Mean tidal range of marsh units in Hudson Valley and New York City salt marsh complex, New York

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Frequently anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?

Title:
Mean tidal range of marsh units in Hudson Valley and New York City salt marsh complex, New York
Abstract:
This data release contains coastal wetland synthesis products for the geographic region of Hudson Valley and New York City, New York. Metrics for resiliency, including unvegetated to vegetated ratio (UVVR), marsh elevation, and mean tidal range, are calculated for smaller units delineated from a Digital Elevation Model, providing the spatial variability of physical factors that influence wetland health. Through scientific efforts initiated with the Hurricane Sandy Science Plan, the U.S. Geological Survey has been expanding national assessment of coastal change hazards and forecast products to coastal wetlands with the intent of providing Federal, State, and local managers with tools to estimate the vulnerability and ecosystem service potential of these wetlands. For this purpose, the response and resilience of coastal wetlands to physical factors need to be assessed in terms of the ensuing change to their vulnerability and ecosystem services.
  1. How might this data set be cited?
    Welk, Robert, Defne, Zafer, and Ganju, Neil K., 20200721, Mean tidal range of marsh units in Hudson Valley and New York City salt marsh complex, New York: data release DOI:10.5066/P9XV0JMJ, U.S. Geological Survey, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Woods Hole, MA.

    Online Links:

    This is part of the following larger work.

    Welk, Robert, Defne, Zafer, and Ganju, Neil, 2020, Coastal wetlands of Hudson Valley and New York City, New York: data release DOI:10.5066/P9XV0JMJ, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA.

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details:
    Suggested citation: Welk, R.J., Defne, Z., and Ganju, N.K., 2020, Coastal wetlands of Hudson Valley and New York City, New York: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9XV0JMJ
  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?
    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -74.2459935
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -73.6566221
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 41.6797007
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 40.5021037
  3. What does it look like?
    https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/file/get/5ede485a82ce7e579c6e5681?name=MN_HvNYC_browse.png (PNG)
    Graphic that shows mean tidal range overlaying Esri basemap.
  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
    Calendar_Date: 2020
    Currentness_Reference:
    publication date
  5. What is the general form of this data set?
    Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: Vector Digital dataset (Polygon)
  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?
    1. How are geographic features stored in the data set?
      This is a Vector data set. It contains the following vector data types (SDTS terminology):
      • G-polygon (971)
    2. What coordinate system is used to represent geographic features?
      The map projection used is WGS 1984 Web Mercator Auxiliary Sphere (Esri Full Name: WGS_1984_Web_Mercator_Auxiliary_Sphere).
      Projection parameters:
      Standard_Parallel: 0.0
      Longitude_of_Central_Meridian: 0.0
      False_Easting: 0.0
      False_Northing: 0.0
      Planar coordinates are encoded using coordinate pair
      Abscissae (x-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 0.6096
      Ordinates (y-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 0.6096
      Planar coordinates are specified in Meter
      The horizontal datum used is D_WGS_1984.
      The ellipsoid used is WGS_1984.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378137.0.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.257223563.
  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?
    mu_MN_HvNYC
    Table containing attribute information associated with the dataset. (Source: Producer defined)
    FID
    Internal feature number. (Source: Esri) Unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.
    Shape
    Feature geometry. (Source: Esri) Coordinates defining the features.
    FID_CMU
    Unique whole number that represents the identification number for each conceptual marsh unit. (Source: USGS)
    Range of values
    Minimum:0
    Maximum:2622
    Units:none
    AVEG_M2
    Surface area of vegetated part of a marsh unit in square meters. (Source: USGS)
    Range of values
    Minimum:0
    Maximum:503507.428446
    Units:square meters
    ATOT_M2
    Total surface area of a marsh unit in square meters. (Source: USGS)
    Range of values
    Minimum:9.350404
    Maximum:504856.332563
    Units:square meters
    MN
    Mean tidal range in meters averaged over a marsh unit. (Source: USGS)
    Range of values
    Minimum:0.76012
    Maximum:2.24628
    Units:meters
    FLG
    Marsh unit flag indicating anomalous marsh units based on elevation, surface area, and absence of vegetation. FLG values indicate: (-1) no vegetated area in the marsh unit; (-10) marsh unit elevation higher than the 99.8 percentile; (-100) marsh unit elevation less than 0.2 percentile; (-1000) marsh unit surface area less than 900 m^2; (-10000) mean tidal range of marsh unit is extrapolated; and (0) no flag. Combination of negative values indicate combination of flags. For example, -1001 indicates no vegetated area and area less than 900 m^2. (Source: USGS)
    Range of values
    Minimum:-11010
    Maximum:0
    Units:None
    Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:
    In this dataset, tidal range for each conceptual salt marsh unit in the Hudson Valley and New York City salt marsh complex has been calculated based on a 0.0005 arc degrees interpolated VDatum dataset. Decimal values in the attribute table are a result of double precision calculations while significant digits are considered in defining the attribute measurement resolutions. Therefore, the smallest unit increment for area values and tidal range is assumed to be 1 meter and 0.01, respectively.
    Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation: USGS

Who produced the data set?

