This is a link to the QGIS website where you can download open-source GIS software for viewing, analyzing and manipulating geodata like our downloadable shapefiles.

ArcGIS and QGIS map packages, with ESRI shapefiles for the DSM2 Model Grid. These are not finalized products. Locations in these shapefiles are approximate.

Monitoring Stations - shapefile with approximate locations of monitoring stations.

DSM2 Grid 2025-05-28 Historical

FC_2023.01

DSM2 v8.2.0, calibrated version:

• dsm2_8_2_grid_map_calibrated.mpkx - ArcGIS Pro map package containing all layers and symbology for the calibrated grid map.
• dsm2_8_2_grid_map_calibrated.mpk - ArcGIS Desktop map package containing all layers and symbology for the calibrated grid map.
• dsm2_8_2_0_calibrated_grid_map_qgis.zip - QGIS map package containing all layers and symbology for the calibrated grid map.
• dsm2_8_2_0_calibrated_gridmap_shapefiles.zip - A zip file containing all the shapefiles used in the above map packages:
• dsm2_8_2_0_calibrated_channels_centerlines - channel centerlines, follwing the path of CSDP centerlines
• dsm2_8_2_0_calibrated_network_channels - channels represented by straight line segments which are connected the upstream and downstream nodes
• dsm2_8_2_0_calibrated_nodes - DSM2 nodes
• dsm2_8_2_0_calibrated_dcd_only_nodes - Nodes that are only used by DCD
• dsm2_8_2_0_calibrated_and_dcd_nodes - Nodes that are shared by DSM2 and DCD
• dsm2_8_2_0_calibrated_and_smcd_nodes - Nodes that are shared by DSM2 and SMCD
• dsm2_8_2_0_calibrated_gates_actual_loc - The approximate actual locations of each gate in DSM2
• dsm2_8_2_0_calibrated_gates_grid_loc - The locations of each gate in the DSM2 model grid
• dsm2_8_2_0_calibrated_reservoirs - The approximate locations of the reservoirs in DSM2
• dsm2_8_2_0_calibrated_reservoir_connections - Lines showing connections from reservoirs to nodes in DSM2

DSM2 v8.2.1, historical version:

• DSM2 v8.2.1, historical version grid map release notes (PDF), updated 7/12/2022
• DSM2 v8.2.1, historical version grid map, single zoom level (PDF)
• DSM2 v8.2.1, historical version grid map, multiple zoom levels (PDF) - PDF grid map designed to be printed on 3 foot wide plotter paper.
• DSM2 v8.2.1, historical version map package for ArcGIS Desktop: A map package for ArcGIS Desktop containing the grid map layers with symbology.
• DSM2 v8.2.1, historical version grid map shapefiles (zip): A zip file containing the shapefiles used in the grid map.

Change Log

7/12/2022: The document "DSM2 v8.2.1, historical version grid map release notes (PDF)" was corrected by removing section 4.4, which incorrectly stated that the grid included channels 710-714, representing the Toe Drain, and that the Yolo Flyway restoration area was included.

Have you ever wanted to create your own maps, or integrate and visualize spatial datasets to examine changes in trends between locations and over time? Follow along with these training tutorials on QGIS, an open source geographic information system (GIS) and learn key concepts, procedures and skills for performing common GIS tasks – such as creating maps, as well as joining, overlaying and visualizing spatial datasets. These tutorials are geared towards new GIS users. We’ll start with foundational concepts, and build towards more advanced topics throughout – demonstrating how with a few relatively easy steps you can get quite a lot out of GIS. You can then extend these skills to datasets of thematic relevance to you in addressing tasks faced in your day-to-day work.

