My ArcGIS StoryMap is centered around The Green Book, an annual travel guide that allowed African Americans to travel safely during the height of the Jim Crow Era in the United States. More specifically, The Green Book listed establishments, such as hotels and restaurants, that would openly accept and welcome black customers into their businesses. As someone who is interested in the intersection between STEM and the humanities, I wanted to utilize The Science of Where to formulate a project that would reveal important historical implications to the public. Therefore, my overarching goal was to map each location in The Green Book in order to draw significant conclusions regarding racial segregation in one of the largest cities in the entire world.Although a more detailed methodology of my work can be found in the project itself, the following is a step by step walkthrough of my overall scientific process:Develop a question in relation to The Green Book to be solved through the completion of the project.Perform background research on The Green Book to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the subject matter.Formulate a hypothesis that answers the proposed question based on the background research.Transcribe names and addresses for each of the hotel listings in The Green Book into a comma separated values file.Transcribe names and addresses for each of the restaurants listings in The Green Book into a comma separated values file.Repeat Steps 4 and 5 for the 1940, 1950, 1960, and 1966 publications of The Green Book. In total, there should be eight unique database files (1940 New York City Hotels, 1940 New York City Restaurants, 1950 New York City Hotels, 1950 New York City Restaurants, 1960 New York City Hotels, 1960 New York City Restaurants, 1966 New York City Hotels, and 1966 New York City Restaurants.)Construct an address locator that references a New York City street base map to plot the information from the databases in Step 6 as points on a map.Manually plot locations that the address locator did not automatically match on the map.Repeat Steps 7 and 8 for all eight database files.Find and match the point locations for each listing in The Green Book with historical photographs.Generate a map tour using the geotagged images for each point from Step 10.Create a point density heat map for the locations in all eight database files.Research and obtain professional and historically accurate racial demographic data for New York City during the same time period as when The Green Book was published.Generate a hot spot map of the black population percentage using the demographic data.Analyze any geospatial trends between the point density heat maps for The Green Book and the black population percentage hot spot maps from the demographic data.Research and obtain professional and historically accurate redlining data for New York City during the same time period as when The Green Book was published.Overlay the points from The Green Book listings from Step 9 on top of the redlining shapefile.Count the number of point features completely located within each redlining zone ranking utilizing the spatial join tool.Plot the data recorded from Step 18 in the form of graphs.Analyze any geospatial trends between the listings for The Green Book and its location relative to the redlining ranking zones.Draw conclusions from the analyses in Steps 15 and 20 to present a justifiable rationale for the results._Student Generated Maps:New York City Pin Location Maphttps://arcg.is/15i4nj1940 New York City Hotels Maphttps://arcg.is/WuXeq1940 New York City Restaurants Maphttps://arcg.is/L4aqq1950 New York City Hotels Maphttps://arcg.is/1CvTGj1950 New York City Restaurants Maphttps://arcg.is/0iSG4r1960 New York City Hotels Maphttps://arcg.is/1DOzeT1960 New York City Restaurants Maphttps://arcg.is/1rWKTj1966 New York City Hotels Maphttps://arcg.is/4PjOK1966 New York City Restaurants Maphttps://arcg.is/1zyDTv11930s Manhattan Black Population Percentage Enumeration District Maphttps://arcg.is/1rKSzz1930s Manhattan Black Population Percentage Hot Spot Map (Same as Previous)https://arcg.is/1rKSzz1940 Hotels Point Density Heat Maphttps://arcg.is/jD1Ki1940 Restaurants Point Density Heat Maphttps://arcg.is/1aKbTS1940 Hotels Redlining Maphttps://arcg.is/8b10y1940 Restaurants Redlining Maphttps://arcg.is/9WrXv1950 Hotels Redlining Maphttps://arcg.is/ruGiP1950 Restaurants Redlining Maphttps://arcg.is/0qzfvC01960 Hotels Redlining Maphttps://arcg.is/1KTHLK01960 Restaurants Redlining Maphttps://arcg.is/0jiu9q1966 Hotels Redlining Maphttps://arcg.is/PXKn41966 Restaurants Redlining Maphttps://arcg.is/uCD05_Bibliography:Image Credits (In Order of Appearance)Header/Thumbnail Image:Student Generated Collage (Created Using Pictures from