Metadata - Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources Data Set
GEODATASET NAME: OGLSCCAP250
IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION
Description:
Ontario's land cover map reclassed to NOAA's Coastal Change
Analysis Program (C-CAP) land cover classification, clipped to
the Great Lakes Basin study area boundary.
Abstract:
C-CAP includes the classification of 2000 Landsat 7 data to
produce a land cover product intended to improve the
understanding of coastal uplands and wetlands, and their
linkages with the distribution, abundance, and health of
living marine resources.
Data Type:
Grid
Data Originators:
David B. White
Geomatics and Data Acquisition Services Section
Natural Resources Information Branch
Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
300 Water Street, 2nd Floor
Peterborough, Ontario K9J 8M5
(705)755-1470
(705)755-1640
david.white@mnr.gov.on.ca
and
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Coastal Services Center
Charleston, SC
(843)740-1210
csc@csc.noaa.gov
Data Processors:
Rick Van Remortel & Ed Evanson
Lockheed Martin Environmental Services
1050 E. Flamingo Road, Suite E120
Las Vegas, NV 89119
(702)897-3295
rvanremo@lmepo.com
Data Provider:
Ricardo Lopez, Ph.D.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
National Exposure Research Laboratory
P.O. Box 93478
Las Vegas, NV 89193-3478
(702)798-2394
lopez.ricardo@epa.gov
Keywords:
Ontario, coastal, land cover classification data, C-CAP, wetland
Version:
N/A
Status:
Interim
Revision Number:
0
Series Name:
Online Link (URL):
Time Period of Content:
Use Constraints:
Purpose:
GLB data browser
Date of metadata entry/update:
01/24/2005
No Publication Information Available
No File Security Information Available
DATA QUALITY INFORMATION
Cloud Cover:
Not applicable
Software:
ESRI ArcGIS ArcInfo 8.2 Workstation
Operating System:
Microsoft WindowsXP
Path Name:
d:\solec\ontario\gds\oglsccap250
Logical Consistency Report:
Not presently available
Completeness Report:
Not presently available
Horizontal Positional Accuracy:
Not presently available
Vertical Positional Accuracy:
Not presently available
Attribute Accuracy:
Not presently available
Procedures:
The 28-class Ontario land cover dataset was clipped to the OGLS
study area boundary. The grid values were reclassed to the C-CAP
land cover classification to enable the comparison of land cover
classes across the international U.S./Canada border.
Reviews Applied to Data
Lockheed Martin Environmental Services internal review
Related Spatial Data Files:
All geodatasets with gls prefix.
Other References Cited:
Dobson, J. et. al., NOAA Coastal Change Analysis Program(C-CAP):
Guidance for Regional Implementation, NOAA Technical Report
NMFS 123, U.S. Department of Commerce, April 1995.
Notes:
Update Frequency:
As needed
SPATIAL REFERENCE INFORMATION
Description of Grid oglsccap250
Cell Size = 30.000 Data Type: Integer
Number of Rows = 31611 Number of Values = 13
Number of Columns = 41919 Attribute Data (bytes) = 48
BOUNDARY STATISTICS
Xmin = 390333.965 Minimum Value = 1.000
Xmax = 1647903.965 Maximum Value = 19.000
Ymin = 2152046.676 Mean = 8.586
Ymax = 3100376.676 Standard Deviation = 4.845
COORDINATE SYSTEM DESCRIPTION
Projection ALBERS
Datum NAD83
Units METERS Spheroid GRS1980
Parameters:
1st standard parallel 29 30 0.000
2nd standard parallel 45 30 0.000
central meridian -96 0 0.000
latitude of projection's origin 23 0 0.000
false easting (meters) 0.00000
false northing (meters) 0.00000
Arc: items oglsccap250.vat
ENTITY AND ATTRIBUTE INFORMATION
Annotation Name:
ATTRIBUTE LISTING FOR: oglsccap250.vat
COLUMN ITEM NAME WIDTH OUTPUT TYPE N.DEC ALTERNATE NAME INDEXED?