This is a collection of all GPS- and computer-generated geospatial data specific to the Alpine Treeline Warming Experiment (ATWE), located on Niwot Ridge, Colorado, USA. The experiment ran between 2008 and 2016, and consisted of three sites spread across an elevation gradient. Geospatial data for all three experimental sites and cone/seed collection locations are included in this package. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Geospatial files include cone collection, experimental site, seed trap, and other GPS location/terrain data. File types include ESRI shapefiles, ESRI grid files or Arc/Info binary grids, TIFFs (.tif), and keyhole markup language (.kml) files. Trimble-imported data include plain text files (.txt), Trimble COR (CorelDRAW) files, and Trimble SSF (Standard Storage Format) files. Microsoft Excel (.xlsx) and comma-separated values (.csv) files corresponding to the attribute tables of many files within this package are also included. A complete list of files can be found in this document in the “Data File Organization” section in the included Data User's Guide. Maps are also included in this data package for reference and use. These maps are separated into two categories, 2021 maps and legacy maps, which were made in 2010. Each 2021 map has one copy in portable network graphics (.png) format, and the other in .pdf format. All legacy maps are in .pdf format. .png image files can be opened with any compatible programs, such as Preview (Mac OS) and Photos (Windows). All GIS files were imported into geopackages (.gpkg) using QGIS, and double-checked for compatibility and data/attribute integrity using ESRI ArcGIS Pro. Note that files packaged within geopackages will open in ArcGIS Pro with “main.” preceding each file name, and an extra column named “geom” defining geometry type in the attribute table. The contents of each geospatial file remain intact, unless otherwise stated in “niwot_geospatial_data_list_07012021.pdf/.xlsx”. This list of files can be found as an .xlsx and a .pdf in this archive. As an open-source file format, files within gpkgs (TIFF, shapefiles, ESRI grid or “Arc/Info Binary”) can be read using both QGIS and ArcGIS Pro, and any other geospatial softwares. Text and .csv files can be read using TextEdit/Notepad/any simple text-editing software; .csv’s can also be opened using Microsoft Excel and R. .kml files can be opened using Google Maps or Google Earth, and Trimble files are most compatible with Trimble’s GPS Pathfinder Office software. .xlsx files can be opened using Microsoft Excel. PDFs can be opened using Adobe Acrobat Reader, and any other compatible programs. A selection of original shapefiles within this archive were generated using ArcMap with associated FGDC-standardized metadata (xml file format). We are including these original files because they contain metadata only accessible using ESRI programs at this time, and so that the relationship between shapefiles and xml files is maintained. Individual xml files can be opened (without a GIS-specific program) using TextEdit or Notepad. Since ESRI’s compatibility with FGDC metadata has changed since the generation of these files, many shapefiles will require upgrading to be compatible with ESRI’s latest versions of geospatial software. These details are also noted in the “niwot_geospatial_data_list_07012021” file.

This file contains European countries in a shapefile format that can be used in python, R or matlab. The file has been created by Drin Marmullaku based on GADM version 4.1 (https://gadm.org/) and distributed according to their license (https://gadm.org/license.html).

Please cite as: Sevdari, Kristian; Marmullaku, Drin (2023). Shapefile of European countries. Technical University of Denmark. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.11583/DTU.23686383 This dataset is distributed under a CCBY-NC-SA 4.0 license

Using the data to create maps for publishing of academic research articles is allowed. Thus you can use the maps you made with GADM data for figures in articles published by PLoS, Springer Nature, Elsevier, MDPI, etc. You are allowed (but not required) to publish these articles (and the maps they contain) under an open license such as CC-BY as is the case with PLoS journals and may be the case with other open access articles. Data for the following countries is covered by a a different license Austria: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 (source: Government of Austria)

This Python script (Shape2DJI_Pilot_KML.py) will scan a directory, find all the ESRI shapefiles (.shp), reproject to EPSG 4326 (geographic coordinate system WGS84 ellipsoid), create an output directory and make a new Keyhole Markup Language (.kml) file for every line or polygon found in the files. These new *.kml files are compatible with DJI Pilot 2 on the Smart Controller (e.g., for M300 RTK). The *.kml files created directly by ArcGIS or QGIS are not currently compatible with DJI Pilot.

Kenya counties boundary data in .shp format

This dataset contains shapefile boundaries for CA State, counties and places from the US Census Bureau's 2023 MAF/TIGER database. Current geography in the 2023 TIGER/Line Shapefiles generally reflects the boundaries of governmental units in effect as of January 1, 2023.

New political and administrative boundaries Shapefile of Nepal. Downloaded and republished from the Survey Department website.

QGIS is a Free and Open Source Geographic Information System. This dataset contains all the information to get you started.

Shapefiles for Ethiopia's Administrative boundaries: Regions, Zones and Woredas

A Shape file of Nigeria detailing boundaries of Local Government Areas and communities.