the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library, https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/collections/the-green-book#/?tab=about.)Mob Violence Image:Kelley, Robert W. “A Mob Rocks an out of State Car Passing.” Life Magazine, www.life.com/history/school-integration-clinton-history, The Green Book Example Image:Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library Digital Collections, https://images.nypl.org/index.php?id=5207583&t=w. 1940s Borough of Manhattan Hotels and Restaurants Photographs:“Manhattan 1940s Tax Photos.” NYC Municipal Archives Collections, The New York City Department of Records & Information Services, https://nycma.lunaimaging.com/luna/servlet/NYCMA~5~5?cic=NYCMA~5~5.Figure 1:Student Generated GraphFigure 2:Student Generated GraphFigure 3:Student Generated GraphGIS DataThe Green Book Database:Student Generated (See Above)The Green Book Listings Maps:Student Generated (See Above)The Green Book Point Density Heat Maps:Student Generated (See Above)The Green Book Road Trip Map:Student GeneratedLION New York City Single Line Street Base Map:https://www1.nyc.gov/site/planning/data-maps/open-data/dwn-lion.page 1930s Manhattan Census Data:https://s4.ad.brown.edu/Projects/UTP2/ncities.htm Mapping Inequality Redlining Data:https://dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/redlining/#loc=12/40.794/-74.072&city=manhattan-ny&text=downloads 1940 The Green Book Document:Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library. "The Negro Motorist Green-Book: 1940" The New York Public Library Digital Collections, 1940, https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/dc858e50-83d3-0132-2266-58d385a7b928. 1950 The Green Book Document:Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library. "The Negro Motorist Green-Book: 1950" The New York Public Library Digital Collections, 1950, https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/283a7180-87c6-0132-13e6-58d385a7b928. 1960 The Green Book Document:Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library. "The Travelers' Green Book: 1960" The New York Public Library Digital Collections, 1960, https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/a7bf74e0-9427-0132-17bf-58d385a7b928. 1966 The Green Book Document:Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library. "Travelers' Green Book: 1966-67 International Edition" The New York Public Library Digital Collections, 1966, https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/27516920-8308-0132-5063-58d385a7bbd0. Hyperlink Credits (In Order of Appearance)Referenced Hyperlink #1: Coen, Ross. “Sundown Towns.” Black Past, 23 Aug. 2020, blackpast.org/african-american-history/sundown-towns.Referenced Hyperlink #2: Foster, Mark S. “In the Face of ‘Jim Crow’: Prosperous Blacks and Vacations, Travel and Outdoor Leisure, 1890-1945.” The Journal of Negro History, vol. 84, no. 2, 1999, pp. 130–149., doi:10.2307/2649043. Referenced Hyperlink #3:Driskell, Jay. “An Atlas of Self-Reliance: The Negro Motorist's Green Book (1937-1964).” National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, 30 July 2015, americanhistory.si.edu/blog/negro-motorists-green-book. Referenced Hyperlink #4:Kahn, Eve M. “The 'Green Book' Legacy, a Beacon for Black Travelers.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 6 Aug. 2015, www.nytimes.com/2015/08/07/arts/design/the-green-book-legacy-a-beacon-for-black-travelers.html. Referenced Hyperlink #5:Giorgis, Hannah. “The Documentary Highlighting the Real 'Green Book'.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 25 Feb. 2019, www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2019/02/real-green-book-preserving-stories-of-jim-crow-era-travel/583294/. Referenced Hyperlink #6:Staples, Brent. “Traveling While Black: The Green Book's Black History.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 25 Jan. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/01/25/opinion/green-book-black-travel.html. Referenced Hyperlink #7:Pollak, Michael. “How Official Is Official?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 15 Oct. 2010, www.nytimes.com/2010/10/17/nyregion/17fyi.html. Referenced Hyperlink #8:“New Name: Avenue Becomes a Boulevard.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 22 Oct. 1987, www.nytimes.com/1987/10/22/nyregion/new-name-avenue-becomes-a-boulevard.html. Referenced Hyperlink #9:Norris, Frank. “Racial Dynamism in Los Angeles, 1900–1964.” Southern California Quarterly, vol. 99, no. 3, 2017, pp. 251–289., doi:10.1525/scq.2017.99.3.251. Referenced Hyperlink #10:Shertzer, Allison, et al. Urban Transition Historical GIS Project, 2016, https://s4.ad.brown.edu/Projects/UTP2/ncities.htm. Referenced Hyperlink #11:Mitchell, Bruce. “HOLC ‘Redlining’ Maps: The Persistent Structure Of Segregation And Economic Inequality.” National Community Reinvestment Coalition, 20 Mar. 2018,

