Internal feature number.

ESRI

Calculated value for the estimated horizontal positional error.  To be read in a "+/-" format.

"Historical Shoreline Change:  Error Analysis and Mapping Accuracy," Crowell, M., Leatherman, S., and Buckley, M.  Journal of Coastal Research, Vol 7, No. 3, 1991, pp 839-852 & CT DEP analysis

Feature geometry.

ESRI

Abbreviation for Feature Code.  A number field that provides classification for types of shoreline features.

NOAA, modified by State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection as needed

A text field that provides the english language equivalent of the F_CODE values

NOAA, modified by the State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection as needed

ArcView Legend.  A text field for symbolizing different feature types on a map.

State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection

Internet Mapping Software Legend.  A text field for classifying and symbolizing feature types in a simple manner for an Internet map.

State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection

Sheet Number.  A text field providing the NOS numeric designation of the T-sheet.  Taken from the T-sheet label.  Multiple sheet numbers are included where lines have been edgematched across sheets.

NOAA

Sheet Name.  A text field providing the NOS naming designation of the T-sheet. Taken from the T-sheet label.  Multiple sheet names are addressed as "Multiple sheets" where lines have been edgematched across sheets.

NOAA

A text field providing the date or range of dates corresponding to the survey.  Taken from the T-sheet label.  Multiple sheet dates are included where lines have been edgematched across sheets.

NOAA

A text field providing the denominator value of the scale of the T-sheet.  Taken from the T-sheet label.

NOAA

Calculated length of feature in feet. Note, LENGTH_FT values are not automatically updated after modifying feature geometry (shape). Values must be recalculated after features are edited, simplified, generalized, clipped, dissolved, etc.

State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection

Feature geometry.

ESRI

A text field providing the name of the State a feature is located in

State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection

Calculated length of feature in miles. Note, LENGTH_MI values are not automatically updated after modifying feature geometry (shape). Values must be recalculated after features are edited, simplified, generalized, clipped, dissolved, etc.

State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection

An integer field indicating whether or not a line has been affected by the edgematching process

State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection

17 Original NOS Historic T-Sheet JPEG Images.  (1527-1, 1527-2, 1531, 1537, 1551-a, 1551-b, 1566, 1567, 1568, 1569-a, 1569-b, 1651, 1707, 1708, 1734, 1736, 1737).  NOTE: Area depicting New Haven Harbor from the West River in West Haven to the East Haven/NewHaven town boundary is missing.

Staff from the US National Geodetic Survey (NGS) provided 17 scanned JPEG images at 1200 pixels per inch (ppi) based on the original paper/mylar 1:10,000 scale T-sheet to the State of Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection.  These served as the source for the georeferenced images used in the shoreline digitization.

ground condition

17 NOS Historic T-Sheet shoreline shapefiles.  (1527-1, 1527-2, 1531, 1537, 1551-a, 1551-b, 1566, 1567, 1568, 1569-a, 1569-b, 1651, 1707, 1708, 1734, 1736, 1737).  NOTE: Area depicting New Haven Harbor from the West River in West Haven to the East Haven/NewHaven town boundary is missing.

The resulting 17 shoreline shapefiles that were produced from the vectorization process and used in the QA/QC, attributing, and feature class creation steps.

ground condition

17 georeferenced *.TIFF files.  (1527-1, 1527-2, 1531, 1537, 1551-a, 1551-b, 1566, 1567, 1568, 1569-a, 1569-b, 1651, 1707, 1708, 1734, 1736, 1737).  NOTE: Area depicting New Haven Harbor from the West River in West Haven to the East Haven/NewHaven town boundary is missing.

These are the 17 *.TIFF  image derived from the Original T-Sheet Images that were used as a base during the digitization process as well during the QA/QC review, attribution, and edgematching.

ground condition

17 NOS Historic T-Sheet wetland polygon shapefiles.  (1527-1, 1527-2, 1531, 1537, 1551-a, 1551-b, 1566, 1567, 1568, 1569-a, 1569-b, 1651, 1707, 1708, 1734, 1736, 1737).  NOTE: Area depicting New Haven Harbor from the West River in West Haven to the East Haven/NewHaven town boundary is missing.

The resulting 17 wetland polygon shapefiles that were produced from the vectorization process and used in the QA/QC, attributing, and feature class creation steps.

ground condition

This is the ArcGIS geodatabase feature class containing the topology rules used during the edgematching.

publication date

Contains data from 17 NOS Historic T-Sheet shoreline shapefiles:  (1527-1, 1527-2, 1531, 1537, 1551-a, 1551-b, 1566, 1567, 1568, 1569-a, 1569-b, 1651, 1707, 1708, 1734, 1736, 1737).  NOTE: Area depicting New Haven Harbor from the West River in West Haven to the East Haven/NewHaven town boundary is missing.