The Digital Geologic-GIS Map of Glacier National Park, Montana is composed of GIS data layers and GIS tables, and is available in the following GRI-supported GIS data formats: 1.) a 10.1 file geodatabase (glac_geology.gdb), a 2.) Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) geopackage, and 3.) 2.2 KMZ/KML file for use in Google Earth, however, this format version of the map is limited in data layers presented and in access to GRI ancillary table information. The file geodatabase format is supported with a 1.) ArcGIS Pro map file (.mapx) file and individual Pro layer (.lyrx) files (for each GIS data layer), as well as with a 2.) 10.1 ArcMap (.mxd) map document (glac_geology.mxd) and individual 10.1 layer (.lyr) files (for each GIS data layer). The OGC geopackage is supported with a QGIS project (.qgz) file. Upon request, the GIS data is also available in ESRI 10.1 shapefile format. Contact Stephanie O'Meara (see contact information below) to acquire the GIS data in these GIS data formats. In addition to the GIS data and supporting GIS files, three additional files comprise a GRI digital geologic-GIS dataset or map: 1.) this file (glac_geology.gis_readme.pdf), 2.) the GRI ancillary map information document (.pdf) file (glac_geology.pdf) which contains geologic unit descriptions, as well as other ancillary map information and graphics from the source map(s) used by the GRI in the production of the GRI digital geologic-GIS data for the park, and 3.) a user-friendly FAQ PDF version of the metadata (glac_geology_metadata_faq.pdf). Please read the glac_geology_gis_readme.pdf for information pertaining to the proper extraction of the GIS data and other map files. Google Earth software is available for free at: http://www.google.com/earth/index.html. QGIS software is available for free at: https://www.qgis.org/en/site/. Users are encouraged to only use the Google Earth data for basic visualization, and to use the GIS data for any type of data analysis or investigation. The data were completed as a component of the Geologic Resources Inventory (GRI) program, a National Park Service (NPS) Inventory and Monitoring (I&M) Division funded program that is administered by the NPS Geologic Resources Division (GRD). For a complete listing of GRI products visit the GRI publications webpage: For a complete listing of GRI products visit the GRI publications webpage: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/geology/geologic-resources-inventory-products.htm. For more information about the Geologic Resources Inventory Program visit the GRI webpage: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/geology/gri,htm. At the bottom of that webpage is a "Contact Us" link if you need additional information. You may also directly contact the program coordinator, Jason Kenworthy (jason_kenworthy@nps.gov). Source geologic maps and data used to complete this GRI digital dataset were provided by the following: U.S. Geological Survey. Detailed information concerning the sources used and their contribution the GRI product are listed in the Source Citation section(s) of this metadata record (glac_geology_metadata.txt or glac_geology_metadata_faq.pdf). Users of this data are cautioned about the locational accuracy of features within this dataset. Based on the source map scale of 1:100,000 and United States National Map Accuracy Standards features are within (horizontally) 50.8 meters or 166.7 feet of their actual location as presented by this dataset. Users of this data should thus not assume the location of features is exactly where they are portrayed in Google Earth, ArcGIS, QGIS or other software used to display this dataset. All GIS and ancillary tables were produced as per the NPS GRI Geology-GIS Geodatabase Data Model v. 2.3. (available at: https://www.nps.gov/articles/gri-geodatabase-model.htm).

The Digital Bedrock Geologic-GIS Map of the North, South, and Heritage Addition Units and Vicinity, Effigy Mounds National Monument, Iowa is composed of GIS data layers and GIS tables, and is available in the following GRI-supported GIS data formats: 1.) a 10.1 file geodatabase (efmo_bedrock_geology.gdb), a 2.) Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) geopackage, and 3.) 2.2 KMZ/KML file for use in Google Earth, however, this format version of the map is limited in data layers presented and in access to GRI ancillary table information. The file geodatabase format is supported with a 1.) ArcGIS Pro map file (.mapx) file (efmo_bedrock_geology.mapx) and individual Pro layer (.lyrx) files (for each GIS data layer), as well as with a 2.) 10.1 ArcMap (.mxd) map document (efmo_bedrock_geology.mxd) and individual 10.1 layer (.lyr) files (for each GIS data layer). The OGC geopackage is supported with a QGIS project (.qgz) file. Upon request, the GIS data is also available in ESRI 10.1 shapefile format. Contact Stephanie O'Meara (see contact information below) to acquire the GIS data in these GIS data formats. In addition to the GIS data and supporting GIS files, three additional files comprise a GRI digital geologic-GIS dataset or map: 1.) a readme file (efmo_geology_gis_readme.pdf), 2.) the GRI ancillary map information document (.pdf) file (efmo_bedrock_geology.pdf) which contains geologic unit descriptions, as well as other ancillary map information and graphics from the source map(s) used by the GRI in the production of the GRI digital geologic-GIS data for the park, and 3.) a user-friendly FAQ PDF version of the metadata (efmo_bedrock_geology_metadata_faq.pdf). Please read the efmo_geology_gis_readme.pdf for information pertaining to the proper extraction of the GIS data and other map files. Google Earth software is available for free at: https://www.google.com/earth/versions/. QGIS software is available for free at: https://www.qgis.org/en/site/. Users are encouraged to only use the Google Earth data for basic visualization, and to use the GIS data for any type of data analysis or investigation. The data were completed as a component of the Geologic Resources Inventory (GRI) program, a National Park Service (NPS) Inventory and Monitoring (I&M) Division funded program that is administered by the NPS Geologic Resources Division (GRD). For a complete listing of GRI products visit the GRI publications webpage: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/geology/geologic-resources-inventory-products.htm. For more information about the Geologic Resources Inventory Program visit the GRI webpage: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/geology/gri.htm. At the bottom of that webpage is a "Contact Us" link if you need additional information. You may also directly contact the program coordinator, Jason Kenworthy (jason_kenworthy@nps.gov). Source geologic maps and data used to complete this GRI digital dataset were provided by the following: Iowa Geological Survey. Detailed information concerning the sources used and their contribution the GRI product are listed in the Source Citation section(s) of this metadata record (efmo_bedrock_geology_metadata.txt or efmo_bedrock_geology_metadata_faq.pdf). Users of this data are cautioned about the locational accuracy of features within this dataset. Based on the source map scale of 1:50,000 and United States National Map Accuracy Standards features are within (horizontally) 25.4 meters or 83.3 feet of their actual location as presented by this dataset. Users of this data should thus not assume the location of features is exactly where they are portrayed in Google Earth, ArcGIS, QGIS or other software used to display this dataset. All GIS and ancillary tables were produced as per the NPS GRI Geology-GIS Geodatabase Data Model v. 2.3. (available at: https://www.nps.gov/articles/gri-geodatabase-model.htm).