The Gridded Population of the World, Version 4 (GPWv4): Population Density, Revision 11 consists of estimates of human population density (number of persons per square kilometer) based on counts consistent with national censuses and population registers. A proportional allocation gridding algorithm, utilizing approximately 13.5 million national and sub-national administrative units, was used to assign population counts to 30 arc-second grid cells. The population density rasters were created by dividing the population count raster for a given target year by the land area raster. The data files were produced as global rasters at 30 arc-second (~1 km at the equator) resolution. To enable faster global processing, and in support of research communities, the 30 arc-second count data were aggregated to 2.5 arc-minute, 15 arc-minute, 30 arc-minute and 1-degree resolutions to produce density rasters at these resolutions.Source: Center for International Earth Science Information Network - CIESIN - Columbia University. 2018. Gridded Population of the World, Version 4 (GPWv4): Population Density, Revision 11. Palisades, New York: NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC). Available at https://doi.org/10.7927/H49C6VHW. (October 2022)Files Download

Includes the error tables, ESRI ArcMap document, accompanying ESRI Geodatabase, ESRI Toolkit and the Python scripts/codes used in the analysis. The error tables are by Census Block for each tested method as well as the calculated grouped error statistics.Our study area focuses on New York City, which provides a data-rich urban environment with extreme variations in local population density and diverse types of input data in which to construct multiple methods. In this study area we can then compare the efficacy of multiple methodologies, which employ a strong binary mask paired with a density variable directly derived from the binary mask. We test the following methodologies:1. Land areas binary mask2. Building footprint binary mask3. Building footprint binary mask and area density variable4. Building footprints binary mask and volume density variable5. Residential building footprint binary mask6. Residential building footprint binary mask and area density variable7. Residential building footprint binary mask and volume density variable

In 2023, Washington, D.C. had the highest population density in the United States, with 11,130.69 people per square mile. As a whole, there were about 94.83 residents per square mile in the U.S., and Alaska was the state with the lowest population density, with 1.29 residents per square mile. The problem of population density Simply put, population density is the population of a country divided by the area of the country. While this can be an interesting measure of how many people live in a country and how large the country is, it does not account for the degree of urbanization, or the share of people who live in urban centers. For example, Russia is the largest country in the world and has a comparatively low population, so its population density is very low. However, much of the country is uninhabited, so cities in Russia are much more densely populated than the rest of the country. Urbanization in the United States While the United States is not very densely populated compared to other countries, its population density has increased significantly over the past few decades. The degree of urbanization has also increased, and well over half of the population lives in urban centers.

This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates the intersection density of walkable roads within a 750 meter radius of any given 10 meter pixel in the community. Intersections are defined as any point where 3 or more roads meet and density is calculated using kernel density, where closer intersections are weighted higher than further intersections. Intersection density is highly correlated with walking for transportation. This dataset was produced by the US EPA to support research and online mapping activities related to EnviroAtlas. EnviroAtlas (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas) allows the user to interact with a web-based, easy-to-use, mapping application to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services for the contiguous United States. The dataset is available as downloadable data (https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/EnviroAtlas) or as an EnviroAtlas map service. Additional descriptive information about each attribute in this dataset can be found in its associated EnviroAtlas Fact Sheet (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-fact-sheets).

Summary: This repository contains spatial data files representing the density of vegetation cover within a 200 meter radius of points on a grid across the land area of New York City (NYC), New York, USA based on 2017 six-inch resolution land cover data, as well as SQL code used to carry out the analysis. The 200 meter radius was selected based on a study led by researchers at the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, which found that for a given point in the city, cooling benefits of vegetation only begin to accrue once the vegetation cover within a 200 meter radius is at least 32% (Johnson et al. 2020). The grid spacing of 100 feet in north/south and east/west directions was intended to provide granular enough detail to offer useful insights at a local scale (e.g., within a neighborhood) while keeping the amount of data needed to be processed for this manageable. The contained files were developed by the NY Cities Program of The Nature Conservancy and the NYC Environmental Justice Alliance through the Just Nature NYC Partnership. Additional context and interpretation of this work is available in a blog post.