The data resulting from creating an ArcGIS feature class and loading the original 17 shoreline shapefiles into it.  Used within a geodatabase with a topology feature class for edgematching.

ground condition

Contains data from 17 NOS Historic T-Sheet wetland polygon shapefiles:  (1527-1, 1527-2, 1531, 1537, 1551-a, 1551-b, 1566, 1567, 1568, 1569-a, 1569-b, 1651, 1707, 1708, 1734, 1736, 1737).  NOTE: Area depicting New Haven Harbor from the West River in West Haven to the East Haven/NewHaven town boundary is missing.

The data resulting from creating an ArcGIS feature class and loading the original 17 wetland polygon shapefiles into it.  Used within a geodatabase with a topology feature class for edgematching.

ground condition

Contains data from 17 NOS Historic T-Sheet wetland polygon shapefiles:  (1527-1, 1527-2, 1531, 1537, 1551-a, 1551-b, 1566, 1567, 1568, 1569-a, 1569-b, 1651, 1707, 1708, 1734, 1736, 1737).  NOTE: Area depicting New Haven Harbor from the West River in West Haven to the East Haven/NewHaven town boundary is missing.

A feature class consisting of points created from the wetland polygon feature class used to hold and transfer attributes from the original polygons to any new ones that might need to be created to replace the old ones.

ground condition

Georeferencing Imagery: JPEG images were converted to uncompressed/RGB 8-bit TIFF format in Adobe Photoshop 6.0.  Images were then georeferenced to native  coordinate system (NAD27 GCS) using Blue Marble Geographics Geographic Transformer 5.0.  Control points at latitude/longitude intersections were identified and selected on each image.  All transformed images were saved in TIFF formats with appropriate world file header information.  TIFF Images were then converted to ESRI GRID format using ArcToolbox (version 8.3) and optimized for use with ArcScan (version 8.3).
ESRI GRID.  NAD 27 GCS coordinate system was defined for these ESRI GRID files. ESRI GRID files in NAD27 GCS were then reprojected to NAD83 CT State Plane coordinate system using ArcToolbox (version 8.3). ESRI GRID files were then converted to TIFF files with world file header information.

Shoreline/Wetland Vectorization:  All lines representing shoreline features (including structures such as breakwaters, jetties, groins, docks, piers, ramps, docks, man-made shoreline, etc.) and tidal marshes were vectorized to the neatline or edge of the original shoreline map.  All tidal wetland areas (including internal upland and waterbody features) have been vectorized. Features were assigned F_CODE values derived from NOAA CSC protocols.  In general the vectorization process followed the guidelines specified in "Creating Vector-Based Shoreline Coverages from T-sheets: A Vectorization Manual" prepared by NOAA. (http://www.csc.noaa.gove/shoreline/pdf/vmanuel.pdf)

Shapefile Data QA/QC & Attribution Updates:  Shoreline and wetland line features from the Shoreline Feature Layer and the Wetland Polygon Layer were overlaid onto the Georeferenced T-sheet Image by staff from the Long Island Sound Resources Center and the State of Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection.  The QA/QC process took three distinct steps, Attribute Checking, Geometry Checking, and Attribute Updates, described below:

Step 1 - Attribute Checking:  F_CODE values for the Shoreline Feature Layer and  the Wetland Polygon Layer were symbolized and compared to the features depicted on the Georeferenced T-sheet Image to assess whether or not the lines and polygons were symbolized correctly.  In cases where the lines or polygons needed correction, this was achieved through record selection and field calculations using ArcGIS software.  In general, the concept of interpreting the type of shoreline and wetland features is largely subjective.  Features types such as shoreline and wetland shoreline are generally straight-forward.  Wetland boundary lines and their associated polygons are more subjective, due in large part to the clarity of the image in these areas due to cross-hatching and shading techniques used by the cartographers.  Assessing the type of shoreline structures (docks, piers, ramps, jetties, groins, man-made shoreline, etc.) is the most subjective.   In some cases the structures are labeled on the T-sheet; these labels were then used to generate the attributes.  However in the vast majority  of cases it falls to the interpretation of the reviewer, and as such considerations like the size and location of structures was used to assign values.  Although consistent results were strived for, it should be noted that in all cases these feature attributes are best guess assessments.  There may be certain, slight inconsistencies in attribute values from sheet to sheet due to a number of factors including, but not limited to, the individual reviewer's interpretation, the clarity and quality of the t-sheet image, etc.

Step 2 - Geometry Checking:  Essentially this process was a dual attempt to a) ensure the proper representation of the shoreline & wetland features from the Georeferenced T-sheet Image to the Shoreline Feature Layer and the Wetland Polygon Layers, and b) impart as much topological intergrity between the Shoreline Feature Layer and the Wetland Polygon Layer as possible with a manual review.  It should be re-emphasized here that there is no true topology in the strictest sense within these layers, but rather a modicum of coincidence among the line and polygon features. 