Overview

3DHD CityScenes is the most comprehensive, large-scale high-definition (HD) map dataset to date, annotated in the three spatial dimensions of globally referenced, high-density LiDAR point clouds collected in urban domains. Our HD map covers 127 km of road sections of the inner city of Hamburg, Germany including 467 km of individual lanes. In total, our map comprises 266,762 individual items.

Our corresponding paper (published at ITSC 2022) is available here. Further, we have applied 3DHD CityScenes to map deviation detection here.

Moreover, we release code to facilitate the application of our dataset and the reproducibility of our research. Specifically, our 3DHD_DevKit comprises:

Python tools to read, generate, and visualize the dataset,

3DHDNet deep learning pipeline (training, inference, evaluation) for map deviation detection and 3D object detection.

The DevKit is available here:

https://github.com/volkswagen/3DHD_devkit.

The dataset and DevKit have been created by Christopher Plachetka as project lead during his PhD period at Volkswagen Group, Germany.

When using our dataset, you are welcome to cite:

@INPROCEEDINGS{9921866, author={Plachetka, Christopher and Sertolli, Benjamin and Fricke, Jenny and Klingner, Marvin and Fingscheidt, Tim}, booktitle={2022 IEEE 25th International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSC)}, title={3DHD CityScenes: High-Definition Maps in High-Density Point Clouds}, year={2022}, pages={627-634}}

Acknowledgements

We thank the following interns for their exceptional contributions to our work.

Benjamin Sertolli: Major contributions to our DevKit during his master thesis

Niels Maier: Measurement campaign for data collection and data preparation

The European large-scale project Hi-Drive (www.Hi-Drive.eu) supports the publication of 3DHD CityScenes and encourages the general publication of information and databases facilitating the development of automated driving technologies.

The Dataset

After downloading, the 3DHD_CityScenes folder provides five subdirectories, which are explained briefly in the following.

1. Dataset

This directory contains the training, validation, and test set definition (train.json, val.json, test.json) used in our publications. Respective files contain samples that define a geolocation and the orientation of the ego vehicle in global coordinates on the map.

During dataset generation (done by our DevKit), samples are used to take crops from the larger point cloud. Also, map elements in reach of a sample are collected. Both modalities can then be used, e.g., as input to a neural network such as our 3DHDNet.

To read any JSON-encoded data provided by 3DHD CityScenes in Python, you can use the following code snipped as an example.

import json

json_path = r"E:\3DHD_CityScenes\Dataset\train.json" with open(json_path) as jf: data = json.load(jf) print(data)

1. HD_Map

Map items are stored as lists of items in JSON format. In particular, we provide:

traffic signs,

traffic lights,

pole-like objects,

construction site locations,

construction site obstacles (point-like such as cones, and line-like such as fences),

line-shaped markings (solid, dashed, etc.),

polygon-shaped markings (arrows, stop lines, symbols, etc.),

lanes (ordinary and temporary),

relations between elements (only for construction sites, e.g., sign to lane association).

1. HD_Map_MetaData

Our high-density point cloud used as basis for annotating the HD map is split in 648 tiles. This directory contains the geolocation for each tile as polygon on the map. You can view the respective tile definition using QGIS. Alternatively, we also provide respective polygons as lists of UTM coordinates in JSON.