References: Johnson, S., Z. Ross, I. Kheirbek, and K. Ito. 2020. Characterization of intra-urban spatial variation in observed summer ambient temperature from the New York City Community Air Survey. Urban Climate 31:100583. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2020.100583

Files in this Repository: Spatial Data (all data are in the New York State Plane Coordinate System - Long Island Zone, North American Datum 1983, EPSG 2263): Points with unique identifiers (fid) and data on proportion tree canopy cover (prop_canopy), proportion grass/shrub cover (prop_grassshrub), and proportion total vegetation cover (prop_veg) within a 200 meter radius (same data made available in two commonly used formats, Esri File GeoDatabase and GeoPackage): nyc_propveg2017_200mbuffer_100ftgrid_nowater.gdb.zip nyc_propveg2017_200mbuffer_100ftgrid_nowater.gpkg Raster Data with the proportion total vegetation within a 200 meter radius of the center of each cell (pixel centers align with the spatial point data) nyc_propveg2017_200mbuffer_100ftgrid_nowater.tif Computer Code: Code for generating the point data in PostgreSQL/PostGIS, assuming the data sources listed below are already in a PostGIS database. nyc_point_buffer_vegetation_overlay.sql

Data Sources and Methods: We used two openly available datasets from the City of New York for this analysis: Borough Boundaries (Clipped to Shoreline) for NYC, from the NYC Department of City Planning, available at https://www.nyc.gov/site/planning/data-maps/open-data/districts-download-metadata.page Six-inch resolution land cover data for New York City as of 2017, available at https://data.cityofnewyork.us/Environment/Land-Cover-Raster-Data-2017-6in-Resolution/he6d-2qns All data were used in the New York State Plane Coordinate System, Long Island Zone (EPSG 2263). Land cover data were used in a polygonized form for these analyses. The general steps for developing the data available in this repository were as follows: Create a grid of points across the city, based on the full extent of the Borough Boundaries dataset, with points 100 feet from one another in east/west and north/south directions Delete any points that do not overlap the areas in the Borough Boundaries dataset. Create circles centered at each point, with a radius of 200 meters (656.168 feet) in line with the aforementioned paper (Johnson et al. 2020). Overlay the circles with the land cover data, and calculate the proportion of the land cover that was grass/shrub and tree canopy land cover types. Note, because the land cover data consistently ended at the boundaries of NYC, for points within 200 meters of Nassau and Westchester Counties, the area with land cover data was smaller than the area of the circles. Relate the results from the overlay analysis back to the associated points. Create a raster data layer from the point data, with 100 foot by 100 foot resolution, where the center of each pixel is at the location of the respective points. Areas between the Borough Boundary polygons (open water of NY Harbor) are coded as "no data." All steps except for the creation of the raster dataset were conducted in PostgreSQL/PostGIS, as documented in nyc_point_buffer_vegetation_overlay.sql. The conversion of the results to a raster dataset was done in QGIS (version 3.28), ultimately using the gdal_rasterize function.

Human population density in 2000, by terrestrial ecoregion.

We summarized human population density by ecoregion using the Gridded Population of the World database and projections for 2015 (CIESIN et al. 2005). The mean for each ecoregion was extracted using a zonal statistics algorithm.

These data were derived by The Nature Conservancy, and were displayed in a map published in The Atlas of Global Conservation (Hoekstra et al., University of California Press, 2010). More information at http://nature.org/atlas.

Data derived from:

Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia University; and Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT). 2005. Gridded Population of the World Version 3 (GPWv3). Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC), Columbia University Palisades, New York. Available at http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/gpw. Digital media.

United Nations Population Division (UNPD). 2007. Global population, largest urban agglomerations and cities of largest change. World Urbanization Prospects: The 2007 Revision Population Database. Available at http://esa.un.org/unup/index.asp.

For more about The Atlas of Global Conservation check out the web map (which includes links to download spatial data and view metadata) at http://maps.tnc.org/globalmaps.html. You can also read more detail about the Atlas at http://www.nature.org/science-in-action/leading-with-science/conservation-atlas.xml, or buy the book at http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520262560

description: The accession contains New York City Department Harbor Survey Data from years 1968 to 1990. Station data was collected as part of the NYC Department of Environmental Protection's Harbor Survey at the Hudson River along Manhatten, New York Bight, Long Island Sound. Parameters measured were salinity, dissolved oxygen, total coliform counts/ml, and fecal coliform counts/100 ml were recorded as 80-column ASCII files (SAS file format); each line in the file represents sampling data from a single site per day. Data was submitted on a diskette. A hardcopy of a README file which interprets the file format and a map of the study site is included in the documentation. Principal Investigator was Dr. Alan I. Stubin of Institute: NYC DEP (Marine Science Branch, Ward's Island).; abstract: The accession contains New York City Department Harbor Survey Data from years 1968 to 1990. Station data was collected as part of the NYC Department of Environmental Protection's Harbor Survey at the Hudson River along Manhatten, New York Bight, Long Island Sound. Parameters measured were salinity, dissolved oxygen, total coliform counts/ml, and fecal coliform counts/100 ml were recorded as 80-column ASCII files (SAS file format); each line in the file represents sampling data from a single site per day. Data was submitted on a diskette. A hardcopy of a README file which interprets the file format and a map of the study site is included in the documentation. Principal Investigator was Dr. Alan I. Stubin of Institute: NYC DEP (Marine Science Branch, Ward's Island).