1 VALUE 4 10 B - Indexed
5 COUNT 4 10 B - -
9 CCAP_CLASS 40 40 C - -
METADATA REFERENCE SECTION
FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata
FGDC Standards Version 6/98 / metadata.aml ver. 1.3 5/21/99
SUPPLEMENTAL METADATA (where available)
Origin of the Ontario Land Cover Base Data
The Ontario Land Cover Data Base is the first land cover classification in
Canada to be completed for an entire province wholly from satellite remote
sensing data. The data base was produced in nine segments (termed "tiles")
under three separate programs of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
(OMNR) between 1991 and 1998.
The Forest Landscape Ecology Program (FLEP) of the Ontario Forest Research
Institute initiated satellite land cover classification for part of the
province under the Ministry's Forest Fragmentation and Biodiversity Project.
The focus of this project was to produce digital spatial information on the
land cover and forest types of the managed forest region of the province,
an area of approximately 500,000 sq.km.
Building on the foundation laid by the FLEP program, the Natural Resources
Information Branch of OMNR launched a project to complete land cover
classification derived from LANDSAT Thematic Mapper satellite data for
both Southern Ontario and the far north of the province. The Hudson Bay-
James Bay Lowlands tile was completed under a distinct OMNR project with a
focus of wildlife habitat mapping.
In 1996, the land cover data generated by all three programs were integrated
into a single provincial data base. To accomplish this integration, a single
set of 48 land cover classes was compiled, which represented all of the
classes distinguished in the individual tiles of the province. This
classification scheme had the virtue of avoiding the loss of distinctions
made in any individual tile, but some overlap and inconsistency occurred
among the classes. Such as result was unavoidable, given the slightly different
focus of the three programs that produced the data. The first user's manual
on the land cover data base was prepared, which discussed the correspondence
among land cover themes in individual tiles.
In 1997/98, under the Ministry's Lands for Life Program, forest cutovers and
burns within the managed forest region of the province (within both the Great
Lakes and Boreal regions) were updated from 1996 TM data. The current data
base thus contains information on successional forest dating from 1995/96.
In 1998/99, OMNR launched a project to rationalize the provincial land cover
data; that is, to create one single, consistent land cover classification at
the provincial level by merging certain classes and sub-classifying others.
The outcome of this initiative consists of 28 consistent land cover classes
mapped across the entire province. A revised user's manual on the data base
describes the individual classes and notes the degree of regional variation
that still exists within some of them.
Dates of Coverage
The Ontario Land Cover data was derived from digital, multispectral LANDSAT
Thematic Mapper data recorded on a range of dates between 1986 and 1997, but
the majority of the satellite data frames were recorded in the early 1990s.
The forest cutovers and burns were updated from 1996 TM coverage for the
Great Lakes forest region and most of the Boreal forest region of the province.
Definition of Land Cover
The land cover classes consist of vegetation types (such as forest, wetlands,
and agricultural crops or pasture) and categories of non-vegetated surface
(such as waterbodies, bedrock outcrops, or settlements). The data reflects
the nature of the land surface rather than the land use. For example,
provincial parks are not discriminated as areas of recreational land use,
but are mapped as part of the provincial mosaic of waterbodies, forest
types, wetlands, and other cover classes.
Recognition of Classes
Satellite land cover classification identifies cover types by their spectral
character. This spectral character is determined by the electromagnetic
energy reflected by the vegetation and other surfaces that make up that cover
type. For example forest types are identified by the mixture of coniferous
and deciduous species, the degree of canopy closure, and the ground cover
visible through canopy gaps. Similarly, wetland types are identified by the
nature of the vegetation cover (trees, grasses, or mosses) and the proportion
of open water. Agricultural land cover is distinguished by the spectral
character of growing row crops, pasture, or open soil. Forest cutovers are
recognized by a combination of spectral reflectance, internal pattern, and
context.
The land cover classification was performed using a supervised classification
method, informed by extensive field knowledge of land cover conditions
throughout Ontario. Digital image analysis depends on the use of software
functions to discriminate among quantitative data on spectral reflectance
in various wavelengths; nevertheless, the process is interactive and interpretive.
The image analyst must make sense of spectral differences in the satellite data
from the individual's own field knowledge of land cover conditions and
understanding of how those conditions are reflected on the satellite image.