Files with the ending .dbf, .prj, .qpj, .shp, and .shx belong to the tile definition as “shape file” (commonly used in geodesy) that can be viewed using QGIS. The JSON file contains the same information provided in a different format used in our Python API.

1. HD_PointCloud_Tiles

The high-density point cloud tiles are provided in global UTM32N coordinates and are encoded in a proprietary binary format. The first 4 bytes (integer) encode the number of points contained in that file. Subsequently, all point cloud values are provided as arrays. First all x-values, then all y-values, and so on. Specifically, the arrays are encoded as follows.

x-coordinates: 4 byte integer

y-coordinates: 4 byte integer

z-coordinates: 4 byte integer

intensity of reflected beams: 2 byte unsigned integer

ground classification flag: 1 byte unsigned integer

After reading, respective values have to be unnormalized. As an example, you can use the following code snipped to read the point cloud data. For visualization, you can use the pptk package, for instance.

import numpy as np import pptk

file_path = r"E:\3DHD_CityScenes\HD_PointCloud_Tiles\HH_001.bin" pc_dict = {} key_list = ['x', 'y', 'z', 'intensity', 'is_ground'] type_list = ['

There are two types of boundary files: cartographic and digital. Cartographic boundary files portray the geographic areas using only the major land mass of Canada and its coastal islands. Digital boundary files portray the full extent of the geographic areas, including the coastal water area.

This dataset is a compilation of county parcel data from Minnesota counties that have opted-in for their parcel data to be included in this dataset.

It includes the following 55 counties that have opted-in as of the publication date of this dataset: Aitkin, Anoka, Becker, Benton, Big Stone, Carlton, Carver, Cass, Chippewa, Chisago, Clay, Clearwater, Cook, Crow Wing, Dakota, Douglas, Fillmore, Grant, Hennepin, Houston, Isanti, Itasca, Jackson, Koochiching, Lac qui Parle, Lake, Lyon, Marshall, McLeod, Mille Lacs, Morrison, Mower, Murray, Norman, Olmsted, Otter Tail, Pennington, Pipestone, Polk, Pope, Ramsey, Renville, Rice, Saint Louis, Scott, Sherburne, Stearns, Stevens, Traverse, Waseca, Washington, Wilkin, Winona, Wright, and Yellow Medicine.

If you represent a county not included in this dataset and would like to opt-in, please contact Heather Albrecht (Heather.Albrecht@hennepin.us), co-chair of the Minnesota Geospatial Advisory Council (GAC)’s Parcels and Land Records Committee's Open Data Subcommittee. County parcel data does not need to be in the GAC parcel data standard to be included. MnGeo will map the county fields to the GAC standard.

County parcel data records have been assembled into a single dataset with a common coordinate system (UTM Zone 15) and common attribute schema. The county parcel data attributes have been mapped to the GAC parcel data standard for Minnesota: https://www.mngeo.state.mn.us/committee/standards/parcel_attrib/parcel_attrib.html

This compiled parcel dataset was created using Python code developed by Minnesota state agency GIS professionals, and represents a best effort to map individual county source file attributes into the common attribute schema of the GAC parcel data standard. The attributes from counties are mapped to the most appropriate destination column. In some cases, the county source files included attributes that were not mapped to the GAC standard. Additionally, some county attribute fields were parsed and mapped to multiple GAC standard fields, such as a single line address. Each quarter, MnGeo provides a text file to counties that shows how county fields are mapped to the GAC standard. Additionally, this text file shows the fields that are not mapped to the standard and those that are parsed. If a county shares changes to how their data should be mapped, MnGeo updates the compilation. If you represent a county and would like to update how MnGeo is mapping your county attribute fields to this compiled dataset, please contact us.

This dataset is a snapshot of parcel data, and the source date of the county data may vary. Users should consult County websites to see the most up-to-date and complete parcel data.

There have been recent changes in date/time fields, and their processing, introduced by our software vendor. In some cases, this has resulted in date fields being empty. We are aware of the issue and are working to correct it for future parcel data releases.

The State of Minnesota makes no representation or warranties, express or implied, with respect to the use or reuse of data provided herewith, regardless of its format or the means of its transmission. THE DATA IS PROVIDED “AS IS” WITH NO GUARANTEE OR REPRESENTATION ABOUT THE ACCURACY, CURRENCY, SUITABILITY, PERFORMANCE, MECHANTABILITY, RELIABILITY OR FITINESS OF THIS DATA FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE. This dataset is NOT suitable for accurate boundary determination. Contact a licensed land surveyor if you have questions about boundary determinations.