These data are a product of a multi-year effort by the FHTET (Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team) Remote Sensing Program to develop raster datasets of forest parameters for each of the tree species measured in the Forest Service’s Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program. This dataset was created to support the 2013–2027 National Insect and Disease Risk Map (NIDRM) assessment. The statistical modeling approach used data-mining software and an archive of geospatial information to find the complex relationships between GIS layers and the presence/abundance of tree species as measured in over 300,000 FIA plot locations. Unique statistical models were developed from predictor layers consisting of climate, terrain, soils, and satellite imagery. Modeled basal area (BA) and stand density index (SDI) datasets for individual tree species were further post-processed to 1) match BA and SDI histograms of FIA data, 2) ensure that the sum of individual species BA and SDI on a pixel did not exceed separately modeled total for all species BA and SDI raster datasets, 3) derive additional tree parameters like quadratic mean diameter and trees per acre. With Landsat image collection dates ranging from 1985 to 2005, and a mean collection date for treed areas of 2002, and FIA plot data generally ranging from 1999 to 2005, the vintage of the base parameter datasets varies based on location, but can be roughly considered as 2002This record was taken from the USDA Enterprise Data Inventory that feeds into the https://data.gov catalog. Data for this record includes the following resources: ISO-19139 metadata ArcGIS Hub Dataset ArcGIS GeoService For complete information, please visit https://data.gov.

Basal Area (BA). 30 meter pixel resolution. Data represents forest conditions circa 2002.These data are a product of a multi-year effort by the FHTET (Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team) Remote Sensing Program to develop raster datasets of forest parameters for each of the tree species measured in the Forest Service’s Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program. This dataset was created to support the 2013–2027 National Insect and Disease Risk Map (NIDRM) assessment. The statistical modeling approach used data-mining software and an archive of geospatial information to find the complex relationships between GIS layers and the presence/abundance of tree species as measured in over 300,000 FIA plot locations. Unique statistical models were developed from predictor layers consisting of climate, terrain, soils, and satellite imagery. Modeled basal area (BA) and stand density index (SDI) datasets for individual tree species were further post-processed to 1) match BA and SDI histograms of FIA data, 2) ensure that the sum of individual species BA and SDI on a pixel did not exceed separately modeled total for all species BA and SDI raster datasets, 3) derive additional tree parameters like quadratic mean diameter and trees per acre. With Landsat image collection dates ranging from 1985 to 2005, and a mean collection date for treed areas of 2002, and FIA plot data generally ranging from 1999 to 2005, the vintage of the base parameter datasets varies based on location, but can be roughly considered as 2002This record was taken from the USDA Enterprise Data Inventory that feeds into the https://data.gov catalog. Data for this record includes the following resources: ISO-19139 metadata ArcGIS Hub Dataset ArcGIS GeoService For complete information, please visit https://data.gov.

Sea turtle density in the Atlantic: predicted density per square kilometer. Version: MDAT November 2023. Species included: Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas), version 1.0; Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle (Lepidochelys kempii), version 1.0; Leatherback Sea Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), version 2.0; Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta), version 1.0. Credit: NUWC, Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab, Duke University.View Dataset on the GatewayAnimation ID: AG00014SS3_Fall

This map shows four of these densely populated areas are in California. The San Francisco-Oakland and San Jose Urban Areas rank second and third, respectively. That the New York Metropolitan area ranks fifth on this list shows that this density ranking is greatly affected by the nature of the land area designated as urban. Census Urban Areas comprise an urban core and associated suburbs. California's urban and suburban areas are more uniform in density when compared to New York's urban core and suburban periphery which have vastly different densities. Delano ranks fourth because it has a very small land area and its population is augmented by two large California State Prisons housing 10,000 inmates.

