Nancy A. Damar, U.S. Geological Survey, Physical Science Technician 20140613 vector digital data Reston, Virginia U.S. Geological Survey https://water.usgs.gov/lookup/getspatial?sir2014-5076 J. LaRue Smith, U.S. Geological Survey Nancy A. Damar, U.S. Geological Survey David A. Charlet, American West Ecology Craig L. Westenburg, U.S. Geological Survey 20140613 digital document U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5076 Reston, Virginia U.S. Geological Survey https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20145076 Four polygon vector data sets and one related table describe land-cover in Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area (RRC_NCA_p) and Coyote Springs (CS_ACEC_p), Piute-Eldorado Valley (PEV_ACEC_p), and Mormon Mesa (MM_ACEC_p) Areas of Critical Environmental Concern, Clark County, Nevada. One polygon vector data set per Area is attributed with land- cover at the vegetation stand level (abbreviated with a stand code) and the corresponding alliance level of the National Vegetation Classification Standard (NVC; Federal Geographic Data Committee, 2008). The table (tbl_NVC) is related to each of the four polygon data sets and contains the NVC classification from the group to class level. DigitalGlobe's QuickBird multispectral satellite imagery was classified with field vegetation data (Charlet and others, 2014) collected at the stand level using Visual Learning Systems' Feature Analyst feature extraction software. Non-vegetation data layers, such as roads and disturbed areas, were manually delineated from the QuickBird imagery. The process steps have been generalized to apply to all study areas. Details about processing, such as vegetation samples used for training input and major changes made during photo interpretation are detailed in the larger work. For simplicity, the process dates are listed as the final publication date. Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area was processed during 2008, Coyote Springs Area of Critical Environmental Concern during 2011, Piute-Eldorado Valley Area of Critical Environmental Concern during 2012, and Mormon Mesa Area of Critical Environmental Concern during 2013. References Cited: Federal Geographic Data Committee, 2008, National vegetation classification standard, version 2, FGDC-STD-005-2008, accessed December 6, 2012 at http://www.fgdc.gov/standards/projects/FGDC-standards-projects/vegetation/NVCS_V2_FINAL_2008-02.pdf. Charlet, D.A., Damar, N.A., and Leary, P.J., 2014, Vegetation Database for Land-Cover Mapping, Clark and Lincoln Counties, Nevada, U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 827, 18 p., at https://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/827. These data were created as part of a U.S. Geological Survey study, done in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), to map land-cover in selected BLM lands in Clark County, Nevada. The intended uses of these data include, but are not limited to, natural resource modeling, mapping, and visualization applications. 20071214 20130411 ground condition Complete None planned -116 -114 37 35 ISO 19115 Topic Category biota ImageryBaseMapsEarthCover environment USGS Thesaurus vegetation vegetation alliance NVC Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area Piute-Eldorado Valley Area of Critical Environmental Concern Mormon Mesa Area of Critical Environmental Concern vegetation stand Coyote Springs Area of Critical Environmental Concern land cover National Vegetation Classification Standard canopy USGS Metadata Identifier USGS:ced45033-b039-4172-868c-db13f675dde6 Geographic Names Information System Nevada Searchlight Las Vegas Red Rock Canyon Piute Valley Coyote Spring Valley Eldorado Valley Mormon Mesa Although these data have been used by the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Department of the Interior, no warranty expressed or implied is made by the U.S. Geological Survey as to the accuracy of the data and related materials. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by the U.S. Geological Survey in the use of these data, software, or related materials. The use of firm, trade, or brand names in this report is for identification purposes only and does not constitute endorsement by the U.S. Geological Survey. The names mentioned in this document may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective trademark owners. Acknowledgment of the U.S. Geological Survey and the Bureau of Land Management would be appreciated in products derived from these data. Although this Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) compliant metadata file is intended to document the data set in nonproprietary form, this metadata file may include some ArcGIS-specific terminology. These data are not intended to be used as a survey product and are for reference only. U.S. Geological Survey Nevada Water Science Center Public Information Officer Physical