DOWNLOAD NOTES: This dataset is only provided in Esri File Geodatabase and OGC GeoPackage formats. A shapefile is not available because the size of the dataset exceeds the limit for that format. The distribution version of the fgdb is compressed to help reduce the data footprint. QGIS users should consider using the Geopackage format for better results.

The High Resolution Digital Elevation Model (HRDEM) product is derived from airborne LiDAR data (mainly in the south) and satellite images in the north. The complete coverage of the Canadian territory is gradually being established. It includes a Digital Terrain Model (DTM), a Digital Surface Model (DSM) and other derived data. For DTM datasets, derived data available are slope, aspect, shaded relief, color relief and color shaded relief maps and for DSM datasets, derived data available are shaded relief, color relief and color shaded relief maps. The productive forest line is used to separate the northern and the southern parts of the country. This line is approximate and may change based on requirements. In the southern part of the country (south of the productive forest line), DTM and DSM datasets are generated from airborne LiDAR data. They are offered at a 1 m or 2 m resolution and projected to the UTM NAD83 (CSRS) coordinate system and the corresponding zones. The datasets at a 1 m resolution cover an area of 10 km x 10 km while datasets at a 2 m resolution cover an area of 20 km by 20 km. In the northern part of the country (north of the productive forest line), due to the low density of vegetation and infrastructure, only DSM datasets are generally generated. Most of these datasets have optical digital images as their source data. They are generated at a 2 m resolution using the Polar Stereographic North coordinate system referenced to WGS84 horizontal datum or UTM NAD83 (CSRS) coordinate system. Each dataset covers an area of 50 km by 50 km. For some locations in the north, DSM and DTM datasets can also be generated from airborne LiDAR data. In this case, these products will be generated with the same specifications as those generated from airborne LiDAR in the southern part of the country. The HRDEM product is referenced to the Canadian Geodetic Vertical Datum of 2013 (CGVD2013), which is now the reference standard for heights across Canada. Source data for HRDEM datasets is acquired through multiple projects with different partners. Since data is being acquired by project, there is no integration or edgematching done between projects. The tiles are aligned within each project. The product High Resolution Digital Elevation Model (HRDEM) is part of the CanElevation Series created in support to the National Elevation Data Strategy implemented by NRCan. Collaboration is a key factor to the success of the National Elevation Data Strategy. Refer to the “Supporting Document” section to access the list of the different partners including links to their respective data.

Reason for Selection Protected natural areas in urban environments provide urban residents a nearby place to connect with nature and offer refugia for some species. Because beaches in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are open to the public, beaches also provide important outdoor recreation opportunities for urban residents, so we include beaches as parks in this indicator. Input Data

Southeast Blueprint 2023 subregions: Caribbean
Southeast Blueprint 2023 extent
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Coastal Relief Model, accessed 11-22-2022
Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US) 3.0: VI, PR, and Marine Combined Fee Easement
Puerto Rico Protected Natural Areas 2018 (December 2018 update): Terrestrial and marine protected areas (PACAT2018_areas_protegidasPR_TERRESTRES_07052019.shp, PACAT2018_areas_protegidasPR_MARINAS_07052019.shp) 
2020 Census Urban Areas from the Census Bureau’s urban-rural classification; download the data, read more about how urban areas were redefined following the 2020 census
OpenStreetMap data “multipolygons” layer, accessed 3-14-2023

A polygon from this dataset is considered a park if the “leisure” tag attribute is either “park” or “nature_reserve”, and considered a beach if the value in the “natural” tag attribute is “beach”. OpenStreetMap describes leisure areas as “places people go in their spare time” and natural areas as “a wide variety of physical geography, geological and landcover features”. Data were downloaded in .pbf format and translated ton an ESRI shapefile using R code. OpenStreetMap® is open data, licensed under the Open Data Commons Open Database License (ODbL) by the OpenStreetMap Foundation (OSMF). Additional credit to OSM contributors. Read more on the OSM copyright page.

TNC Lands - Public Layer, accessed 3-8-2023
U.S. Virgin Islands beaches layer (separate vector layers for St. Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John) provided by Joe Dwyer with Lynker/the NOAA Caribbean Climate Adaptation Program on 3-3-2023 (contact jdwyer@lynker.com for more information)

