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GIS Definition
A
geographic information system (GIS) is a computerized data
management system that is used to capture, store, retrieve,
analyze, and display spatial information. GIS is designed
to utilize data that references or describes features on the
earth's surface. Spatial datasets are referenced to a set
of coordinates on a particular projection system, which allows
GIS to display the location of these features on the earth's
surface, while maintaining the spatial relationships that
exist among the mapped features. GIS allows users to combine
information, presented as a series of layers, in order to
visualize, describe and analyze geographic conditions and
events. GIS is a powerful tool, enabling users to approach
planning decisions, analysis and mapping efforts with a variety
of capabilities. To learn more about how GIS can support
planning for salmonid populations, please click here.
RRGIS Data List
- Available Data -
The spatial datasets
included in the Russian River Watershed GIS have been contributed
from a variety of federal,
state and local agencies and organizations. The datasets
included in the RRGIS have been placed into one of the following
categories: base data, distribution and habitat, hydrology,
vegetation, landuse/landcover, acquisition & assessment,
physical geography, management, environmental hazards and
imagery/DEM's. A listing of the entire RRGIS dataset and access
to the metadata files is available by here.
For a guide to the metadata format and terminology, click
here.
Orthorectified
photographic coverage of the Russian River basin has not been
incorporated into the RRGIS due to the large amount of file
storage space required to store and distribute this information.
For information describing how to acquire available orthorectified
and georeferenced photography for the Russian River basin,
please click here.
- Disclaimer -
The data have been developed, analyzed and geoprocessed by
professional scientists and organizations. However, the project
partners and contributing agencies make no warranty, expressed
or implied, regarding the utility of any data. It is recommended
that thorough attention be given to the contents of any metadata
associated with a file, and that the originator of the data
be consulted with any inquiries regarding suitable use of
a dataset. Russian River Watershed GIS project partners and
contributing agencies shall not be held legally responsible
for erroneous use of the data contained on the Russian River
Watershed GIS CD.
- Metadata Disclaimer -
Many of the datasets acquired for the RRGIS were referenced
in varying projection systems and cover diverse geographic
extents (watersheds, counties, regions and states). In order
to align the datasets, the data was clipped to the extent
of the Russian River watershed and re-projected to UTM NAD
83 Zone 10 North, when necessary. In compliance with federal
standards dictating the documentation of spatial data, each
dataset on the RRGIS has a corresponding FGDC compliant metadata
file that is accessible directly from the RRGIS CD. Whenever
possible, the metadata describing the original file that was
processed for the RRGIS has been included for the purposes
of providing the most thorough and informative documentation
of the spatial data included in the RRGIS. For a guide to
the metadata format and terminology, click here.
Requesting the Russian River
Watershed GIS CD
Please request a copy of the
Russian River GIS CD-ROM by contacting
Circuit Rider Productions, Inc.
Accessing
the data from the RRGIS CD
The
Russian River Watershed GIS (RRGIS) is structured so that
users may fully access the spatial data as well as a predefined
view of the data through an ESRI ArcView project file. Textual
content in the form of .html files has been included on the
CD to provide the user with information describing the RRGIS,
the project partners/contributing
agencies, the NOAA Fisheries
recovery planning process and contact information.
Textual
content is most readily accessed via the ‘readme.html’
and ‘index.html’ files,
using a current web browser. To download a browser capable
of viewing this information, please visit http://www.netscape.com
or http://www.microsoft.com.
Spatial
data is most readily accessed directly through a series of
folders included on the CD. The parent directory, ‘rrgis’
contains a series of subfolders titled by the topic of the
data contained in that folder. For a predefined view of the
data the user can access rrgis.apr using ESRIS’s
ArcView 3x or higher. This .apr file can be viewed in
ESRI’s ArcMAP using the import .apr capabilities inherent
in ArcGIS software. The .apr file is located in the ‘rrgis’
parent directory.
Rrgis.apr
was developed using the following path as the parent directory:
c:/rrgis. Although the .apr file has been customized to open
appropriately, regardless of the drive letter, it is possible
that the .apr file may try to access data from c:/rrgis. If
this occurs, an ArcView dialog box will appear, asking the
user to locate various files. To reduce the chance of encountering
these errors, please follow the installation instructions
below:
Insert
the RRGIS CD into your CD drive. Copy the ‘rrgis’
folder from the CD and paste this folder onto your hard drive.
Essentially, you are simply copying the contents of the CD
to your hard drive. From here, the user may open the
rrgis.apr or work with specific datasets on their own, taking
them from the subfolders located in the ‘rrgis’
directory.
The
rrgis.apr file is constructed to mirror the file structure
of the data folders on the CD. For each View document in the
.apr file, there is a subfolder with that same name on the
CD. The table of contents for each view contains each theme
from the corresponding data folder. For each theme, there
is a corresponding .avl file that can be used to symbolize
each dataset.
A
pull down menu has been added to the View document type in
the rrgis.apr file. The pull down menu titled ‘Data Lists/Metadata’
provides the user with an easily accessible, html listing
of the
spatial data included on the CD as well as a hyperlink
to the metadata for each dataset. Using the pull down, the
user can select the web browser that they want to utilize
to access the data list.
For those users who are not currently running ESRI’s
ArcVIew, the installation file (ae2setup.exe) and installation
manual (arcexplorer.pdf) for ArcExplorer have been included
in the ‘rrgis’ parent directory. ESRI’s
ArcExplorer is a lightweight, freely distributed GIS data
viewer, developed by ESRI. For more information on ArcExplorer,
please visit http://www.esri.com.
For
assistance with using the data on the RRGIS, please contact:
Elizabeth Lotz
GIS Coordinator
Circuit Rider Productions, Inc.
Windsor, CA 95492
(Phone)
707.838.6641
(Fax) 707.838.4503
(e-mail) elotz@crpinc.org
Demonstration Analyses
The Russian River Watershed
GIS does not lead the user to any particular conclusion, but
has instead been developed to provide the user with the data
to perform analyses that they feel are relevant and supportable.
The RRGIS Project Partners have developed a series of five
scenarios that demonstrate the types of analyses that the
RRGIS is capable of supporting. For a description of these
scenarios, please click here.
Map Gallery
The visualization, analysis
and documentation of environmental problems are some of the
most powerful tools that a GIS provides to users. The RRGIS
project partners have developed a short series of maps that
depict the scenarios described in the Demonstration
Analyses. To view the maps, please click here.
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