Interactive editing was used extensively to map certain classes which could not
be positively identified without taking pattern and/or context into account,
in addition to spectral values. Through visual interpretation, regenerating
old cutovers were differentiated from deciduous forest, wetlands occurring
within cutovers were differentiated from their surroundings, and densely
treed wetlands were differentiated from coniferous forest. On the basis of
context alone, certain areas that by spectral values alone appeared to be
sparse forest were identified as settlements. The knowledgeable use of
editing techniques improved the overall accuracy of the land cover data
significantly.
Estimated Accuracy
Satellite image analysis was used to produce the Ontario land cover data
because the vast area to be mapped (1 million km2) made the use of more
detailed mapping methods impractical. The resulting database has not been
subjected to standard techniques of accuracy assessment, for two reasons.
First, the land cover classes are broad and thus subject to broad
interpretation. Secondly, gathering sufficient ground truth data to
provide a meaningful assessment of accuracy over so vast an area has
not been financially feasible.
Practical experience suggests that the accuracy of the original, high-resolution
land cover data is 95 percent or better for waterbodies; approximately 90 percent
for the forest classes, with exception of some degree of unavoidable confusion
between treed wetlands and sparse forest classes; and approximately 85 percent
for agricultural land cover, taking into account the presence of widespread,
unavoidable confusion with small towns and roads. Mine tailings, quarries,
bedrock outcrops, and coastal mudflats along Hudson Bay and James Bay were
mapped as a single class of minimal vegetation cover with an overall accuracy
of approximately 90 percent, although some quarries may have been indistinguishable
amid agricultural land cover. Major settlements and roads were spectrally
distinguished with less confidence than all other classes.
Description of the Original Land Cover Classes
1. WATER: All waterbodies, both deep/clear and shallow/sedimented.
2. COASTAL MUDFLATS: Unvegetated coastal areas of the Hudson Bay-James Bay
Lowlands, partly submerged at high tide.
3. INTERTIDAL MARSH: Coastal marshes of the Hudson Bay-James Bay Lowland
lying between the coastal mudflats and the supertidal zone.
4. SUPERTIDAL MARSH: Coastal marshes of the Hudson Bay-James Bay Lowland
lying inland of the Coastal Mudflat and Intertidal Marsh classes and
subject to only exceptionally high tides.
5. FRESHWATER COASTAL MARSH/ INLAND MARSH: Coastal marshes of the
Hudson Bay- James Bay Lowland lying beyond the area of saltwater influence; marshes
occurring along lakeshores; Southern Ontario inland marshes characterized
by a range of moisture conditions: seasonal marshes, flooded in spring but
often dry by fall, that may appear flooded more deeply than other types of
inland marsh; cattail marshes that appear generally drier than the flooded
seasonal marshes; and grassy meadow marshes which appear generally drier
than either the seasonal marshes or cattail marshes.
6. DECIDUOUS SWAMP: Hardwood swamps of Southern Ontario occurring along
rivers and in old lake beds and other low-lying areas; includes thicket
swamps in Northern Ontario.
7. CONIFER SWAMP: Swamps with dense conifer tree or shrub cover occurring
mainly in Southern Ontario.
8. OPEN FEN: Non-treed grassy fens; fens with open pools occurring most
extensively in the Hudson Bay-James Bay Lowlands; bogs of the Hudson Bay-
James Bay Lowland that have a high proportion of open water surface
(termed "string bogs").
9. TREED FEN: Fens with dense shrub cover and tamarack tree cover occurring
generally in the province but most extensively in the Hudson Bay-James Bay
Lowlands.
10. OPEN BOG: Non-treed bog that may have a partial cover of stunted trees
occurring generally in the province but most extensively in the Hudson Bay-
James Bay Lowlands, where it also includes lichen-rich peat plateau.
11. TREED BOG: Bog with a low to high density of tree cover. There is expected
to be some degree of overlap between densely treed bog and sparse conifer forest
in more northerly parts of the province and especially in the Hudson Bay-James Bay
Lowlands.
12. TUNDRA HEATH: Areas of dense ericaceous vegetation occurring on better-drained
areas only in the Hudson Bay coastal zone.
13. DENSE DECIDUOUS FOREST: Largely continuous forest canopy composed at least
80 percent of deciduous species; includes deciduous shrub cover on old burns and
alder thicket swamps in the Hudson Bay-James Bay Lowlands.