Mapping Steps

Most mapping steps were completed using QGIS (v 3.22) Graphical Modeler.
Fix geometry errors in the PAD-US PR data using Fix Geometry. This must be done before any analysis is possible.
Merge the terrestrial PR and VI PAD-US layers.
Use the NOAA coastal relief model to restrict marine parks (marine polygons from PAD-US and Puerto Rico Protected Natural Areas) to areas shallower than 10 m in depth. The deep offshore areas of marine parks do not meet the intent of this indicator to capture nearby opportunities for urban residents to connect with nature.
Merge into one layer the resulting shallow marine parks from marine PAD-US and the Puerto Rico Protected Natural Areas along with the combined terrestrial PAD-US parks, OpenStreetMap, TNC Lands, and USVI beaches. Omit from the Puerto Rico Protected Areas layer the “Zona de Conservación del Carso”, which has some policy protections and conservation incentives but is not formally protected.
Fix geometry errors in the resulting merged layer using Fix Geometry.
Intersect the resulting fixed file with the Caribbean Blueprint subregion.
Process all multipart polygons to single parts (referred to in Arc software as an “explode”). This helps the indicator capture, as much as possible, the discrete units of a protected area that serve urban residents.
Clip the Census urban area to the Caribbean Blueprint subregion.
Select all polygons that intersect the Census urban extent within 1.2 miles (1,931 m). The 1.2 mi threshold is consistent with the average walking trip on a summer day (U.S. DOT 2002) used to define the walking distance threshold used in the greenways and trails indicator. Note: this is further than the 0.5 mi distance used in the continental version of the indicator. We extended it to capture East Bay and Point Udall based on feedback from the local conservation community about the importance of the park for outdoor recreation.
Dissolve all the park polygons that were selected in the previous step.
Process all multipart polygons to single parts (“explode”) again.
Add a unique ID to the selected parks. This value will be used to join the parks to their buffers.
Create a 1.2 mi (1,931 m) buffer ring around each park using the multiring buffer plugin in QGIS. Ensure that “dissolve buffers” is disabled so that a single 1.2 mi buffer is created for each park.
Assess the amount of overlap between the buffered park and the Census urban area using overlap analysis. This step is necessary to identify parks that do not intersect the urban area, but which lie within an urban matrix. This step creates a table that is joined back to the park polygons using the UniqueID.
Remove parks that had ≤2% overlap with the urban areas when buffered. This excludes mostly non-urban parks that do not meet the intent of this indicator to capture parks that provide nearby access for urban residents. Note: In the continental version of this indicator, we used a threshold of 10%. In the Caribbean version, we lowered this to 2% in order to capture small parks that dropped out of the indicator when we extended the buffer distance to 1.2 miles.
Calculate the GIS acres of each remaining park unit using the Add Geometry Attributes function.
Join the buffer attribute table to the previously selected parks, retaining only the parks that exceeded the 2% urban area overlap threshold while buffered. 
Buffer the selected parks by 15 m. Buffering prevents very small parks and narrow beaches from being left out of the indicator when the polygons are converted to raster.
Reclassify the polygons into 7 classes, seen in the final indicator values below. These thresholds were informed by park classification guidelines from the National Recreation and Park Association, which classify neighborhood parks as 5-10 acres, community parks as 30-50 acres, and large urban parks as optimally 75+ acres (Mertes and Hall 1995).
Export the final vector file to a shapefile and import to ArcGIS Pro.
Convert the resulting polygons to raster using the ArcPy Polygon to Raster function. Assign values to the pixels in the resulting raster based on the polygon class sizes of the contiguous park areas.
Clip to the Caribbean Blueprint 2023 subregion.
As a final step, clip to the spatial extent of Southeast Blueprint 2023. 

Note: For more details on the mapping steps, code used to create this layer is available in the Southeast Blueprint Data Download under > 6_Code. Final indicator values Indicator values are assigned as follows: 6 = 75+ acre urban park 5 = >50 to <75 acre urban park 4 = 30 to <50 acre urban park 3 = 10 to <30 acre urban park 2 = 5 to <10 acre urban park 1 = <5 acre urban park 0 = Not identified as an urban park Known Issues

This indicator does not include park amenities that influence how well the park serves people and should not be the only tool used for parks and recreation planning. Park standards should be determined at a local level to account for various community issues, values, needs, and available resources. 
This indicator includes some protected areas that are not open to the public and not typically thought of as “parks”, like mitigation lands, private easements, and private golf courses. While we experimented with excluding them using the public access attribute in PAD, due to numerous inaccuracies, this inadvertently removed protected lands that are known to be publicly accessible. As a result, we erred on the side of including the non-publicly accessible lands.
This indicator includes parks and beaches from OpenStreetMap, which is a crowdsourced dataset. While members of the OpenStreetMap community often verify map features to check for accuracy and completeness, there is the potential for spatial errors (e.g., misrepresenting the boundary of a park) or incorrect tags (e.g., labelling an area as a park that is not actually a park). However, using a crowdsourced dataset gives on-the-ground experts, Blueprint users, and community members the power to fix errors and add new parks to improve the accuracy and coverage of this indicator in the future.

