This data set contains the sea floor topographic contours, sun-illuminated topographic imagery, and backscatter intensity generated from a multibeam sonar survey of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary region off Boston, Massachusetts, an area of approximately 1100 square nautical miles. The Stellwagen Bank NMS Mapping Project is designed to provide detailed maps of the Stellwagen Bank region's environments and habitats and the first complete multibeam topographic and sea floor characterization maps of a significant region of the shallow EEZ. Data were collected on four cruises over a two year period from the fall of 1994 to the fall of 1996. The surveys were conducted aboard the Candian Hydrographic Service vessel Frederick G. Creed, a SWATH (Small Waterplane Twin Hull) ship that surveys at speeds of 16 knots. The multibeam data were collected utilizing a Simrad Subsea EM 1000 Multibeam Echo Sounder (95 kHz) that is permanently installed in the hull of the Creed.

December 1995, June 2001

This layer is a digital raster graphic of the historical 15-minute USGS topographic quadrangle maps of coastal towns in Massachusetts. These quadrangles were mosaicked together to create a single data layer of the coast of Massachusetts and a large portion of the southeastern area of the state. The Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM) obtained the map images from the Harvard Map Collection. The maps were produced in the late 1890s and early 20th century at a scale of 1:62,500 or 1:63,360 and are commonly known as 15-minute quadrangle maps because each map covers a four-sided area of 15 minutes of latitude and 15 minutes of longitude. A digital raster graphic (DRG) is a scanned image of a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) standard series topographic map. In ArcSDE the image is named IMG_USGS_HIST_COASTAL.

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The U.S. Geological Survey has conducted geologic mapping to characterize the sea floor offshore of Massachusetts. The mapping was carried out using a Simrad Subsea EM 1000 Multibeam Echo Sounder on the Frederick G. Creed on four cruises conducted between 1994 and 1998. The mapping was conducted in cooperation with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and with support from the Canadian Hydrographic Service and the University of New Brunswick.

The long-term goal of this mapping effort is to produce high-resolution geologic maps and a Geographic Information System (GIS) project that presents images and grids of bathymetry, shaded relief bathymetry, and backscatter intensity data from these surveys that will serve the needs of research, management and the public.

The data presented here have been published on paper maps of Quadrangle 2 in western Massachusetts Bay at a scale of 1:25,000 (USGS Map I-2732A, B and C).

The sun-illuminated topographic imagery of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary region off Boston, Massachusetts covers an area of approximately 1100 square nautical miles. The Stellwagen Bank NMS Mapping Project is designed to provide detailed maps of the Stellwagen Bank region's environments and habitats and the first complete multibeam topographic and sea floor characterization maps of a significant region of the shallow EEZ. Data were collected on four cruises over a two year period from the fall of 1994 to the fall of 1996. The surveys were conducted aboard the Canadian Hydrographic Service vessel Frederick G. Creed, a SWATH (Small Waterplane Twin Hull) ship that surveys at speeds of up to 16 knots.

This data set contains the sea floor topographic contours generated from a multibeam sonar survey of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary region off Boston, Massachusetts, an area of approximately 1100 square nautical miles. The Stellwagen Bank NMS Mapping Project is designed to provide detailed maps of the Stellwagen Bank region's environments and habitats and the first complete multibeam topographic and sea floor characterization maps of a significant region of the shallow EEZ. Data were collected on four cruises over a two year period from the fall of 1994 to the fall of 1996. The surveys were conducted aboard the Canadian Hydrographic Service vessel Frederick G. Creed, a SWATH (Small Waterplane Twin Hull) ship that surveys at speeds of up to 16 knots. The multibeam data were collected utilizing a Simrad Subsea EM 1000 Multibeam Echo Sounder (95 kHz) that is permanently installed in the hull of the Creed.