14. DENSE CONIFEROUS FOREST: Largely continuous forest canopy composed at least
80 percent of coniferous species; includes dense conifer swamp in the Hudson Bay-
James Bay Lowlands.
15. CONIFEROUS PLANTATION: Mature conifer plantations, mostly pine, occurring in
evenly spaced rows, mainly in Southern Ontario. This class does not include
artificially regenerated cutovers or burns in Northern Ontario.
16. MIXED FOREST, MAINLY DECIDUOUS: Largely continuous forest canopy composed
of coniferous and deciduous species, with deciduous species dominant (i.e.,
comprising more than 50 percent of the canopy).
17. MIXED FOREST, MAINLY CONIFEROUS: Largely continuous forest canopy composed
of coniferous and deciduous species, with coniferous species dominant (i.e.,
comprising more than 50 percent of the canopy).
18. SPARSE CONIFEROUS FOREST: Patchy or sparse forest canopy (i.e. approximately
30 to 40 percent canopy closure) composed approximately 80 percent of coniferous
species.
19. SPARSE DECIDUOUS FOREST: Patchy or sparse forest canopy (i.e., approximately
30 to 40 percent canopy closure) composed approximately 80 percent of deciduous
species.
20. RECENT CUTOVERS: Forest clear-cuts estimated at less than 10 years of age.
21. RECENT BURNS: Forest burns estimated at less than 10 years of age.
22. OLD CUTS AND BURNS: Forest clear-cuts and burns estimated at more than 10
years of age.
23. MINE TAILINGS, QUARRIES, AND BEDROCK OUTCROPS: Clearings for mining activity
scattered in all parts of the province; aggregate quarries occurring mainly in
Southern Ontario; bedrock outcrops.
24. SETTLEMENT AND DEVELOPED LAND: Clearings for human settlement and economic
activity; major transportation routes.
25. PASTURE AND ABANDONED FIELDS: Open grassland with sparse shrubs mapped in
agricultural areas of Southern Ontario; includes orchard lands.
26. CROPLAND: Row crops mapped in Southern Ontario; hay or open soil in areas
of agricultural land use.
27. ALVAR: Homogeneous areas of dry grassland growing on thin soils over a
limestone substrate, mapped only where they occur in clusters in the central
and eastern portions of Southern Ontario.
28. UNCLASSIFIED: Small local areas where no classification data could be
generated because clouds and their shadows obscured the land surface on the
satellite image data.
Inquiries regarding the nature of the original Ontario land cover data and how
it can be used should be directed to:
Geomatics and Data Acquisition Services Section
Natural Resources Information Branch
Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
300 Water Street, 2nd Floor
Peterborough, Ontario K9J 8M5
Attention: David B. White
Telephone: 705-755-1470
Fax: 705-755-1640
E-mail: david.white@mnr.gov.on.ca
Note: See glsccap.met for a detailed technical description of the C-CAP
land classification processing.
The original Ontario land cover classes were reclassed to their approximate
C-CAP equivalents using the following Arc change legend:
con (oglslc2825 0 eq 1, 18, oglslc28250 eq 5, 12, oglslc28250 eq 6, 10,
oglslc28250 eq 7, 10, oglslc28250 eq 8, 12, oglslc28250 eq 9, 10,
oglslc28250 eq 10, 19, oglslc28250 eq 11, 10, oglslc28250 eq 13, 6,
oglslc28250 eq 14, 7, oglslc28250 eq 15, 7, oglslc28250 eq 16, 8,
oglslc28250 eq 17, 8, oglslc28250 eq 18, 7, oglslc28250 eq 19, 6,
oglslc28250 eq 20, 5)
Description of the Final C-CAP Land Cover Classes
Record VALUE COUNT CCAP_CLASS
1 1 290861 Unclassified_cloud_shadow_etc.
2 2 3770890 High_intensity_developed
3 4 53444240 Cultivated_land
4 5 8301409 Grassland
5 6 46493622 Deciduous_forest
6 7 35068554 Evergreen_forest
7 8 68757088 Mixed_forest
8 9 3892640 Scrub/shrub
9 10 5328168 Palustrine_forested_wetland
10 12 1280841 Palustrine_emergent_wetland
11 17 3173759 Bare_land
12 18 50470274 Water
13 19 252543 Palustrine_aquatic_bed
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 1 Unclassified
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition:
This class contains no
data due to cloud conditions or data voids.