  1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)
    • Robert Welk
    • Zafer Defne
    • Neil K. Ganju
  2. Who also contributed to the data set?
  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Attn: Robert J Welk
    Hydrologic Technician
    2045 Route 112
    Coram, NY
    US

    631-736-0783 x141 (voice)
    rwelk@usgs.gov

Why was the data set created?

The purpose of this shapefile is to calculate mean tidal range in each marsh unit. Analysis of mean tidal range is part of a comprehensive assessment to identify the factors and their weights in determining the vulnerability and resiliency of salt marshes. Biomass production is positively correlated with mean tidal range in salt marshes along the Atlantic coast of the United States. Recent studies support the idea that enhanced stability of the marshes can be attributed to increased vegetative growth due to increased tidal range. This dataset displays the spatial variation of mean tidal range (i.e. Mean Range of Tides, MN) in the Hudson Valley and New York City salt marsh complex. MN was based on the calculated difference in height between mean high water (MHW) and mean low water (MLW) using the VDatum (v3.5) database ( http://vdatum.noaa.gov/ ).

How was the data set created?

  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?
    CMU_HvNYC (source 1 of 1)
    U.S. Geological Survey, 2020, Coastal wetlands of Hudson Valley and New York City, New York: U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: Digital
    Source_Contribution: Used conceptual marsh units to delineate marsh unit boundaries.
  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?
    Date: 2019 (process 1 of 5)
    Calculate Mean Range of Tides using the VDatum (v3.5) database covering this region (http://vdatum.noaa.gov/download.php ). Create a 0.0005 arc degrees (~50 meters) spaced point dataset in Matlab (ver. 2012b) for the Hudson Valley and New York City domain. Calculate the mean range of tides (MN) as MN=MHW-MLW, where MHW is the mean high water level and MLW is the mean low water level in the VDatum database, and interpolate to the point dataset. The resulting comma-separated file [MN.csv] includes columns for latitude, longitude and MN. Person who carried out this activity:
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Attn: Zafer Defne
    Ocean Scientist
    384 Woods Hole Rd.
    Woods Hole, MA
    USA

    508-458-8700 x2254 (voice)
    508-457-2310 (FAX)
    zdefne@usgs.gov
    Date: 2020 (process 2 of 5)
    This process step and all subsequent process steps were performed by the same person, Robert Welk, in ArcMap (ver. 10.7.1) using tools from ArcToolbox, unless otherwise stated. For complex operations, names of specific tools used are given in CAPITAL letters (any critical parameters used are given in parentheses, separated by a semicolon, immediately after the tool name). The input and output file names are provided in [square brackets] when necessary. Units for length and area calculations are meters (m) and square meters (m^2) unless otherwise stated.
    Calculate values for each marsh unit. DISSOLVE(Input features=[CMU_HvNYC]; Dissolve field=FID_CMU; Statistics field=ATOT_M2 and FLG with Statistics type= First) to dissolve the vegetated and unvegetated classes in each marsh unit. Set FLG to (-1) no vegetated area in the marsh unit; (-10) marsh unit elevation higher than the 99.8 percentile; (-100) marsh unit elevation less than 0.2 percentile; (-1000) marsh unit surface area less than 900 m^2; (-10000) mean tidal range of marsh unit is extrapolated; and (0) no flag. Combination of negative values indicate combination of flags. For example, -1001 indicates no vegetated area and area less than 900 m^2. PROJECT(Input coordinate system=WGS 1984 Web Mercator Auxiliary Sphere; Output coordinate system=NAD 1983 UTM Zone 18N; Geographic transformation=WGS 1984 (ITRF00) to NAD 1983) the feature dataset to obtain the final conceptual marsh units [mu_MN_HvNYC.shp]. Person who carried out this activity:
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Attn: Robert Welk
    Hydrologic Technician
    2045 NY 112
    Coram, NY
    USA

