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Coastal Boundary

Frequently-asked questions:


What does this data set describe?

Title:
Coastal Boundary

Abstract:
The Coastal Boundary layer is a 1:24,000-scale, polygon feature-based layer of the legal mylar-based maps adopted by the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) (i.e., maps were adopted on a town by town basis) showing the extent of lands and coastal waters as defined by Connecticut General Statute (C.G.S.) 22a-93(5)) within Connecticut's coastal area (defined by C.G.S. 22a-94(c)). The coastal boundary is a hybrid of the original 1:24,000 version maps prepared by DEP consistent with C.G.S. 22a-94(d) (Coastal Area) and the revised boundary mapping undertaken by twenty-two coastal towns prepared pursuant to C.G.S. 22a-94(f). This layer therefore does not replace the legal maps and may not be used for legal determinations.  

The Coastal Boundary layer includes a single polygon feature that represents the coastal boundary.  No other features are included in this layer.  Data is compiled at 1:24,000 scale.  Attribute information is comprised of an Av_Legend attribute and a CoastB_Flg attribute to denote the coastal boundary.  Other attributes include automatically calculated Shape_Length and Shape_Area fields.  This data is not updated.

Any regulated activity conducted within the coastal boundary by a municipal agency (i.e., plans of development, zoning regulations, municipal coastal programs and coastal site plan review (i.e., site plans submitted to zoning commission, subdivision or resubdivision plans submitted to planning commission, application for special permit or exception to the zoning or planning commissions or zoning board of appeals, variance submitted to zoning board of appeals and a referral of a municipal project)) must be conducted in a manner consistent with the requirements of the Connecticut Coastal Management Act (CMA; C.G.S. 22a-90 to 22a-113).  As the Coastal Boundary is a hybrid of the Coastal Area, all state and federal agency activities must be consistent with the requirements of the CMA.

As defined in C.G.S. 22a-94(b) the coastal boundary is a "continuous line delineated on the landward side by the interior contour elevation of the one hundred year frequency coastal flood zone, as defined and determined by the National Flood Insurance Act, as amended (USC 42 Section 4101, P.L. 93-234), or a one thousand foot linear setback measured from the mean high water mark in coastal waters, or a one thousand foot linear setback measured from the inland boundary of tidal wetlands mapped under section 22a-20, whichever is farthest inland; and shall be delineated on the seaward side by the seaward extent of the jurisdiction of the state."

The original boundary maps were created in 1979 on stable mylar overlay using the 1:24,000-scale US Geological Survey topographic quadrangle maps (mylar film format). The source for tidal wetland maps were the legal 1:24,000 maps (mylar format) adopted by the Commissioner of DEP and transformed to 1:24,000 mylar-scale maps by the Office of Policy and Management (OPM) using an accurate pantograph. OPM similarly converted FEMA's flood insurance maps (various scales) to a 1:24,000 mylar overlay. The inland extent of coastal waters was plotted on 1:24,000 USGS topographic maps following the procedures and sources described in The Boundary Between Saltwater and Freshwater in Connecticut, December 1978 prepared by the State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection, Coastal Area Management Program.

The following twenty-two towns have adopted municipal coastal boundaries: Chester, Clinton, Darien, Deep River, East Haven, Essex, Fairfield, Greenwich, Groton, Guilford, Hamden, Ledyard, Madison, Milford, New Haven, New London, North Haven, Norwalk, Old Lyme, Old Saybrook, Stamford and Waterford. The coastal boundary maps for these towns may be at different scales than the original DEP draft maps and may contain minor adjustments to the boundary as permitted in C.G.S. 22a-94(f).

  1. How should this data set be cited?

    State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection (data compiler, editor and publisher), 1995, Coastal Boundary: State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection, Hartford, Connecticut, USA.

    Online links:
    Other citation details:
    Except for periodic corrections, this layer includes information that is relatively static and does not change over time. The 1999 Edition is in the Connecituct State Plane Coordinate System of 1983 (NAD83).

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

    Bounding coordinates:
    West: -73.667761
    East: -71.825910
    North: 41.543944
    South: 40.950466

  3. What does it look like?

    http://www.cteco.uconn.edu/metadata/dep/browsegraphic/coastalboundaryfullview.gif (GIF)
    Full view of Coastal Boundary

    http://www.cteco.uconn.edu/metadata/dep/browsegraphic/coastalboundarydetailview.gif (GIF)
    Detail view of Coastal Boundary

  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?

    Calendar date: 1995
    Currentness reference:
    publication date

  5. What is the general form of this data set?

    Geospatial data presentation form: vector digital data

  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?

