L. L. Gaddy, Ph. D. terra incognita 2333 Terrace Way Columbia, South Carolina 29205 and Kerry Brooks, Ph. D. Department of Planning School of Landscape Architechure and Planning Clemson University Clemson, South Carolina 29631 200005 database and report USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program Congaree National Park Denver, CO USGS, Biological Resources Division, Center for Biological Informatics Created under contract to the USGS-BRD-CBI. http://www1.usgs.gov/vip/cong/congaa.zip doi:10.5066/F74M92H1 An assessment of the accuracy of a provisional vegetation map of Congaree National Park. Part of a USGS-National Park Service effot to produce vegetation maps of all the nation's national parks. 199910 200005 Dates of field sampling Complete None Planned Congaree National Park is located approximately 15 miles southeast of Columbia, the state capitol of South Carolina. Old Bluff Highway (old Highway 48) lies just north of the Park boundary. The eastern boundary is located just northwest of the confluence of the Congaree and Wateree Rivers. The Park extends west to where Cedar Creek and Myers Creek join. -80.868686 -80.667511 33.843714 33.756752 None National Park Service U.S. Geological Service The Nature Conservancy Aerial Information Systems Center for Biological Informatics land cover vegetation community association accuracy assessment None Congaree National Park South Carolina USA None Plant Communities National Vegetation Classification System United States Department of the Interior National Biological Survey and National Park Service 19941101 Version 1 Document - Classification System NBS/NPS Vegetation Mapping Program Final Draft Redlands, California ESRI Prepared by the Nature Conservancy The criteria differs primarily in that the height and density variables were not mapped at Congaree. Instead, two additional variables were addressed: pre-hurricane Hugo community types and areas of pine that have been logged since the time of the 1976 aerial photography. United States Department of the Interior National Biological Survey and National Park Service 19941101 Version 1 Classification System NBS/NPS Vegetation Mapping Program Final Draft Redlands, California ESRI Prepared by the Nature Conservancy See "Photo Interpretation Report, BRD/NPS Vegetation and Inventory and Mapping Program, Congaree National Park," October 12, 1998 http://www1.usgs.gov/vip/cong/congpirpt.pdf Vegetation Alliances of the National Vegetation Classification System (October 1995) Kingdom Plantae s: Plants None Any person using the information presented here should fully understand the data collection and compilation procedures, as described in these metadata, before beginning analysis. The burden for determining fitness for use lies entirely with the user. For purposes of publication or dissemination, citations should be given to the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Park Service USGS BRD Center for Biological Informatics USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program Coordinator mailing and physical address