    631-736-0783 x141 (voice)
    rwelk@usgs.gov
    Data sources used in this process:
    • CMU_HvNYC
    Date: 2020 (process 3 of 5)
    Create a raster surface dataset from the feature points. a) Import points from [MN.csv] to ArcMap using MAKE XY EVENT LAYER with the North American 1983 Continuously Operating Reference Station datum (GCS NAD 1983 CORS96) coordinate reference system to get [MN_points.shp].
    b) Create a raster surface with inverse distance weighting in Spatial Analyst toolbox. IDW.SpatialAnalyst(Output Cell Size=0.0001 degree; Power=2; Search Radius=Variable; Number of Points=12) to obtain [MN_raster_idw.tif].
    Date: 2020 (process 4 of 5)
    Clip the raster to marsh boundaries. A buffer zone is created around the marsh boundaries to facilitate alternative interpolation and clipping options in future studies.
    a) Create 300 meter buffer around the marsh polygon [mu_diss.shp] to create a clipping mask [mu_buff300m.shp]. BUFFER(Side type= Full; Method =Geodesic; Dissolve type= All).
    b) Clip the raster with the clipping mask. EXTRACT BY MASK to obtain [MN_HvNYC.tif].
    Date: 2020 (process 5 of 5)
    Calculate values for each marsh unit. a) Clip the raster with the polygon features by using EXTRACT BY MASK to obtain [mn_idw_mu.tif].
    b) ZONAL STATISTICS AS TABLE(Feature Zone Data=[mu_diss.shp]; zone field=FID_CMU; Value Raster=[mn_idw_mu.tif]; Output Table=mu; Statistics type=MEAN)
    c) ADD JOIN(Layer name=[mu_diss.shp]; Input join field=FID_CMU; Join Table=mu; Output join field=FID_CMU) to marsh units layer based on the "FID_CMU" field
    d) Export dataset as a shapefile [mu_MN_HvNYC.shp] and keep the 'mu_MEAN" and "mu_ATOT_M2" fields from the join operation.
    e) SELECT BY ATTRIBUTES FROM [CMU_HvNYC] where "CLASS"= 'vegetated', and join field "APGN_M2" from CMU_HvNYC.shp on the feature dataset [mu_MN_HvNYC.shp].
    f) Find tidal range values that are completely extrapolated. To do that select from [mu_MN_HvNYC.shp] with a 25m search distance to intersect [MN_points.shp] and then switch the selection to get marsh units the ones that don't intersect. These units are flagged as FLG= -10,000.
    g) Rearrange field names and change the projection for better performance of web services with online base maps. PROJECT(Input coordinate system=NAD 1983 UTM Zone 18N; Output coordinate system=WGS 1984 Web Mercator Auxiliary Sphere; Geographic transformation=WGS 1984 (ITRF00) to NAD 1983) the feature dataset to obtain the final conceptual marsh units [mu_MN_HvNYC.shp].
  3. What similar or related data should the user be aware of?
    NOAA, 2016, VDatum (v3.5): NOAA, Silver Spring, MD.

    Online Links:

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

  1. How well have the observations been checked?
    Marsh units and water and land boundaries inherit their accuracy from the source data, Hudson Valley and New York City marsh units. Mean range of tides is calculated from the VDatum database, then interpolated on a raster surface and averaged at each marsh unit. If a marsh unit does not overlap with any raster cell center, it is assigned the value of the raster cell with the largest overlap.
  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?
    Horizontal accuracy for the polygon boundaries is inherited from the source layer, the conceptual marsh units, and is considered to be +/- 6 meters. The point cloud used for calculating tidal range with VDatum had a 0.0005 arc degree (~50-meter) resolution that was interpolated over a 0.0001 arc degree raster prior to clipping and calculating the mean value for each marsh unit.
  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
    The maximum cumulative uncertainty for the Hudson Valley and New York City, NY operational VDatum region is given as 0.12 meters. See Estimation of Vertical Uncertainties in VDatum for more information (https://vdatum.noaa.gov/docs/est_uncertainties.html).
  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
    The results are specific to the marsh polygons as defined within the boundaries of the Hudson Valley and New York City salt marsh complex. A detailed on-the-ground analysis of a single site may result in a different interpretation of the wetland and marsh unit boundaries.
  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?
    Polygons do not overlap and mean tidal range is positive. During processing of conceptual marsh units, small polygons (less than 9 square meters) were assumed to be marginal and were assigned the classification from the surrounding majority value. This resulted in polygons that were removed from the dataset and FID CMU values that are not sequential.

How can someone get a copy of the data set?

Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?
Access_Constraints None
Use_Constraints The mean tidal range for each marsh unit is defined for scientific research purposes and should not be used as a sole source of reference for any regulations and policy making. Public domain data from the U.S. Government are freely redistributable with proper metadata and source attribution. Please recognize the U.S. Geological Survey as the source of this information.
  1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)
    U.S. Geological Survey - ScienceBase
    Denver Federal Center, Building 810, Mail Stop 302
    Denver, CO

    1-888-275-8747 (voice)
    sciencebase@usgs.gov
  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set? mu_MN_HvNYC.shp (and other shapefile components), browse graphic (MN_HvNYC_browse.png), and CSDGM metadata in XML format.
  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?
    Neither the U.S. Government, the Department of the Interior, nor the USGS, nor any of their employees, contractors, or subcontractors, make any warranty, express or implied, nor assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, nor represent that its use would not infringe on privately owned rights. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by the USGS in the use of these data or related materials. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Not for navigational use.
  4. How can I download or order the data?

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 19-Mar-2024
Metadata author:
U.S. Geological Survey, Northeast Region
Attn: Robert J Welk
Hydrologic Technician
2045 Route 112
Coram, NY
US

631-736-0783 x141 (voice)
whsc_data_contact@usgs.gov
Contact_Instructions:
The metadata contact email address is a generic address in the event the person is no longer with USGS. (updated on 20240319)
Metadata standard:
FGDC Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)
This page is <https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/catalog/whcmsc/SB_data_release/DR_P9XV0JMJ/mu_MN_HvNYC.faq.html>
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