT:                 State of Florida
PUBLICATION DATE: 20020401 TIME PERIOD OF CONTENT: 20020401 DOWNLOAD LINK: http://www.fgdl.org/metadataexplorer/explorer.jsp

FEATURE ATTRIBUTE TABLES:

Datafile Name: RIGHTWHALE_DEC07.DBF
ITEM NAME WIDTH TYPE
OBJECTID
4 OID
Shape
4 Geometry
ID
4 Integer
DESCRIPT
50 String
FGDLAQDATE
36 Date
AUTOID
4 Integer
SHAPE.AREA
0 Double
SHAPE.LEN
0 Double

FEATURE ATTRIBUTE TABLES CODES AND VALUES:

Item
Item Description
OBJECTID Internal feature number.

Shape Feature geometry.

ID Internal ID

DESCRIPT FGDL added field. Calculated to "NORTHERN ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALE CRITICAL HABITAT"

FGDLAQDATE FGDL added field based on date received from source

AUTOID Unique ID added by GeoPlan

SHAPE.AREA Area in meters

SHAPE.LEN Perimeter in meters


USER NOTES:
These data appear logically consistent.
This data is provided 'as is' by GeoPlan and is complete to our
knowledge.
GeoPlan relied on the integrity of the attribute information within
the original data.
Prior to July 1, 2004, the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (FWRI) was 
known as the Florida Marine Research Institute (FMRI). The institute name 
has not been changed in historical data sets or references to work completed 
by the Florida Marine Research Institute. The institute name has been changed 
in references to ongoing research, new research, and contact information.

This does not represent all right whale critical habitat.  There is additional 
critical habitat near Cape Cod.

This data set is for visual reference only.  These boundaries are not intended for legal use.

Positional accuracy is no greater than 1:466,940.

This data is provided 'as is' and its vertical positional accuracy
has not been verified by GeoPlan

FWC-FWRI, Endangered and Threatened Species Group must be credited. 
Acknowledgement of the FWC-FWRI (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation 
Commission-Fish and Wildlife Research Institute) as the data source would be 
appreciated in any products developed from these data, and such acknowledgment 
as is standard for citation and legal practices for data source is expected by users 
of this data.  Please cite the original metadata when using portions of the record 
to create a similar record of slightly altered data, such as reprojection. If any data 
are modified or adjusted, please share the edited information with FWC. Users 
should be aware that comparison with other data sets for the same area from 
other time periods may be inaccurate due to inconsistencies resulting from 
changes in mapping conventions, data collection, and computer processes 
over time. FWC shall not be liable for improper or incorrect use of this data. 
These data are not legal documents and are not to be used as such.  This 
is not a survey data set and should not be utilized as such. These data are 
not to be used for navigation.

The Florida Geographic Data Library is a collection of Geospatial Data
compiled by the University of Florida GeoPlan Center with support from
the Florida Department of Transportation. GIS data available in FGDL is
collected from various state, federal, and other agencies (data sources)
who are data stewards, producers, or publishers. The data available in
FGDL may not be the most current version of the data offered by the
data source. University of Florida GeoPlan Center makes no guarantees
about the currentness of the data and suggests that data users check
with the data source to see if more recent versions of the data exist.

Furthermore, the GIS data available in the FGDL are provided 'as is'.
The University of Florida GeoPlan Center makes no warranties, guaranties
or representations as to the truth, accuracy or completeness of the data
provided by the data sources. The University of Florida GeoPlan Center
makes no representations or warranties about the quality or suitability
of the materials, either expressly or implied, including but not limited
to any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular
purpose, or non-infringement. The University of Florida GeoPlan Center
shall not be liable for any damages suffered as a result of using,
modifying, contributing or distributing the materials.

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

REFERENCES:
For more information contact the Florida Fish
and Wildlife Conservation Commission-Fish and
Wildlife Research Institute GIS data librarian at GISlibrarian@MyFWC.com

DATA LINEAGE SUMMARY:
These data were heads-up digitized from the source charts.
Process Date: 20020401

A generalized state boundary (shoreline) was added to GIS layer in order to create a polygon. This west side shore boundary is not part of the legal description of the habitat area; its only intent is to create a polygon GIS layer. Adding the western boundary allows for the closed polygon geometry .US Census State Boundary GIS data was used for the west boundary: http://www.census.gov/geo/www/cob/metadata.html Process Date: 20071214
GeoPlan downloaded this data in shapefile format from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission-Fish and Wildlife Research Institute website (http://ocean.floridamarine.org/mrgis_ims/Description_Layers_Marine.htm) on July 14, 2009. When received, the data was in Geographic projection Albers NAD 83, Spheroid: GRS 80. The file was projected to FGDL Albers HARN. - Reprojected data to FGDL Albers HPGN - Added DESCRIPT field "NORTHER ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALE CRITICAL HABITAT" - Added a FGDLAQDATE field based on date received from source - Renamed shapefile from rightwhale_critical_hab_poly to rightwhale_dec07 - Deleted fields SHAPE.LEN and SHAPE.AREA - Upcased all records in the attribute table Process Date: 20090714
Data imported to ArcSDE and exported as a shapefile. Process Date: 20090715
MAP PROJECTION PARAMETERS:

Projection                          ALBERS
Datum                               HPGN
Units                               METERS
Spheroid                            GRS1980
1st Standard Parallel               24  0  0.000
2nd Standard Parallel               31 30  0.000
Central Meridian                   -84 00  0.000
Latitude of Projection's Origin     24  0  0.000
False Easting (meters)              400000.00000
False Northing (meters)             0.00000

DATA SOURCE CONTACT (S):

Name:
Abbr. Name:
Address:


Phone:

Web site:
E-mail:
Contact Person:
         Phone:
        E-mail:
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission-Fish and Wildlife Research Institute
FWRI
Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, 100 Eighth Avenue Southeast
St. Petersburg, Florida
33701
727-896-8626

http://ocean.floridamarine.org/mrgis_ims/Description_Layers_Marine.htm GISLibrarian@MyFWC.com GISLibrarian

FGDL CONTACT:
Name:                   FLORIDA GEOGRAPHIC DATA LIBRARY
Abbr. Name:             FGDL
Address:                Florida Geographic Data Library
                        431 Architecture Building
                        PO Box 115706
                        Gainesville, FL  32611-5706
Web site:               http://www.fgdl.org

Contact FGDL: 

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