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 2 High Intensity Developed
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition:
Contains little or no vegetation. This subclass includes
heavily built-up urban centers as well as large
constructed surfaces in suburban and rural areas. Large
buildings (such as multiple family housing, hangars, and
large barns), interstate highways, and runways typically
fall into this subclass.
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 3 Low Intensity Developed
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition:
Contains substantial amounts of constructed surface mixed
with substantial amounts of vegetated surface. Small
buildings (such as single family housing, farm
outbuildings, and sheds), streets, roads, and cemeteries
with associated grasses and trees typically fall into this
subclass.
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 4 Cultivated Land
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition:
Includes herbaceous (cropland) and woody (e.g., orchards,
nurseries, and vineyards) cultivated lands.
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 5 Grassland
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition:
Dominated by naturally occurring grasses and non-grasses
(forbs) that are not fertilized, cut, tilled, or planted
regularly.
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 6 Deciduous Forest
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition:
Includes areas dominated by single stemmed, woody
vegetation unbranched 0.6 to 1 meter (2 to 3 feet) above
the ground and having a height greater than 6 meters (20
feet).
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 7 Evergreen Forest
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition:
Includes areas in which more than 67 percent of the trees
remain green throughout the year. Both coniferous and
broad-leaved evergreens are included in this category.
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 8 Mixed Forest
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition:
Contains all forested areas in which both evergreen and
deciduous trees are growing and neither predominate.
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 9 Scrub/Shrub
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition:
Areas dominated by woody vegetation less than 6 meters in
height. This class includes true shrubs,young trees, and
trees or shrubs that are small or stunted because of
environmental conditions.
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 10 Palustrine Forested Wetland
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition:
Includes all nontidal wetlands dominated by woody
vegetation greater than or equal to 6 meters in height,
and all such wetlands that occur in tidal areas in which
salinity due to ocean-derived salts is below 0.5 parts per
thousand (ppt).
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 11 Palustrine Scrub/Shrub Wetland
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition:
Includes all nontidal wetlands dominated by woody
vegetation less than or equal to 6 meters in height, and
all such wetlands that occur in tidal areas in which
salinity due to ocean-derived salts is below 0.5 ppt.
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 12 Palustrine Emergent Wetland
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition:
Includes all nontidal wetlands dominated by trees, shrubs,
persistent emergents, emergent mosses, or lichens, and all
such wetlands that occur in tidal areas in which salinity
due to ocean- derived salts is below 0.5 ppt.
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 13 Estuarine Forest Wetland
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition:
Includes all tidal wetlands dominated by woody vegetation
greater than or equal to 6 meters in height, and all such
wetlands that occur in tidal areas in which salinity due
to ocean-derived salts is above 0.5 parts per thousand
(ppt).
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 14 Estuarine Scrub/Shrub Wetland
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition:
Includes all tidal wetlands dominated by woody vegetation
less than or equal to 6 meters in height, and all such
wetlands that occur in tidal areas in which salinity due
to ocean-derived salts is above 0.5 ppt.
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 15 Estuarine Emergent
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition:
Characterized by erect, rooted, herbaceous hydrophytes
(excluding mosses and lichens) that are present for most
of the growing season in most years. Perennial plants
usually dominate these wetlands. All water regimes are
included except those that are subtidal and irregularly
exposed.
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 16 Unconsolidated Shore
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition:
Characterized by substrates lacking vegetation except for
pioneering plants that become established during brief
periods when growing conditions are favorable. Erosion and
deposition by waves and currents produce a number of
landforms, such as beaches, bars, and flats, all of which
are included in this class.
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 17 Bare Land
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition:
Composed of bare soil, rock, sand, silt, gravel, or other
earthen material with little or no vegetation.
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 18 Water
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition:
Includes all areas of open water with less than 30 percent
cover of trees, shrubs, persistent emergent plants,
emergent mosses, or lichens.
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 19 Palustrine Aquatic Bed
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition:
Includes wetlands and deepwater habitats dominated by
plants that grow principally on or below the surface of
the water for most of the growing season in most years.
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