Denver Federal Center, Building 810, MS 302

Denver Colorado 80225 (303) 202-4220 303-202-4219 gs-b-npsveg@usgs.gov http://www1.usgs.gov/vip/cong/congaa.pdf 376 Kbyte, locations of accuracy assessment sites; low resolution for web browsing. PDF None None None Microsoft Access mdb For accuracy assessment, a field visit was made to 585 points between October, 1999 and May 2000. Points were located through the use of a PLGR GPS unit and false-color infrared photographs. At each point dominant vegetation types were recorded and a field key was used to determine the plant community / cover type present. Over 85 percent of the points were reached on foot, the remainder were located by boat. When all of the points were visited, two tables were generated comparing the field interpretation of the polygons with that of the photointerpreters. The final accuracy assessment was performed through a statistical analysis of the data using contingency tables and statistical tests. Most of the problems noted were related to map class definition and terminology and did not involve map accuracy per se. Through the use of contingency tables and other statistics, the overall accuracy of the provisional map was calculated as 87 percent. The statistics from only one class, the "Celtis laevigata - Liquidambar styraciflua - Quercus laurifolia / Carpinus caroliniana / Arundinaria gigantea / Carex lupulina Forest-Sweetgum component" failed to meet the NPS 80 percent accuracy standards. Data indicates that this class may be undermapped, being more widespread than was actually mapped. See "Summary Report on the Results of an Accuracy Assessment of the National Park Service's Provisional Vegetation Map of Congaree National Park" at http://www1.usgs.gov/vip/cong/congaarpt.pdf for further details. All polygon features are checked for topology using the ARC/INFO software. A field visit was made to 585 points between October, 1999 and May 2000. Points were located through the use of a PLGR GPS unit and false-color infrared photographs. At each point dominant vegetation types were recorded and a field key was used to determine the plant community / cover type present. Over 85 percent of the points were reached on foot, the remainder were located by boat. Accuracy assessment points were located through the use of a PLGR GPS unit and false-color infrared photographs. It is estimated that the locations were accurate to within plus or minus 10 meters. Field Following National Park Service Accuracy Assessment guidelines for Protocols A-D, Dr. Brooks generated a stratified random sample of 596 points through the Park. Following National Park Service Protocol E, Dr. Brooks also generated a non-random sample of 32 points which were termed "unique signatures" by AIS personnel (SEE LITTLESAM for Protocol E data). Maps of both sets of points, UTM coordinates, and other pertinent data were given to Dr. L. L. Gaddy, who was in charge of the field portion of the accuracy assessment. (Dr. Gaddy did not know which class the photointerpreters had assigned to a given polygon when he conducted his field work; he could, however, see the polygon boundaries on the map.) As USGS-NPS protocol dictated, Gaddy visited 585 points from October, 1999 through May 2000. Points were located through the use of a PLGR GPS unit and false-color infrared photographs. At each point dominant vegetation types were recorded and a field key was used to determine the plant community/cover type present. Over 85 percent of the points were reached on foot, the remainder were located by boat. When all of the points had been visited, Dr. Gaddy complete the two tables comparing his field interpretation of the polygon with that of the photointerpreters. Dr. Brooks then performed the final accuracy assessment through a statistical analysis of the data using contingency tables and statistical tests (see CROSS 1, CROSS 2, AND CROSS 3). L. L. Gaddy, Ph. D. terra incognita 2333 Terrace Way Columbia, South Carolina 29205 and Kerry Brooks, Ph. D. Department of Planning School of Landscape Architechure and Planning Clemson University Clemson, South Carolina 29631 200005 Report Denver, CO USGS, BRD, Center for Biological Informatics Created under contract to the USGS-BRD-CBI. http://www1.usgs.gov/vip/cong/congaarpt.pdf See Methodology Description above 1999-2000 Vector Entity point 596 Universal Transverse Mercator 17 0.999600 -81.000000 0.000000 500000.000000 0.000000 coordinate pair 1 1 Meters North American Datum of 1983 Geodedic Reference System 80 6378137.000000 298.257222 congaa Shapefile attribute table Dr. Gaddy and Dr. Brooks FID Internal feature number. ESRI Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated. Shape Feature geometry. ESRI. Coordinates defining the features. AREA Area of feature in internal units squared. ESRI. Area is always zero for point coverages. Values are automatically generated. PERIMETER Perimeter of feature in internal units. ESRI. Perimeter is always zero for point coverages. Values are automatically generated. AA_ Internal feature number. ESRI. Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated. AA_ID User-defined feature number. ESRI. Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated. X_COORD Easting coordinate of site location. Dr. Gaddy and Dr. Brooks Easting coordinate. Y_COORD Northing coordinate of site location. Dr. Gaddy and Dr. Brooks Northing coordinate. PI PhotoInterpretation Signature Type code. Dr. Gaddy and Dr. Brooks Textual photointerpretation signature type code. FIELD_DETE Field Detection code. Dr. Gaddy and Dr. Brooks Textual and numerical Field Detection code. DESCRIPTIO PhotoInterpretation Signature type. Dr. Gaddy and Dr. Brooks Textual photointerpretation signature type. POLYGONID Unknown field created by originator but not documented. Dr. Gaddy and Dr. Brooks Numerical. SCALE Unknown field created by originator but not documented. Dr. Gaddy and Dr. Brooks Numerical. ANGLE Unknown field created by originator but not documented. Dr. Gaddy and Dr. Brooks Numerical. At each point, dominant vegetation types were recorded and a field key was used to determine the plant community / cover type present. Grossman, D. Et al. 1994. National Park Service Vegetation Mapping Project, Standardized National Vegetation Classification System 209 pp. USGS/CSS/Core Science Analytics and Synthesis USGS-NPS Vegetation Characterization Program Coordinator mailing and physical address

Denver Federal Center, Building 810, MS 302

Denver Colorado 80225 (303) 202-4220 303-202-4219 gs-b-npsveg@usgs.gov Downloadable Data The U.S. Geological Survey and the National Park Service shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of the data described and/or contained herein. These data and related graphics (if available) are not legal documents and are not intended to be used as such. The information contained in these data is dynamic and may change over time. The data are not better than the original sources from which they were derived. It is the responsibility of the data user to use the data appropriately and consistent within the limitations of geospatial data in general and these data in particular. Any related graphics (if available) are intended to aid the data user in acquiring relevant data; it is not approriate to use the related graphics as data. The U.S. Geological Survey and the National Park Service gives no warranty, expressed or implied, as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of these data. It is strongly recommended that these data are directly acquired from an U.S. Geological Survey and National Park Service servers and not indirectly through other sources which may have changed the data in some way. Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system at the U.S. Geological Survey, no warranty expressed or implied is made regarding the utility of the data on another system or for general or scientific purposes, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty. This disclaimer applies both to individual use of the data and aggregate use with other data. It is also strongly recommended that careful attention be paid to the contents of the metadata file associated with these data. Mention of trade names or commercial products in this metadata report does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use by the U. S. Department of the Interior, U. S. Geological Survey and National Park Service. HTML http://www.usgs.gov/core_science_systems/csas/vip/parks/cong.html Internet Access None 200110 20100518 USGS/CSS/Core Science Analytics and Synthesis USGS-NPS Vegetation Characterization Program Coordinator mailing and physical address

Denver Federal Center, Building 810, MS 302

Denver Colorado 80225 (303) 202-4220 303-202-4219 gs-b-npsveg@usgs.gov FGDC Biological Data Profile of the Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata FGDC-STD-001.1-1999 http://www.usgs.gov/core_science_systems/csas/metadata/index.html