This map includes shoreline change data for the state of Massachusetts hosted by the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management.The active data layer in this map is Massachusetts Shoreline Change Transect (1970-2014) with short-term shoreline change rates. To view long-term rates, open map in Map Viewer to turn on layer.The Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management launched the Shoreline Change Project in 1989 to identify erosion-prone areas of the coast. The shoreline position and change rate are used to inform management decisions regarding the erosion of coastal resources. In 2001, a shoreline from 1994 was added to calculate both long- and short-term shoreline change rates along ocean-facing sections of the Massachusetts coast. In 2013, two oceanfront shorelines for Massachusetts were added using 2008-9 color aerial orthoimagery and 2007 topographic lidar datasets obtained from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Ocean Service, Coastal Services Center. In 2018 two new mean high water (MHW) shorelines for Massachusetts were extracted from lidar collected between 2010 and 2014 (described below). 2018 addition shoreline 1The North Shore and South Coast uses 2010 lidar data collected by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Joint Airborne Lidar Bathymetry Technical Center of Expertise. The South Shore and Outer Cape uses 2011 lidar data collected by the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) National Geospatial Program Office. Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard uses 2012 lidar data collected by the USACE (post Sandy)from a 2012 USACE Post Sandy Topographic lidar survey. 2018 addition shoreline 2The North Shore, Boston, South Shore, Cape Cod Bay, Outer Cape, South Cape, Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, and the South Coast (around Buzzards Bay to the Rhode Island Border) is from 2013-14 lidar data collected by the (USGS) Coastal and Marine Geology Program. This 2018 update of the rate of shoreline change in Massachusetts includes two types of rates. Some of the rates include a proxy-datum bias correction, this is indicated in the filename with “PDB”. The rates that do not account for this correction have “NB” in their file names. The proxy-datum bias is applied because in some areas a proxy shoreline (like a High Water Line shoreline) has a bias when compared to a datum shoreline (like a Mean High Water shoreline). In areas where it exists, this bias should be accounted for when calculating rates using a mix of proxy and datum shorelines. This issue is explained further in Ruggiero and List (2009) and in the process steps of the metadata associated with the rates. This release includes both long-term (~150 years) and short term (~30 years) rates. Files associated with the long-term rates have “LT” in their names, files associated with short-term rates have “ST” in their names.

This data is a qualitatively-derived interpretative polygon shapefile defining the bottom types of the seafloor from Boston Harbor and the harbor approaches, Massachusetts. Approximately 170 km� of sidescan sonar and bathymetric data were collected by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Ship Whiting in 2000 and 2001 and reprocessed and gridded by the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

This data set contains the locations of boulder ridges greater than or equal to 1 meter in height in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary Region off Boston, Massachusetts, an area of approximately 1100 nautical square miles. The Stellwagen Bank NMS Mapping Project is designed to provide detailed maps of the Stellwagen Bank region's environmental habitats and the first complete multibeam topographic and sea floor characterization maps of a significant region of the shallow EEZ. The boulder ridges were identified using multibeam topographic imagery and backscatter intensity of the seabed and video and photographic images collected from 1994 to 2003.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the National Marine Sanctuary Program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has conducted seabed mapping and related research in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary (SBNMS) region since 1993. The interpretive datasets and source information presented here are for quadrangle 2, which is one of 18 similarly-sized quadrangles that comprise the 3,700 square kilometer (km2) SBNMS region. The seabed of the SBNMS region is a glaciated terrain that is topographically and texturally diverse. Mapping of quadrangle 2 shows the distribution of substrates across the southwestern part of Stellwagen Bank, in Stellwagen Basin to the west and southwest of the bank, in Little Stellwagen Basin, and in the western part of Race Point Channel to the south of the bank. Water depths range from ~19 m on the bank crest to ~64 m in Stellwagen Basin. The previously unpublished data provided in this data release in conjunction with previously published bathymetric and seabed backscatter imagery, photographs, video, and grain-size analyses for quadrangle 2 are the foundation for Scientific Investigations Map 3530 (Valentine and Cross, 2024), which presents maps of seabed topography, ruggedness, backscatter intensity, distribution of geologic substrates, sediment mobility, distribution of fine- and coarse-grained sand, and substrate mud content. For the quadrangle 2 interpretations, data from 733 ground validation stations were analyzed, including 656 sediment samples. The seabed geology of quadrangle 2 comprises 19 substrate types ranging from boulder ridges to mobile and rippled sand to mud. Not all of these substrates are mappable as individual polygons. Substrate types are defined or inferred by sediment grain-size composition, surface morphology, sediment layering, the mobility or immobility of substrate surfaces, and water depth range. Scientific Investigations Map 3530 portrays the major geological elements (substrates, topographic features, processes) of environments within quadrangle 2. It is intended to be a basis for the study of sediment transport processes that affect a shallow, offshore bank and adjacent basins, for the study of the ecological requirements of invertebrate and vertebrate species that use these substrates, and to support seabed management in the region.