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Carson City NV 89701 US (775) 887-7600 (775) 887-7629 https://water.usgs.gov/GIS/browse/SIR2014-5076_graphic.jpg Graphic Illustration of the data set jpg Compilation of these data and the associated metadata was done in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management. Technical review of these data was done by Toby L. Welborn of the U.S. Geological Survey and Cathy Wilson of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Microsoft Windows 7 Version 6.1 (Build 7601) Service Pack 1; Esri ArcGIS 10.1.0.3035 Frequency tests were performed on all feature class attributes to check that no features were unlabeled, misspelled, or inconsistent. Land-cover designation was not assessed for accuracy. See the larger work for a discussion of mapping techniques and recommendations for accuracy assessment. The logical consistency topologically is clean. Chain-node topology is present. Using ArcGIS topology tools, all polygons were checked for gaps, overlaps, and duplicate features. Complete for the study areas. The QuickBird imagery used to delineate these data sets was geocorrected and orthorectified to unknown specifications. Therefore, the error is estimated at that of uncorrected QuickBird imagery, which has a circular error of 90 percent confidence of 23 meters. Digital Globe 20060101 Satellite 20060101 publication date QuickBird satellite multispectral imagery covering Clark County, Nevada Imagery classified by the feature extraction process. U.S. Geological Survey 20140613 U.S. Geological Survey Data Series Report 827 Online 20140613 publication date ds827 Field vegetation sample points used as input in the feature extraction process. Step 1 - FEATURE EXTRACTION: Automated feature extraction (AFE) models were created using Visual Learning Systems' Feature Analyst hierarchical learning feature extraction process. This process is a proprietary process that accepts an exemplary training site as input and classifies imagery based on the spectral and spatial characteristics of the pixels within the training site. Parameters may be set that affect the feature extraction process including the shape and number of pixels analyzed, the type of learning algorithm applied, and the number of pixels to aggregate in the output. The process is iterative in that the analyst may identify correctly and incorrectly classified areas and then rerun the extraction process as many times as necessary until the image has been correctly classified. The AFE model produced by the extraction process then may be used to classify additional images in a batch process. Polygons were digitized around selected individual vegetation sample points (Charlet and others, 2014) and input individually as training sites to produce many independent AFE models for each study area. Parameters were set as follows: algorithm = general purpose approach 1; analysis area shape = circular; analysis area width = 11 pixels; aggregrate = 176 pixels. AFE models were produced with single QuickBird digital orthophoto quarter-quadrangles (DOQQ) and then batch processed for groups of temporally similar DOQQs. Details on groupings are available in the larger work text. The AFE models output a shapefile (a type of vector geospatial data set) for each DOQQ. The resulting shapefiles were merged into a single shapefile for each AFE model and edited to correct edge effects. 20140101 Step 2 - RASTER PROCESSING: The AFE shapefiles were converted to ESRI grid format using the ESRI ArcGIS Feature to Raster tool. The grids were snapped to the cell size (2.4 meters) and extent of the QuickBird DOQQ footprint for each study area. Each grid was assigned a unique pixel value representing the AFE model that produced it. The ESRI ArcGIS Combine tool was used to analyze confused pixels, i.e., those pixels that were classified as more than one type of vegetation. The grids covering each study area were progressively combined using conditional statements in ArcGIS until a single grid representing vegetation remained for each study area. The feature extraction and raster processing steps were iterative. Additional AFE models were created after analyzing the combined grids. These additional results replaced confused pixels or filled in unclassified pixels. Not all pixels were classified for each study area. See the larger work for additional information on combining and resolving confusion in the vegetation grids. 20140102 Step 3 - PHOTO INTERPRETATION: The vegetation grids were reviewed on-screen with all vegetation sample data (Charlet and others, 2014) and ancillary data such as topographic maps and elevation data. Some pixels were reclassified based on this data or other knowledge of the area. A summary of changes made during the photo interpretation process is available in the larger work report. 