In case a), features from the Shoreline Feature Layer and the Wetland Polygon Layers were compared on-screen to the Georeferenced T-sheet Image.  In areas where features needed to be added or removed, the appropriate actions were taken in ArcGIS.  In situations where features need to be added, snapping among and between line and polygon layers was used to maximize de-facto topology.  In general, the largest area of editing dealt with inconsistencies in capturing/omitting narrow ditches usually within wetlands.  As a rule, these were eliminated in the QA/QC process so that only "natural" hydrologic stream/river features were retained.  (Typically these ditches were very linear in nature and thus easy to identify.)

In case b), a manual visual inspection during the entire QA/QC process was used to look for places where the line and polygon features were not coincident, or where a polygon had small internal polygons as a result of deleting uneccesary lines, either from case a) or as artifacts from the original vectorization.  In many cases these areas presented themselves in readily identifiable areas, such as in narrow meandering streams.  Corrections generally took the form of the easiest adjustment to make; in some cases it was snapping polygons to lines, and in other cases the reverse.  Typically these adjustments were on the order of 5 ft or less, so the holding of one feature over the other was deemed unecessary.  In taking care of internal polygons, the ArcGIS Merge function was used to combine multiple polygons.  As a cautionary note, care was taken to be as thorough as possible, but it is likely that there were areas that were missed.  

Step 3 - Attribute Updates:  Once all the geometric edits were complete, the attributes were rechecked for coding updates as well as measurement field updates.  Finally the fields providing T-sheet information (SHEET_NO, SHEET_NAME, SHEET_DATE, SCALE, and ERROR_FT) were added and attributed for all records at once.

Geodatabase Creation:  Using ESRI ArcGIS 9.0, a geodatabase was created to compile and process the shoreline and wetland polygon shapefiles created in the previous steps into a statewide data layer depicting historic 1880 shoreline and wetland features.  The spatial extent was set to encompass the entire State of Connecticut, a feature dataset was created to hold the feature classes into which the 17 shoreline and 17 wetland polygon shapefiles were loaded.  Topology was generated to ensure proper geometric integrity within and between the feature classes.  The following topological rules were instituted: Line features conform to the following topological rules.  Lines do not have dangles.  Lines do not self-intersect.  Lines do not overlap. Polygons must not overlap.  Boundaries of polygons musy be covered by lines from the Shoreline feature class.  In addition, a point feature class was created from the polygons to facilitate the transfer of attributes from original polygons to any new ones that might have been created as replacements for the originals.  This point payer served as a temporary layer during the Feature Class Edits process step and was discarded afterwards.

Feature Class Edits:  Shoreline, wetland, wetland points, and topology feature classes were overlaid onto the Georeferenced T-sheet Images within ArcGIS for the purpose of editing into edgematched, topologically valid statewide shoreline and wetland feature classes.  Upon inspecting the topology errors, it was evident that there were many areas where lines and polygons were not coinicident.  As such it was decided to reconcile the line work first, then use the corrected lines to recreate any invalid polygons.  Attributes from the original polygons captured in the wetland point feature class would then be transfered to the recreated polygons.  The feature class editing process thus took three distinct steps: Shoreline Feature Edgematching/Topology Validation, Wetland Polygon Feature Edgematching/Topology Validation, and Final Inspection, described below:

1) Shoreline Feature Edgematching/Topology Validation:  Using the Georeferenced T-sheet imagery and the shoreline feature class, areas of overlapping linework between sheets was identified.  A visual inspection of the conflicting data was performed to determine which data to keep, delete or adjust, as well as what editing methods were most appropriate.  In general, the edgematch functionality on the ArcGIS Advanced Editing toolbar caused significant shifting/movement in the line work and was only used sparingly.  Typical editing options included deleting lines from one sheet and adding arcs to connect the remaining edges to data from the adjacent sheet, or deleting part of the line work from each sheet and adding intermediate connector lines.  In any case, an attribute field, EDGEMATCH, was added to the feature class track any changes to the lines.  Lines with values of 999 had no edgematching applied; Lines with values of 1 indicate a connector arc(s) was/were added; Lines with values of 2 were moved due to the edgematching.  Additionally, all fields realting to the T-sheet (SHEET_NO, SHEET_NAME, and SHEET_DATE) were updated to reflect the inclusion of multiple sheet data.  Any lines that were added were given an F_CODE value consistent with its representation on the Georeferenced T-sheet.  Once the shoreline features were edgematched into an single statewide layer, the line topology rules were run.  Each error was manually zoomed to for visual inspection and either corrected (via manual editing functions such as extend, trim, split/delete, or modify features), or marked as an excepetion.  Typical causes of exceptions were dangles that represented the cartographic termination of a waterbody or shoreline at the edge of a t-sheet that had no adjacent sheet.  After any corrections the topology was re-validated to ensure the corrections were successful.  After the edgematching/topology validation process, all length fields were recalculated to account for alterations from the editing processes

