This data set delineates kelp beds (Nereocystis leutkeana and Macrocystis spp.) along the Pacific Coast of California. Multiple
years of kelp mapping data for the state have been compiled into a single coastwide data set. Due to variability in oceanographic
and climatic conditions, kelp bed abundance and distribution is extremely variable from year to year. Therefore kelp bed locations
and extent in a particular year may not reflect current or past conditions. In addition, the methods for mapping kelp in California
have changed over time. Despite these caveats, this multi-year kelp coverage can be used to identify areas that have been
known to support kelp growth, and investigate general patterns of kelp distribution on a coastwide scale.California has three
coastal kelp surveys. The first survey, 1989, was a coastwide survey using the same contractor and method as Washington State.
Kelp canopy data from the second survey, 1999, was created from digital image processing of scanned aerial photographs. The
2002 survey was performed with a Digital Multispectral Video (DMSV) sensor and kelp beds were delineated by digital image
processing techniques.
Citation
Title Kelp distribution off California
publication Date
2004-01-01
presentationForm
mapDigital
cited responsible party
-
publisher
organisation Name
NOAA's Ocean Service, National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS)
Contact information
Address
, Silver Spring, MD
cited responsible party
-
originator
organisation Name
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science
(NCCOS), Center for Coastal Ocean Science (CCMA), Biogeography Branch
cited responsible party
-
originator
organisation Name
California Department of Fish and Game, Marine Region GIS Lab (data development - California)
These data were developed for Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission in cooperation with the National Marine Fisheries
Service Northwest Region and the Pacific Fishery Management Council in support of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
to consider the designation and conservation of Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) for Pacific Coast Groundfish. These data were
consolidated and integrated in a GIS format to support spatially explicit groundfish habitat modelling and impacts assessment
on a coastwide scale.
Resource language:
eng; USA
Resource progress code:
completed
Resource Maintenance Information
maintenance or update frequency:
unknown
Constraints on resource usage:
Constraints
Use limitation statement:
Unknown
Constraints on resource usage:
Legal Constraints
use constraint:
otherRestrictions
Other constraints
Use Constraints: None
Constraints on resource usage:
Legal Constraints
Access Constraints
otherRestrictions
Other constraints
Access Constraints: None
Spatial representation type code:
vector
Processing environment:
Native Dataset Environment: Microsoft Windows XP Version 5.1 (Build 2600) Service Pack 2; ESRI ArcCatalog 9.0.0.535
Resource extent
Geographic Extent
Geographic Bounding Box
westBoundLongitude
-124.397359
eastBoundLongitude
-116.826846
northBoundLatitude
40.475111
southBoundLatitude
32.520358
Temporal Extent
1989-01-01
2002-01-01
Credits:
Cooperators and funders who contributed to development of these data, include Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission,
and National Marine Fisheries Service, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Northwest Region,
and Southwest Region.
point of contact
-
pointOfContact
individual Name Randy Clark
organisation Name
NOAA/NOS/NCCOS/CCMA/Biogeography Branch
position Name Project Manager
Contact information
Telephone
Voice 301-713-3028
Fax 301-713-4384
Address
1305 East West Hwy, Silver Spring, MD, 20910
Country U.S.A.
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kelp_ca: polygon attribute table for California kelp data
FID
Internal feature number.
Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.
Shape
Feature geometry.
Coordinates defining the features.
KELP_SP
The code identifying the species of kelp.
macpyr | Macrocystis pyrifera (California)
nerlue | Nereocystis luetkeana (Washington, Oregon, and California)
mixspp | mixed species - used in Washington for areas where Nereocystis and Macrocystis occur inter-mixed, or where both species
have occurred independently in different years.
unspec | unspecified - source data did not provide species identification
none | interior polygons within kelp polygons that have no kelp
KELP_SRC
The code identifying the source of the data
CDFG | California Department of Fish and Game
name Of Measure Horizontal Positional Accuracy Report
evaluation Method Description
Horizontal accuracy was not assessed, so the positional accuracy is unknown.
Completeness Commission
evaluation Method Description
Data are generally comprehensive for the marine nearshore area off the California Coast of the United States. West Coast estuaries
(including San Francisco Bay and smaller coastal estuaries) are not included. The 1989 kelp survey in California was comprehensive,
but the surveys in 1999 and 2002 did not cover the entire coastline.
ConceptualConsistency
measure Description
Kelp bed distribution and abundance are highly variable between years. Therefore, kelp bed locations and extent in a particular
year may not reflect current or past conditions. The use of various techniques means that the delineation of a kelp bed is
not necessarily consistent over time. These variations include: the level of generalization of kelp bed boundaries, the inclusion
or omission of water polygons entirely contained within a kelp polygon, and the minimum kelp bed detected and delineated (i.e.,
minimum mapping unit). In addition, surveys were not comprehensive for all years mapped.
notes: This metadata was automatically generated from the FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata standard (version
FGDC-STD-001-1998) using the 2015-07-24 version of the FGDC RSE to ISO 19115-2 transform.
notes: Translated from FGDC 2015-12-03T22:18:20.6-05:00
notes: Last Metadata Review Date: 2014-09-03
Metadata contact
-
pointOfContact
individual Name Allison Bailey
organisation Name
TerraLogic GIS, Inc.
Contact information
Telephone
Voice 425-673-4495
Address
P.O. Box 264, Stanwood, Washington, 98292
Country U.S.A.
Metadata scope code
dataset
Metadata language
eng; USA
Metadata character set encoding:
utf8
Metadata standard for this record:
ISO 19115-2 Geographic Information - Metadata - Part 2: Extensions for Imagery and Gridded Data
standard version:
ISO 19115-2:2009(E)
Metadata record identifier:
3216cef6-4056-4efc-b08b-32039b0c5e9f
Metadata record format is ISO19139-2 XML (MI_Metadata)