    1. How are geographic features stored in the data set?

      Indirect spatial reference:
      State of Connecticut, United States of America

      This is a Vector data set. It contains the following vector data types (SDTS terminology):
      • G-polygon (1)
      • Point (216)

    2. What coordinate system is used to represent geographic features?

      The map projection used is Lambert Conformal Conic.

      Projection parameters:
      Lambert Conformal Conic
      Standard parallel: 41.200000
      Standard parallel: 41.866667
      Longitude of central meridian: -72.750000
      Latitude of projection origin: 40.833333
      False easting: 999999.999996
      False northing: 499999.999998

      Planar coordinates are encoded using coordinate pair.
      Abscissae (x-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 0.000250.
      Ordinates (y-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 0.000250.
      Planar coordinates are specified in survey feet.

      The horizontal datum used is North American Datum of 1983.
      The ellipsoid used is Geodetic Reference System 80.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378137.000000.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.257222.

      Vertical coordinate system definition:
      Altitude system definition:
      Altitude resolution: 1.000000
      Altitude encoding method: Explicit elevation coordinate included with horizontal coordinates

  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?

    Coastal Boundary
    Coastal Boundary represented as a single polygon

    OBJECTID
    Internal feature number. (Source: ESRI)
                      

    Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.

    ACREAGE
    Area of feature in internal units (acres).  Values must be recalculated after feature is edited. (Source: ESRI)
                      

    Positive real numbers that are automatically generated.

    AREA_SQMI
    Area of feature in internal units (square miles). (Source: ESRI)
                      

    Positive real numbers that are automatically generated.

    SHAPE
    Feature geometry. (Source: ESRI)
                      

    Coordinates defining the features.

    LENGTH_MI
    Length of perimeter of feature in miles.  Values must be recalculated after feature is edited. (Source: ESRI)
                      

    Positive real numbers that are automatically generated.

    STATUS
    SHAPE.area
    SHAPE.len
    Entity and attribute overview:
    Information encoded about the Coastal Boundary is limited.  Use the Av_Legend attribute to denote the coastal boundary.  The COASTB_FLG attribute also designates the coastal boundary and is represented by a "T" (True) value.  The remaining attributes are software generated and include unique identification number (ObjectID), area (Shape_Area), and length (Shape_Length) attributes.
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Who produced the data set?

  1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)


  2. Who also contributed to the data set?

  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?

    State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection
    79 Elm Street
    Hartford, Connecticut 06106-5127
    USA

    860-424-3034 (voice)
    860-424-4054 (FAX)
    dep.gisdata@ct.gov
    Hours of Service: Monday to Friday, 08:30 to 16:30 Eastern Standard Time
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Why was the data set created?

The Coastal Boundary layer is 1:24,000-scale data. It shows the extent of lands and coastal waters as defined by C.G.S. 22a-93(5) within Connecticut's coastal area (defined by C.G.S. 22a-94(c)).  Use this layer to show the Coastal Boundary on maps with other 1:24,000-scale data such as Coastal Area, Town Boundaries, Roads and Trails, Airports, Railroads and other base map data derived from the USGS 7.5 Minute Quadrangle Maps and compiled at a 1:24,000 scale.  Not intended for maps printed at map scales greater or more detailed than 1:24,000 scale (1 inch = 2,000 feet.)

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How was the data set created?

  1. Where did the data come from?

    Source 1 - Coastal Boundary Mylars (source 1 of 2)

    State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection, 1995, Coastal Boundary Mylars: State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection, .

    Type of source media: stable-base material
    Source scale denominator: 24,000
    Source contribution:
    Delineates the coastal boundary as defined by C.G.S. 22a-94(c).  The stable-base material used were mylar copies of the USGS 7.5 minute quadrangle maps upon which the coastal boundary was hand drawn.  Incorporated onto these maps are municipal coastal boundaries for 22 towns that chose to revise the original state coastal boundary.  When the scale of the individual municipal maps differed from 1:24000, they were converted to a 24,000 scale and hand drawn onto the above referenced mylar copies.

    Source 2 - Coastal Boundary Layer, Shapefile (source 2 of 2)

    State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection, 1995, Coastal Boundary Layer.

    Type of source media: disc
    Source scale denominator: 24,000
    Source contribution:
    Delineates the Coastal Boundary as defined in C.G.S. 22a-93(5).  This data source refers to all features combined in one statewide layer. Since initial publication in 1995, a subsequent edition of the layer was generated by the State of Connecticut in order to convert from the Connecticut State Plane Coordinate System of 1927 (NAD27) to the Connecticut State Plane Coordinate System of 1983 (NAD83).  Changes made to the entire layer are reflected in metadata process steps where this particular data source is cited as both the Source Used and the Source Produced.