These data are qualitatively derived interpretive polygon shapefiles and selected source raster data defining surficial geology, sediment type and distribution, and physiographic zones of the sea floor from Nahant to Northern Cape Cod Bay. Much of the geophysical data used to create the interpretive layers were collected under a cooperative agreement among the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Coastal and Marine Geology Program, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). Initiated in 2003, the primary objective of this program is to develop regional geologic framework information for the management of coastal and marine resources. Accurate data and maps of seafloor geology are important first steps toward protecting fish habitat, delineating marine resources, and assessing environmental changes because of natural or human effects. The project is focused on the inshore waters of coastal Massachusetts. Data collected during the mapping cooperative involving the USGS have been released in a series of USGS Open-File Reports (http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/project-pages/coastal_mass/html/current_map.html). The interpretations released in this study are for an area extending from the southern tip of Nahant to Northern Cape Cod Bay, Massachusetts. A combination of geophysical and sample data including high resolution bathymetry and lidar, acoustic-backscatter intensity, seismic-reflection profiles, bottom photographs, and sediment samples are used to create the data interpretations. Most of the nearshore geophysical and sample data (including the bottom photographs) were collected during several cruises between 2000 and 2008. More information about the cruises and the data collected can be found at the Geologic Mapping of the Seafloor Offshore of Massachusetts Web page: http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/project-pages/coastal_mass/.

This data set contains point locations for data stations in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary Region off Boston, Massachusetts, an area of approximately 1100 nautical square miles. The Stellwagen Bank NMS Mapping Project is designed to provide detailed maps of the Stellwagen Bank region's environments and habitats and the first complete multibeam topographic and sea floor characterization maps of a significant region of the shallow EEZ. Stations represent the _location of a sediment sample and/or the end of a video transect. Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) was recorded for each station _location; latitude and longitude were later extracted from a GPS navigational log file using this time.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the National Marine Sanctuary Program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has conducted seabed mapping and related research in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary (SBNMS) region since 1993. The interpretive datasets and source information presented here are for quadrangle 2, which is one of 18 similarly-sized quadrangles that comprise the 3,700 square kilometer (km2) SBNMS region. The seabed of the SBNMS region is a glaciated terrain that is topographically and texturally diverse. Mapping of quadrangle 2 shows the distribution of substrates across the southwestern part of Stellwagen Bank, in Stellwagen Basin to the west and southwest of the bank, in Little Stellwagen Basin, and in the western part of Race Point Channel to the south of the bank. Water depths range from ~19 m on the bank crest to ~64 m in Stellwagen Basin. The previously unpublished data provided in this data release in conjunction with previously published bathymetric and seabed backscatter imagery, photographs, video, and grain-size analyses for quadrangle 2 are the foundation for Scientific Investigations Map 3530 (Valentine and Cross, 2024), which presents maps of seabed topography, ruggedness, backscatter intensity, distribution of geologic substrates, sediment mobility, distribution of fine- and coarse-grained sand, and substrate mud content. For the quadrangle 2 interpretations, data from 733 ground validation stations were analyzed, including 656 sediment samples. The seabed geology of quadrangle 2 comprises 19 substrate types ranging from boulder ridges to mobile and rippled sand to mud. Not all of these substrates are mappable as individual polygons. Substrate types are defined or inferred by sediment grain-size composition, surface morphology, sediment layering, the mobility or immobility of substrate surfaces, and water depth range. Scientific Investigations Map 3530 portrays the major geological elements (substrates, topographic features, processes) of environments within quadrangle 2. It is intended to be a basis for the study of sediment transport processes that affect a shallow, offshore bank and adjacent basins, for the study of the ecological requirements of invertebrate and vertebrate species that use these substrates, and to support seabed management in the region.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Sanctuary Program, has conducted seabed mapping and related research in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary region since 1993. The area is approximately 3,700 square kilometers (km2) and is subdivided into 18 quadrangles. Seven maps, at a scale of 1:25,000, of quadrangle 6 (211 km2) depict seabed topography, backscatter, ruggedness, geology, substrate mobility, mud content, and areas dominated by fine-grained or coarse-grained sand. Interpretations of bathymetric and seabed backscatter imagery, photographs, video, and grain-size analyses were used to create the geology-based maps. In all, data from 420 stations were analyzed, including sediment samples from 325 locations. The seabed geology map shows the distribution of 10 substrate types ranging from boulder ridges to immobile, muddy sand to mobile, rippled sand. Substrate types are defined on the basis of sediment grain-size composition, surficial morphology, sediment layering, and the mobility or immobility of substrate surfaces. This map series is intended to portray the major geological elements (substrates, features, processes) of environments within quadrangle 6. Additionally, these maps will be the basis for the study of the ecological requirements of invertebrate and vertebrate species that utilize these substrates and guide seabed management in the region.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the National Marine Sanctuary Program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has conducted seabed mapping and related research in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary (SBNMS) region since 1993. The interpretive datasets and source information presented here are for quadrangle 2, which is one of 18 similarly-sized quadrangles that comprise the 3,700 square kilometer (km2) SBNMS region. The seabed of the SBNMS region is a glaciated terrain that is topographically and texturally diverse. Mapping of quadrangle 2 shows the distribution of substrates across the southwestern part of Stellwagen Bank, in Stellwagen Basin to the west and southwest of the bank, in Little Stellwagen Basin, and in the western part of Race Point Channel to the south of the bank. Water depths range from ~19 m on the bank crest to ~64 m in Stellwagen Basin. The previously unpublished data provided in this data release in conjunction with previously published bathymetric and seabed backscatter imagery, photographs, video, and grain-size analyses for quadrangle 2 are the foundation for Scientific Investigations Map 3530 (Valentine and Cross, 2024), which presents maps of seabed topography, ruggedness, backscatter intensity, distribution of geologic substrates, sediment mobility, distribution of fine- and coarse-grained sand, and substrate mud content. For the quadrangle 2 interpretations, data from 733 ground validation stations were analyzed, including 656 sediment samples. The seabed geology of quadrangle 2 comprises 19 substrate types ranging from boulder ridges to mobile and rippled sand to mud. Not all of these substrates are mappable as individual polygons. Substrate types are defined or inferred by sediment grain-size composition, surface morphology, sediment layering, the mobility or immobility of substrate surfaces, and water depth range. Scientific Investigations Map 3530 portrays the major geological elements (substrates, topographic features, processes) of environments within quadrangle 2. It is intended to be a basis for the study of sediment transport processes that affect a shallow, offshore bank and adjacent basins, for the study of the ecological requirements of invertebrate and vertebrate species that use these substrates, and to support seabed management in the region.

