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Coastal Area

Frequently-asked questions:


What does this data set describe?

Title:
Coastal Area

Abstract:
The Coastal Area layer is a 1:24,000-scale, polygon feature-based layer that includes the land and waters that lie within the Coastal Area as defined by Connecticut General Statute (C.G.S.) 22a-94(a).  Activities and actions conducted within the coastal area by Federal and State Agencies (i.e., U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACOE), DEP regulatory programs, and state plans and actions) must be consistent with all of the applicable standards and criteria contained in the Connecticut Coastal Management Act (C.G.S. 22a-90 to 22a-113). A subset of the Coastal Area, the Coastal Boundary, represents an area within which activities regulated or conducted by coastal municipalities must be consistent with the Coastal Management Act.

As defined in this section of the statutes, the Coastal Area includes the land and water within the area delineated by the following:  the westerly, southerly and easterly limits of the state's jurisdiction in Long Island Sound; the towns of Greenwich, Stamford, Darien, Norwalk, Westport, Fairfield, Bridgeport, Stratford, Shelton, Milford, Orange, West Haven, New Haven, Hamden, North Haven, East Haven, Branford, Guilford, Madison, Clinton, Westbrook, Deep River, Chester, Essex, Old Saybrook, Lyme, Old Lyme, East Lyme, Waterford, New London, Montville, Norwich, Preston, Ledyard, Groton and Stonington.  This layer includes a single polygon feature defined by the boundaries described above.  Attribute information is comprised of an Av_Legend to denote the coastal area.  Data is compiled at 1:24,000 scale. This data is not updated.

  1. How should this data set be cited?

    State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection (data compiler, editor and publisher), 1995, Coastal Area: State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection, Hartford, Connecticut, USA.

    Online links:
    Other citation details:
    Except for periodic corrections, this layer includes information that is relatively static and does not change over time. The 1999 Edition is in Connecticut State Plane Coordinate System of 1983 (NAD83).

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

    Bounding coordinates:
    West: -73.735404
    East: -71.824966
    North: 41.610204
    South: 40.949970

  3. What does it look like?

    http://www.cteco.uconn.edu/metadata/dep/browsegraphic/coastalareafullview.gif (GIF)
    Full view of Coastal Area

    http://www.cteco.uconn.edu/metadata/dep/browsegraphic/coastalareadetailview.gif (GIF)
    Detail view of Coastal Area

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

    Calendar date: 1995
    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?

      Indirect spatial reference:
      State of Connecticut, United States of America

      This is a Vector data set. It contains the following vector data types (SDTS terminology):
      • G-polygon (1)
      • Point (216)

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

      The map projection used is Lambert Conformal Conic.

      Projection parameters:
      Lambert Conformal Conic
      Standard parallel: 41.200000
      Standard parallel: 41.866667
      Longitude of central meridian: -72.750000
      Latitude of projection origin: 40.833333
      False easting: 999999.999996
      False northing: 499999.999998

      Planar coordinates are encoded using coordinate pair.
      Abscissae (x-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 0.000250.
      Ordinates (y-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 0.000250.
      Planar coordinates are specified in survey feet.

      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.

      Vertical coordinate system definition:
      Altitude system definition:
      Altitude resolution: 1.000000
      Altitude encoding method: Explicit elevation coordinate included with horizontal coordinates

  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?

    Coastal Area
    Coastal Area represented as a single polygon

    OBJECTID
    Internal feature number. (Source: ESRI)
                      

    Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.

    ACREAGE
    Area of feature in internal units (acres).  Values must be recalculated after feature is edited. (Source: ESRI)
                      

    Positive real numbers that are automatically generated.

    AREA_SQMI
    Area of feature in internal units (square miles). (Source: ESRI)
                      

    Positive real numbers that are automatically generated.

    SHAPE
    Feature geometry. (Source: ESRI)
                      

    Coordinates defining the features.

    LENGTH_MI
    Length of perimeter of feature in miles.  Values must be recalculated after feature is edited. (Source: ESRI)
                      

    Positive real numbers that are automatically generated.

    STATUS
    SHAPE.area
    SHAPE.len
    Entity and attribute overview:
    Information encoded about the Coastal Area is limited.  Use the Av_Legend attribute to denote the coastal area.  The CAREA_FLG attribute also designates the coastal area and is represented by a "T" (True) value.  The remaining attributes are software generated and include identification, area, and length attributes.  
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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?

    State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection
    79 Elm Street
    Hartford, Connecticut 06106-5127
    USA

    860-424-3540 (voice)
    860-424-4058 (FAX)
    dep.gisdata@ct.gov
    Hours of Service: Monday to Friday, 08:30 to 16:30 Eastern Standard Time
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Why was the data set created?

The Coastal Area layer is 1:24,000-scale data. It depicts the location of the Connecticut Coastal Area as defined by Connecticut General Statute C.G.S. 22a-94(a). Use this layer to show the Coastal Area.  Use this layer with other 1:24,000-scale map data such as the Coastal Boundary, Town Boundaries, Roads and Trails, Airports, Railroads and other base map data derived from the USGS 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle maps and compiled at a 1:24000 scale.  Not intended for maps printed at map scales greater or more detailed than 1:24,000 scale (1 inch = 2,000 feet.)

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How was the data set created?

  1. Where did the data come from?

    Source 1 - ArcInfo Coverage-Town layer (source 1 of 2)

    State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection, 1995, Town.

    Type of source media: disc
    Source scale denominator: 24,000
    Source contribution:
    The Town layer was used as the basis for extracting specified coastal town polygons in order to create a single polygon delineating Connecticut's coastal area.