This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates the intersection density of walkable roads within a 750 meter radius of any given 10 meter pixel in each EnviroAtlas community. Intersections are defined as any point where 3 or more roads meet and density is calculated using kernel density, where closer intersections are weighted higher than further intersections. Intersection density is highly correlated with walking for transportation. For specific information about each community's intersection density layer, consult their individual metadata records: Austin, TX (https://edg.epa.gov/metadata/catalog/search/resource/details.page?uuid=%7B72177756-4DD2-4133-8E85-C4C46BFAEEE2%7D); Cleveland, OH (https://edg.epa.gov/metadata/catalog/search/resource/details.page?uuid=%7Beb14c0ca-f26c-47eb-8198-02fba73784d6%7D); Des Moines, IA (https://edg.epa.gov/metadata/catalog/search/resource/details.page?uuid=%7BA5C3A6F2-CA61-4E78-B57D-289E45B34EF5%7D); Durham, NC (https://edg.epa.gov/metadata/catalog/search/resource/details.page?uuid=%7BAF794837-71B0-4B3F-AA95-996A9C19D8A6%7D); Fresno, CA (https://edg.epa.gov/metadata/catalog/search/resource/details.page?uuid=%7B0D3E33D1-81C5-456E-A581-58049701ACED%7D); Green Bay, WI (https://edg.epa.gov/metadata/catalog/search/resource/details.page?uuid=%7BFF478160-DCFF-453D-A7B7-F2C03DF1BC85%7D); Memphis, TN (https://edg.epa.gov/metadata/catalog/search/resource/details.page?uuid=%7B9C5E1317-F07D-4CEF-935A-A494E0BE7A7F%7D); Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN (https://edg.epa.gov/metadata/catalog/search/resource/details.page?uuid=%7Bea532fdb-df76-4c5b-afcf-2af27d5b5e10%7D); Milwaukee, WI (https://edg.epa.gov/metadata/catalog/search/resource/details.page?uuid=%7B991BCB95-1624-4102-95D5-6B1E382F5C12%7D); New Bedford, MA (https://edg.epa.gov/metadata/catalog/search/resource/details.page?uuid=%7B89E0CE0B-DAEE-430E-A8E4-C486B3FD803F%7D); New York, NY (https://edg.epa.gov/metadata/catalog/search/resource/details.page?uuid=%7BD70DE411-6B72-4806-9B40-04921B3EA230%7D); Phoenix, AZ (https://edg.epa.gov/metadata/catalog/search/resource/details.page?uuid=%7BAFC1F0E1-EC52-41E4-8682-8885BED5A9B7%7D); Pittsburgh, PA (https://edg.epa.gov/metadata/catalog/search/resource/details.page?uuid=%7BDA4B629D-3224-45AD-8C32-F27253634ED4%7D); Portland, ME (https://edg.epa.gov/metadata/catalog/search/resource/details.page?uuid=%7B1CAE7A89-3562-4706-AA12-1E6220006179%7D); Paterson, NJ (https://edg.epa.gov/metadata/catalog/search/resource/details.page?uuid=%7BE1E6BB36-9E9E-41B8-BF44-33D56CCAE145%7D); Portland, OR (https://edg.epa.gov/metadata/catalog/search/resource/details.page?uuid=%7B17F6E916-7805-40AD-85E1-61B63BBDE193%7D); Tampa, FL (https://edg.epa.gov/metadata/catalog/search/resource/details.page?uuid=%7B356EC846-7733-4AA3-8E0D-83DFA5AA2C52%7D); and Woodbine, IA (https://edg.epa.gov/metadata/catalog/search/resource/details.page?uuid=%7B4E7173AD-5D8E-426A-9431-67FE34833523%7D). This dataset was produced by the US EPA to support research and online mapping activities related to EnviroAtlas. EnviroAtlas (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas) allows the user to interact with a web-based, easy-to-use, mapping application to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services for the contiguous United States. The dataset is available as downloadable data (https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/EnviroAtlas) or as an EnviroAtlas map service. Additional descriptive information about each attribute in this dataset can be found in its associated EnviroAtlas Fact Sheet (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-fact-sheets).