The U.S. Geological Survey has conducted geologic mapping to characterize the sea floor offshore of Massachusetts. The mapping was carried out using a Simrad Subsea EM 1000 Multibeam Echo Sounder on the Frederick G. Creed on four cruises conducted between 1994 and 1998. The mapping was conducted in cooperation with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and with support from the Canadian Hydrographic Service and the University of New Brunswick.

The long-term goal of this mapping effort is to produce high-resolution geologic maps and a Geographic Information System (GIS) project that presents images and grids of bathymetry, shaded relief bathymetry, and backscatter intensity data from these surveys that will serve the needs of research, management and the public.

Forest Ecosystem Dynamics (FED) Project Spatial Data Archive: Edinburg Township Forest Map

The Biospheric Sciences Branch (formerly Earth Resources Branch) within the Laboratory for Terrestrial Physics at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and associated University investigators are involved in a research program entitled Forest Ecosystem Dynamics (FED) which is fundamentally concerned with vegetation change of forest ecosystems at local to regional spatial scales (100 to 10,000 meters) and temporal scales ranging from monthly to decadal periods (10 to 100 years). The nature and extent of the impacts of these changes, as well as the feedbacks to global climate, may be addressed through modeling the interactions of the vegetation, soil, and energy components of the boreal ecosystem.

The Howland Forest research site lies within the Northern Experimental Forest of International Paper. The natural stands in this boreal-northern hardwood transitional forest consist of spruce-hemlock-fir, aspen-birch, and hemlock-hardwood mixtures. The topography of the region varies from flat to gently rolling, with a maximum elevation change of less than 68 m within 10 km. Due to the region's glacial history, soil drainage classes within a small area may vary widely, from well drained to poorly drained. Consequently, an elaborate patchwork of forest communities has developed, supporting exceptional local species diversity.

This data layer contains forest polygons with information on cover type, volume, and crown closure for both the forest overstory and understory for the Township of Edinburg located in Penobscot County, Maine. The map was digitized, projected and differentially corrected using Global Positioning System points. Forest types were determined by delineation from color infrared photographs.

Note that the USGS records show that the orthophotoquads from which the data were digitized are in the Transverse Mercator projection. The printed map grid on both Howland and Edinburg maps is in the Universal Transverse Mercator projection. So, although the Edinburg map states that base map and control are from a Polyconic projection, (the Howland does not mention projection) the original base maps were assumed to be in the Transverse Mercator.

Information about the FED project and other datasets can be found at the FED Home Page: "https://forest.gsfc.nasa.gov/".

This data set contains polylines showing extents of video transects documenting seabed characteristics in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary Region off Boston, Massachusetts, an area of approximately 1100 nautical square miles. The Stellwagen Bank NMS Mapping Project is designed to provide detailed maps of the Stellwagen Bank region's environments and habitats and the first complete multibeam topographic and sea floor characterization maps of a significant region of the shallow EEZ.