    Source 2 - Coastal Area Layer, Shapefile (source 2 of 2)

    State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection, 1995, Coastal Area: State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection, .

    Type of source media: disc
    Source scale denominator: 24,000
    Source contribution:
    Delineates the coastal area as defined by Connecticut General Statute 22a-94(a).  This layer contains a single polygon feature.

  2. What changes have been made?

    Date: 1995-1999 (change 1 of 2)
    Feature digitizing and attribution (feature selection method) - Using ESRI ArcInfo software, features appearing in the source layer were manually selected, copied and used as the basis for features in the Coastal Area layer.  Specific polygons from the Towns layer along with the state jurisdiction line from the USGS 7.5 minute quadrangle maps were selected and merged into one single polygon feature to create the Coastal Area layer.
    
    In 1999, using ESRI ArcInfo software, the Coastal Area layer was converted from the Connecticut State Plane Coordinate System of 1927 (NAD27) to the Connecticut State Plane Coordinate System of 1983 (NAD83). The NADCON (North American Datum CONversion) data transformation was used.  The Coastal Area layer was then converted from ESRI coverage format to ESRI shapefile format.  

    Person responsible for change:
    State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection
    860-424-3540 (voice)
    860-424-4058 (FAX)

    Data sources used in this process:
    • Source 1 - ArcInfo Coverage-Towns layer

    Data sources produced in this process:
    • Source 2 - Coastal Area Layer, Shapefile

    Date: 1999 (change 2 of 2)
    Datum conversion - In 1999, using ESRI ArcInfo software, the Coastal Area layer was converted from the Connecticut State Plane Coordinate System of 1927 (NAD27) to the Connecticut State Plane Coordinate System of 1983 (NAD83). The NADCON (North American Datum CONversion) data transformation was used.  The Coastal Area layer was subsequently converted from ESRI Coverage format to ESRI Shapefile format.

    Person responsible for change:
    State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection
    860-424-3540 (voice)
    860-424-4058 (FAX)

    Data sources used in this process:
    • Source 2 - Coastal Area Layer, Shapefile

    Data sources produced in this process:
    • Source 2 - Coastal Area Layer, Shapefile

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How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?

  1. How well have the observations been checked?

    There is only one polygon feature in the Coastal Area Layer.  The Av_Legend attribute value is "In coastal area", CAREA_Flg holds the value of "T" (True for coastal area), and the Shape_Area and Shape_Length attribute values are automatically calculated.  The attributes have valid values.

  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?

    The horizontal positional accuracy of this data complies with the United States National Map Accuracy Standards for 1:24,000 scale maps. According to this standard, not more than 10 percent of the locations tested are to be in error by more than 1/50 inch (40 feet) measured on the publication scale of a USGS 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle map. 

  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

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

    The Coastal Area layer is complete in the sense that it accurately reflects the coastal area as defined in Connecticut State Statute 22a-94(a).  This data is not updated.

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

    This layer consists of a single polygon that was derived from polygons in the Towns layer, which is also published by the State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection.  The Towns layer depicts Connecticut town boundaries and the state jurisdiction line in Long Island Sound at 1:24,000 scale.  Polygon features conform to the following topological rules. Polygons are single part. There are no duplicate polygons. Polygons do not self overlap. Polygons do not overlap other polygons.  The tests of logical consistency were performed by the State of Connecticut using ESRI ArcInfo software to maintain feature topology in ArcInfo coverage format. The data is topologically clean. The ArcInfo Clean function was repeatedly used following edits to verify topology and enforce a minimum distance between vertices of 4 feet (fuzzy tolerance) and a minimum allowed overshoot length of 10 feet (dangle length).

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How can someone get a copy of the data set?

Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?

Access constraints: None. The data is in the public domain and may be redistributed.
Use constraints:
None. No restrictions or legal prerequisites for using the data.  Note, the data is not intended for maps printed at map scales greater or more detailed than 1:24,000 scale (1 inch = 2,000 feet.)  Once acquired, any modification made to the data must be noted in the metadata. When printing this information on a map or using it in a software application, analysis, or report, please acknowledge the State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection as the source for this information.

Distributor 1 of 1

  1. Who distributes the data set?

    State of Connecticut, Department of Enviromental Protection
    79 Elm Street
    Hartford, Connecticut 06106-5127
    USA

    860-424-3540 (voice)
    860-424-4058 (FAX)
    dep.gisdata@ct.gov
    Hours of Service: Monday to Friday, 08:30 to 16:30 Eastern Standard Time

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

    Coastal Area

  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

  4. How can I download or order the data?

    • Availability in digital form:


    • Data format:
      in format Shapefile, Feature Class (version ArcGIS)
      Network links:http://www.ct.gov/deep

    • Cost to order the data: An online copy of the data may be accessed without charge.


  5. Is there some other way to get the data?

    The data distributor does not provide custom GIS analysis or mapping services. Data is available in a standard format and may be converted to other formats, projections, coordinate systems, or selected for specific geographic regions by the party receiving the data.

  6. What hardware or software do I need in order to use the data set?

    Geographic information sytem (GIS), computer-aided drawing or other mapping software is necessary to display, view and access the information.

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Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 20120119

Metadata author:
Jacqueline Mickiewicz, Rosemary Malley, Kevin O'Brien
State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection
79 Elm Street
Hartford, Connecticut 06106-5127
USA

860-424-3540 (voice)
860-424-4058 (FAX)
dep.gisdata@ct.gov
Hours of Service: Monday to Friday, 08:30 to 16:30 Eastern Standard Time

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

Metadata extensions used:
  • http://www.esri.com/metadata/esriprof80.html

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