Other Things to Keep in Mind

This indicator calculates the area of each park using the park polygons from the source data. However, simply converting those park polygons to raster results in some small parks and narrow beaches being left out of the indicator. To capture those areas, we buffered parks and beaches by 15 m and applied the original area calculation to the larger buffered polygon, so as not to inflate the area by including the buffer. As a result, when the buffered polygons are rasterized, the final indicator has some areas of adjacent pixels that receive different scores. While these pixels may appear to be part of one contiguous park or suite of parks, they are scored differently because the park polygons themselves are not actually contiguous. 
The Caribbean version of this indicator uses a slightly different methodology than the continental Southeast version. It includes parks within a 1.2 mi distance from the Census urban area, compared to 0.5 mi in the continental Southeast. We extended it to capture East Bay and Point Udall based on feedback from the local conservation community about the importance of the park for outdoor recreation. Similarly, this indicator uses a 2% threshold of overlap between buffered parks and the Census urban areas, compared to a 10% threshold in the continental Southeast. This helped capture small parks that dropped out of the indicator when we extended the buffer distance to 1.2 miles. Finally, the Caribbean version does not use the impervious surface cutoff applied in the continental Southeast

The Digital Geologic-GIS Map of the French Quarter Visitor Center and Barataria Preserve Unit, Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, Louisiana is composed of GIS data layers and GIS tables, and is available in the following GRI-supported GIS data formats: 1.) a 10.1 file geodatabase (jela_geology.gdb), a 2.) Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) geopackage, and 3.) 2.2 KMZ/KML file for use in Google Earth, however, this format version of the map is limited in data layers presented and in access to GRI ancillary table information. The file geodatabase format is supported with a 1.) ArcGIS Pro map file (.mapx) file (jela_geology.mapx) and individual Pro layer (.lyrx) files (for each GIS data layer), as well as with a 2.) 10.1 ArcMap (.mxd) map document (jela_geology.mxd) and individual 10.1 layer (.lyr) files (for each GIS data layer). The OGC geopackage is supported with a QGIS project (.qgz) file. Upon request, the GIS data is also available in ESRI 10.1 shapefile format. Contact Stephanie O'Meara (see contact information below) to acquire the GIS data in these GIS data formats. In addition to the GIS data and supporting GIS files, three additional files comprise a GRI digital geologic-GIS dataset or map: 1.) a readme file (jela_geology_gis_readme.pdf), 2.) the GRI ancillary map information document (.pdf) file (jela_geology.pdf) which contains geologic unit descriptions, as well as other ancillary map information and graphics from the source map(s) used by the GRI in the production of the GRI digital geologic-GIS data for the park, and 3.) a user-friendly FAQ PDF version of the metadata (jela_geology_metadata_faq.pdf). Please read the jela_geology_gis_readme.pdf for information pertaining to the proper extraction of the GIS data and other map files. Google Earth software is available for free at: https://www.google.com/earth/versions/. QGIS software is available for free at: https://www.qgis.org/en/site/. Users are encouraged to only use the Google Earth data for basic visualization, and to use the GIS data for any type of data analysis or investigation. The data were completed as a component of the Geologic Resources Inventory (GRI) program, a National Park Service (NPS) Inventory and Monitoring (I&M) Division funded program that is administered by the NPS Geologic Resources Division (GRD). For a complete listing of GRI products visit the GRI publications webpage: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/geology/geologic-resources-inventory-products.htm. For more information about the Geologic Resources Inventory Program visit the GRI webpage: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/geology/gri.htm. At the bottom of that webpage is a "Contact Us" link if you need additional information. You may also directly contact the program coordinator, Jason Kenworthy (jason_kenworthy@nps.gov). Source geologic maps and data used to complete this GRI digital dataset were provided by the following: Louisiana Geological Survey. Detailed information concerning the sources used and their contribution the GRI product are listed in the Source Citation section(s) of this metadata record (jela_geology_metadata.txt or jela_geology_metadata_faq.pdf). Users of this data are cautioned about the locational accuracy of features within this dataset. Based on the source map scale of 1:100,000 and United States National Map Accuracy Standards features are within (horizontally) 50.8 meters or 166.7 feet of their actual location as presented by this dataset. Users of this data should thus not assume the location of features is exactly where they are portrayed in Google Earth, ArcGIS, QGIS or other software used to display this dataset. All GIS and ancillary tables were produced as per the NPS GRI Geology-GIS Geodatabase Data Model v. 2.3. (available at: https://www.nps.gov/articles/gri-geodatabase-model.htm).