20140103 Step 4 - DELINEATION OF NON-VEGETATION LAYERS: Road centerlines were digitized on-screen from the QuickBird imagery. Three road layers were created by buffering the centerlines: one based on known widths for maintained paved roads and two based on widths measured on-screen for unmaintained paved roads and unpaved roads. A ruderal layer was created by buffering the maintained road centerlines by known widths. Disturbed areas were digitized on-screen from the QuickBird imagery. Wildfire scars and clouds were classified with AFE models and edited on-screen. The non-vegetation layers were converted from polygon feature classes to ESRI grid format using the ESRI ArcGIS Feature to Raster tool. The ruderal, disturbed areas, wildfire scars, and clouds were mosaicked into the final vegetation grids. The three road layers remained separate until the final process step. 20140104 Step 5 - FINAL FILTER AND CONVERSION TO VECTOR: The completed grid for each study area was clipped to the study area boundary and converted to an IMG file. The ERDAS Imagine 2011 Clump and Eliminate routines were used to filter out any groups of pixels smaller than the minimum mapping unit of 176 pixels. In order to maintain the buffered widths of the road layers, they were mosaicked into the final data set after filtering. This process resulted in a small number of slivers in the final data sets smaller than the minimum mapping unit. Each IMG file was converted to a file geodatabase polygon feature class. Attributes for map class, NVC alliance, and NVC group code were added from a spreadsheet based on pixel value. A relationship class was created from each study area feature class to the table containing the National Vegetation Classification Standard hierarchy (tbl_NVC) using the GROUP_CD attribute. The shapefile versions of the data include all related attributes within the shapefiles. 20140105 Vector GT-polygon composed of chains 200398 Transverse Mercator 0.9996 -117.0 0.0 500000.0 0.0 coordinate pair 0.0001 0.0001 meters D North American 1983 GRS 1980 6378137.0 298.257222101 CS_ACEC_p Variously named by study area ESRI OBJECTID Internal feature number. ESRI Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated. Shape Feature geometry. ESRI Coordinates defining the features. Map_Class_CD A unique number corresponding to the vegetation or non-vegetation class of the polygon. User-defined Unique whole numbers defined by the user. Map_Class A code that describes the land-cover of the polygon. For vegetation classes, each dominant species name is assigned a symbol and the species are grouped and listed according to canopy layer. See the Field Data Collection section of the larger work for a complete explanation. User-defined Unique code defined by the user. A full description of each value is in appendix 1 of the larger work. ALLIANCE_NAME Classification of the polygon into the alliance level of the NVC. National Vegetation Classification Standard, Version 2 Text name of an NVC alliance. GROUP_CD A unique code that represents the NVC group into which the polygon is classified. This code is used to relate each polygon to the NVC hierarchy contained in the geodatabase table, tbl_NVC. All group codes represent recognized NVC groups except G999, which is a placeholder group created for this study. For details, see Charlet and others, 2014. National Vegetation Classification Standard, Version 2 and Charlet and others, 2014 A code made up of the capital letter "G" plus a 3-digit number representing an NVC group. Shape_Length Length of feature in internal units. Esri Positive real numbers that are automatically generated. Shape_Area Area of feature in square meters. ESRI Positive real numbers that are automatically generated. U.S. Geological Survey Michael Ierardi IT Specialist mailing

445 National Center

Reston VA 20192 1-888-275-8747 (1-888-ASK-USGS) mierardi@usgs.gov Although these data have been used by the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Department of the Interior, no warranty expressed or implied is made by the U.S. Geological Survey as to the accuracy of the data. The act of distribution shall not constitue any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by the .S. Geological Survey in the use of this data, software, or related materials. File Geodatabase 10.1 Spatial and attribute information Winzip 42.8 megs https://water.usgs.gov/GIS/dsdl/SIR2014-5076.gdb.zip File Shape 10.1 Spatial and attribute information Winzip 173.3 megs https://water.usgs.gov/GIS/dsdl/SIR2014-5076.shp.zip None 20201117 U.S. Geological Survey Ask USGS -- Water Webserver Team Physical

445 National Center

Reston VA 20192 US 1-888-275-8747 (1-888-ASK-USGS) mierardi@usgs.gov FGDC Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata FGDC-STD-001-1998