2) Wetland Polygon Feature Edgematching/Topology Validation:  Once the line work was completely validated, wetland polygons were adressed both for edgematching and topology.  The topology was rerun to address areas of problems with the lines and polygons.  In almost all cases where polygons needed to be edgematched or undergo a topological correction, the offending polygon(s) was/were deleted and rebuilt using the validated line work.  In a few cases, the corrections were easy enough to fix using manual editing functions such as split/delete, modify features, or merge.  The wetland polygon point layer was then used to manually transfer the attributes from the original polygon to the new one.  As in the shoreline feature class, the EDGEMATCH field was used to track polygons that underwent edgematching.  Polygons with values of 999 had no edgematching applied; Polygons with values of 1 indicate the polygon was created using arcs that were edgematched or two or more polygons were merged together.   After any corrections the topology was re-validated to ensure the corrections were successful.  Additionally, all fields relating to the T-sheet (SHEET_NO, SHEET_NAME, and SHEET_DATE) were updated to reflect the inclusion of multiple sheet data.  Any polygons that were added in addition to the existing ones (i.e a polygon was discovered to have been missed) were given an F_CODE value consistent with its representation on the Georeferenced T-sheet.  After the edgematching/topology validation process, all length and area fields were recalculated to account for alterations from the editing processes.

3) Final Inspection:  Once the shoreline and wetland polygon feature classes had valid topologies, a final insepction was performed to ensure all lines were coded properly.  F_CODE values for the Shoreline feature class and  the Wetland Polygon feature class were symbolized and compared to each other and to the features depicted on the Georeferenced T-sheet Images to assess whether or not the lines and polygons were symbolized correctly.  In cases where the lines or polygons needed attribute correction, this was achieved through record selection and field calculations using ArcGIS software.

Addition of Low Marsh Features:  Shoreline, wetland, and topology feature classes were overlaid onto the Georeferenced T-sheet Images within ArcGIS for the purpose of adding into the edgematched, topologically valid statewide shoreline and wetland feature classes data representing the locations of "low marshes" or areas depicted as marsh-like water ward of the shoreline. The feature class editing process thus took four distinct steps: Digitizing Low Marsh Features, Creating Low Marsh Wetland Polygon Features, Topology Validation, and Final Inspection, described below:

1) Digitizing Low Marsh Features:  Using the Georeferenced T-sheet imagery and the shoreline feature class, areas the boundaries depicting the areas of low marsh were digitized.  These areas were not as well defined as other shoreline features and typically appeared as marsh-like cross-hatching with no definitive boundary.  As such, error estimates for these line were incresed.  During the digitizing process several fields realting to the T-sheet (SHEET_NO, SHEET_NAME) were updated to reflect the inclusion of multiple sheet data.  Any lines that were added were given an F_CODE value consistent with its representation on the Georeferenced T-sheet. 

2) Creating Low Marsh Wetland Polygon Features:  Using the line work for the low marsh features, corresponding polygons were created by using an ArcGIS 9.0 extension, X-Tools, to convert the lines to polygon features.  These were then copied into the wetland polygon feature class.  After the copy, several fields realting to the T-sheet (SHEET_NO, SHEET_NAME) were updated to reflect the inclusion of multiple sheet data.  Any polygons that were added were given an F_CODE value consistent with its representation on the Georeferenced T-sheet. 

3)Topology Validation:   Once the low marsh line an dpolygon features were digitized, the line/polygon topology rules were run.  Each error was manually zoomed to for visual inspection and either corrected (via manual editing functions such as extend, trim, split/delete, or modify features), or marked as an excepetion.  After any corrections the topology was re-validated to ensure the corrections were successful. 

4) Final Inspection:  Once the shoreline and wetland polygon feature classes had valid topologies, a final insepction was performed to ensure all lines were coded properly.  F_CODE values for the low marsh records in the Shoreline feature class and  the Wetland Polygon feature class were symbolized and compared to each other and to the features depicted on the Georeferenced T-sheet Images to assess whether or not the lines and polygons were symbolized correctly.  In cases where the lines or polygons needed attribute correction, this was achieved through record selection and field calculations using ArcGIS software.  Other fields providing T-sheet descriptions were checked and updated as well.  The new error estimates for low marsh features were added, and new field, STATE, was added to allow the selection of data for either CT, RI, or NY.  Finally, all length and area fields were recalculated to account for alterations from the editing processes.

Metadata imported.

Metadata imported.