  2. What changes have been made?

    Date: Early 1990's (change 1 of 2)
    Feature digitizing and attribution (digitizing tablet method) - Using ESRI ArcInfo software, features were digitized by registering the source map to the digitizing tablet and using the crosshairs of the digitizer's mouse to manually draft coastal boundary lines on the map. The corners of the USGS 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle maps are used as registration points and are depicted on the source map. The source map was registered to the digitizing tablet by digitizing (entering) the locations of four quadrangle corner registration points shown on the map.  Feature corrections and details regarding quality assurance and control are unknown for this layer.

    Person responsible for change:
    Unknown
    State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection

    Data sources used in this process:
    • Source 1 - Coastal Boundary Mylars

    Data sources produced in this process:
    • Source 2 - Coastal Boundary Layer

    Date: 1999 (change 2 of 2)
    Datum conversion - In 1999, using ESRI ArcInfo software, the Coastal Boundary layer was converted from the Connecticut State Plane Coordinate System of 1927 (NAD27) to the Connecticut State Plane Coordinate System of 1983 (NAD83). The NADCON (North American Datum CONversion) data transformation was used.  The Coastal Boundary layer was subsequently converted from ESRI Coverage format to ESRI Shapefile format.  

    Person responsible for change:
    State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection

    Data sources used in this process:
    • Source 2 - Coastal Boundary Layer

    Data sources produced in this process:
    • Source 2 - Coastal Boundary Layer

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How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?

  1. How well have the observations been checked?

    There is only one polygon feature in the Coastal Boundary layer.  The Av_Legend attribute value is "In coastal boundary", CoastB_Flg holds the value of "T" (True for coastal boundary), and the Shape_Area and Shape_Length attribute values are automatically calculated.  The attributes have valid values.

  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?

    The horizontal positional accuracy of this data complies with the United States National Map Accuracy Standards for 1:24,000 scale maps. According to this standard, not more than 10 percent of the locations tested are to be in error by more than 1/50 inch (40 feet) measured on the publication scale of a USGS 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle map. 

  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?

    The Coastal Boundary layer is complete in the sense that it accurately reflects the coastal boundary as defined in Connecticut General Statutes 22a-93(5).  This data is not updated.

  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?

    This layer consists of a single polygon.  Polygon features conform to the following topological rules. Polygons are single part. There are no duplicate polygons. Polygons do not self overlap. Polygons do not overlap other polygons. Logical consistency testing methods are unknown.

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How can someone get a copy of the data set?

Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?

Access constraints: None. The data is in the public domain and may be redistributed.
Use constraints:
None. No restrictions or legal prerequisites for using the data.  Note:  the data is not intended for maps printed at map scales greater or more detailed than 1:24,000 scale (1 inch = 2,000 feet.)  Once acquired, any modification made to the data must be noted in the metadata. When printing this information on a map or using it in a software application, analysis, or report, please acknowledge the State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection as the source for this information.

Distributor 1 of 1

  1. Who distributes the data set?

    State of Connecticut, Department of Enviromental Protection
    79 Elm Street
    Hartford, Connecticut 06106-5127
    USA

    860-424-3540 (voice)
    860-424-4058 (FAX)
    dep.gisdata@ct.gov
    Hours of Service: Monday to Friday, 08:30 to 16:30 Eastern Standard Time

  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?

    Coastal Boundary

  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

  4. How can I download or order the data?

    • Availability in digital form:


    • Data format:
      in format Shapefile, Feature Class (version ArcGIS)
      Network links:http://www.ct.gov/deep

    • Cost to order the data: An online copy of the data may be accessed without charge.


  5. Is there some other way to get the data?

    The data distributor does not provide custom GIS analysis or mapping services. Data is available in a standard format and may be converted to other formats, projections, coordinate systems, or selected for specific geographic regions by the party receiving the data.

  6. What hardware or software do I need in order to use the data set?

    Geographic information sytem (GIS), computer-aided drawing or other mapping software is necessary to display, view and access the information.

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Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 20120119

Metadata author:
Jacqueline Mickiewicz, Rosemary Malley, Kevin O'Brien
State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection
79 Elm Street
Hartford, Connecticut 06106-5127
USA

860-424-3540 (voice)
860-424-4058 (FAX)
dep.gisdata@ct.gov
Hours of Service: Monday to Friday, 08:30 to 16:30 Eastern Standard Time

Metadata standard:
FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata(FGDC-STD-001-1998)

Metadata extensions used:
  • http://www.esri.com/metadata/esriprof80.html

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