Geospatial data for the Vegetation Mapping Inventory Project of Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area

National Park Service

The files linked to this reference are the geospatial data created as part of the completion of the baseline vegetation inventory project for the NPS park unit. Current format is ArcGIS file geodatabase but older formats may exist as shapefiles. Encompassing a total area of 113,661 acres (45,997 hectares), BISO is a rugged area carved from sandstone and shale, and filled with river gorges, steep cliffs, and unique sandstone arches. Using the National Vegetation Classification System (NVCS) developed by NatureServe, with additional classes and modifiers developed by CRMS, the vegetation communities for BISO were manually interpreted from 1:16,000 scale stereo color infrared aerial photographs acquired by Air Photographics, Inc. (Martinsburg, WV) in October 2003. Although the legislated area of BISO is 113,661 acres, the total area mapped was 122,368 ac (49,520 ha) and corresponds to the boundary file provided by the park. In addition, a 22,660 ac (9,170 ha) buffer area, extending 400 m outside of the park was mapped using a more general classification system meaning the total area mapped for BISO was 145,028acres (58,793 ha). Using a minimum mapping unit of 0.5 hectares (MMU = 0.5 ha), polygons representing areas of relatively uniform vegetation were delineated and annotated on clear plastic overlays registered to the aerial photographs. Polygons were labeled according to the dominant vegetation community. Where the polygons were not uniform, second and third vegetation classes were added. A number of modifier codes were employed to indicate important aspects of the polygon that could be interpreted from the photograph. The polygons on the overlays were then corrected using photogrammetric procedures and converted to vector format for use in creating a geographic information system (GIS) database for the park.