IntroductionClimate Central’s Surging Seas: Risk Zone map shows areas vulnerable to near-term flooding from different combinations of sea level rise, storm surge, tides, and tsunamis, or to permanent submersion by long-term sea level rise. Within the U.S., it incorporates the latest, high-resolution, high-accuracy lidar elevation data supplied by NOAA (exceptions: see Sources), displays points of interest, and contains layers displaying social vulnerability, population density, and property value. Outside the U.S., it utilizes satellite-based elevation data from NASA in some locations, and Climate Central’s more accurate CoastalDEM in others (see Methods and Qualifiers). It provides the ability to search by location name or postal code.The accompanying Risk Finder is an interactive data toolkit available for some countries that provides local projections and assessments of exposure to sea level rise and coastal flooding tabulated for many sub-national districts, down to cities and postal codes in the U.S. Exposure assessments always include land and population, and in the U.S. extend to over 100 demographic, economic, infrastructure and environmental variables using data drawn mainly from federal sources, including NOAA, USGS, FEMA, DOT, DOE, DOI, EPA, FCC and the Census.This web tool was highlighted at the launch of The White House's Climate Data Initiative in March 2014. Climate Central's original Surging Seas was featured on NBC, CBS, and PBS U.S. national news, the cover of The New York Times, in hundreds of other stories, and in testimony for the U.S. Senate. The Atlantic Cities named it the most important map of 2012. Both the Risk Zone map and the Risk Finder are grounded in peer-reviewed science.Back to topMethods and QualifiersThis map is based on analysis of digital elevation models mosaicked together for near-total coverage of the global coast. Details and sources for U.S. and international data are below. Elevations are transformed so they are expressed relative to local high tide lines (Mean Higher High Water, or MHHW). A simple elevation threshold-based “bathtub method” is then applied to determine areas below different water levels, relative to MHHW. Within the U.S., areas below the selected water level but apparently not connected to the ocean at that level are shown in a stippled green (as opposed to solid blue) on the map. Outside the U.S., due to data quality issues and data limitations, all areas below the selected level are shown as solid blue, unless separated from the ocean by a ridge at least 20 meters (66 feet) above MHHW, in which case they are shown as not affected (no blue).Areas using lidar-based elevation data: U.S. coastal states except AlaskaElevation data used for parts of this map within the U.S. come almost entirely from ~5-meter horizontal resolution digital elevation models curated and distributed by NOAA in its Coastal Lidar collection, derived from high-accuracy laser-rangefinding measurements. The same data are used in NOAA’s Sea Level Rise Viewer. (High-resolution elevation data for Louisiana, southeast Virginia, and limited other areas comes from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)). Areas using CoastalDEM™ elevation data: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Corn Island (Nicaragua), Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Blas (Panama), Suriname, The Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago. CoastalDEM™ is a proprietary high-accuracy bare earth elevation dataset developed especially for low-lying coastal areas by Climate Central. Use our contact form to request more information.Warning for areas using other elevation data (all other areas)Areas of this map not listed above use elevation data on a roughly 90-meter horizontal resolution grid derived from NASA’s Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). SRTM provides surface elevations, not bare earth elevations, causing it to commonly overestimate elevations, especially in areas with dense and tall buildings or vegetation. Therefore, the map under-portrays areas that could be submerged at each water level, and exposure is greater than shown (Kulp and Strauss, 2016). However, SRTM includes error in both directions, so some areas showing exposure may not be at risk.SRTM data do not cover latitudes farther north than 60 degrees or farther south than 56 degrees, meaning that sparsely populated parts of Arctic Circle nations are not mapped here, and may show visual artifacts.Areas of this map in Alaska use elevation data on a roughly 60-meter horizontal resolution grid supplied by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). This data is referenced to a vertical reference frame from 1929, based on historic sea levels, and with no established conversion to modern reference frames. The data also do not take into account subsequent land uplift and subsidence, widespread in the state. As a consequence, low confidence should be placed in Alaska map portions.Flood control structures (U.S.)Levees, walls, dams or other features may protect some areas, especially at lower elevations. Levees and other flood control structures are included in this map within but not outside of the U.S., due to poor and missing data. Within the U.S., data limitations, such as an incomplete inventory of levees, and a lack of levee height data, still make assessing protection difficult. For this map, levees are assumed high and strong enough for flood protection. However, it is important to note that only 8% of monitored levees in the U.S. are rated in “Acceptable” condition (ASCE). Also note that the map implicitly includes unmapped levees and their heights, if broad enough to be effectively captured directly by the elevation data.For more information on how Surging Seas incorporates levees and elevation data in Louisiana, view our Louisiana levees and DEMs methods PDF. For more information on how Surging Seas incorporates dams in Massachusetts, view the Surging Seas column of the web tools comparison matrix for Massachusetts.ErrorErrors or omissions in elevation or levee data may lead to areas being misclassified. Furthermore, this analysis does not account for future erosion, marsh migration, or construction. As is general best practice, local detail should be verified with a site visit. Sites located in zones below a given water level may or may not be subject to flooding at that level, and sites shown as isolated may or may not be be so. Areas may be connected to water via porous bedrock geology, and also may also be connected via channels, holes, or passages for drainage that the elevation data fails to or cannot pick up. In addition, sea level rise may cause problems even in isolated low zones during rainstorms by inhibiting drainage.ConnectivityAt any water height, there will be isolated, low-lying areas whose elevation falls below the water level, but are protected from coastal flooding by either man-made flood control structures (such as levees), or the natural topography of the surrounding land. In areas using lidar-based elevation data or CoastalDEM (see above), elevation data is accurate enough that non-connected areas can be clearly identified and treated separately in analysis (these areas are colored green on the map). In the U.S., levee data are complete enough to factor levees into determining connectivity as well.However, in other areas, elevation data is much less accurate, and noisy error often produces “speckled” artifacts in the flood maps, commonly in areas that should show complete inundation. Removing non-connected areas in these places could greatly underestimate the potential for flood exposure. For this reason, in these regions, the only areas removed from the map and excluded from analysis are separated from the ocean by a ridge of at least 20 meters (66 feet) above the local high tide line, according to the data, so coastal flooding would almost certainly be impossible (e.g., the Caspian Sea region).Back to topData LayersWater Level | Projections | Legend | Social Vulnerability | Population | Ethnicity | Income | Property | LandmarksWater LevelWater level means feet or meters above the local high tide line (“Mean Higher High Water”) instead of standard elevation. Methods described above explain how each map is generated based on a selected water level. Water can reach different levels in different time frames through combinations of sea level rise, tide and storm surge. Tide gauges shown on the map show related projections (see just below).The highest water levels on this map (10, 20 and 30 meters) provide reference points for possible flood risk from tsunamis, in regions prone to them.

This image dataset details the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico above-ground forest biomass (AGB) (baseline 2000) developed by the United States (US) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The USEPA AGB product (15 m) was created to support the development of landscape watershed predictor metrics for sediment and nutrient loadings associated with stream reaches. Above-ground forest biomass was estimated at a 15 m spatial resolution implementing methodology first posited by the Woods Hole Research Center where they developed the National Biomass and Carbon Dataset (NBCD2000) ─ an above-ground forest biomass map (30 m) for the conterminous United States. For EPA’s effort, spatial predictor layers for AGB estimation included derived products from the United States Geologic Survey (USGS) National Land Cover Dataset 2001 (NLCD) cover type and tree canopy density data, the USGS Gap Analysis Program (GAP) forest type classification data, USGS National Elevation Dataset (NED) topographic data, and the National Aeronautical and Space Administration’s (NASA’s) Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) tree height data. These predictor variables and Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) response variables (observed canopy height and AGB) were related through multivariate tree-based regression models. Units for this AGB map are in Mg/ha for each 15m pixel. Mean biomass (forest only) for the 15 m pixels was 72.59 Mg/ha (σ = 26.83). This estimate is close in agreement to an assessment of structure and condition of PR forests (2003) (Brandeis, 2006) where mean AGB was estimated at 80 Mg/ha. Brandeis, T.J., M.B. Delaney, R. Parresol, L. Royer, 2006. Development of equations for predicting Puerto Rican subtropical dry forest biomass and volume, Forest Ecology and Management, 233:133-142. This dataset is not publicly accessible because: This data exceeds one GB in size and cannot be stored directly on ScienceHub. It can be accessed through the following means: ftp://newftp.epa.gov/Exposure/A-tqkc/. Format: This dataset is in an ERDAS Imagine *.img format which is easily converted to other formats in software packages such as ESRI ArcMap. This dataset is associated with the following publication: Iiames , J., J. Riegel, and R. Lunetta. The Development and Evaluation of a High-Resolution Above Ground Biomass Product for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (2000). Ecosystem Services. Elsevier Online, New York, NY, USA, 83(4): 293-306, (2017).

The Cetacean Density and Distribution Mapping Working Group identified Biologically Important Areas for 24 cetacean species, stocks, or populations in seven regions within US waters. BIAs are reproductive areas, feeding areas, migratory corridors, and areas in which small and resident populations are concentrated. BIAs are region-, species-, and time-specific. BIAs were created to aid NOAA, other federal agencies, and the public in the analyses and planning that are required under multiple US statutes to characterize and minimize the impacts of anthropogenic activities on cetaceans and to achieve conservation and protection goals. In addition, the BIAs and associated information may be used to identify information gaps and prioritize future research and modeling efforts to better understand cetaceans, their habitat, and ecosystems. Because this is a scientific effort, the identification of BIAs does not have immediate regulatory significance or consequences. Rather the BIA assessment is intended to provide the best available science to help inform regulatory and management decisions under existing authorities about some, though not all, important cetacean areas. For decision making purposes, the BIAs identified here should be evaluated in combination with areas identified as having high cetacean density; the present effort is meant to augment, not displace, cetacean density analyses.View Dataset on the Gateway