FGDC Classic | FGDC FAQ | FGDC Plus | XML

Connecticut County Index

Frequently-asked questions:


What does this data set describe?

Title:
Connecticut County Index

Abstract:
Connecticut County Index is a 1:125,000-scale polygon feature-based layer that includes a polygon feature for every Connecticut county. There are 8 polygon features in this layer. The corresponding county number and county name attributes uniquely identify individual county polygon features. The county number values are based on an alphabetic sort of county names and range from 1 to 8.

  1. How should this data set be cited?

    State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection (data editor and publisher), U.S Geological Survey, National Mapping Program (data compiler), 19860101, Connecticut County Index: State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection, Hartford, Connecticut, USA.

    Online links:
    Other citation details:
    The USGS is the collector of the mapped county and town boundary data (compiler). The State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection is the creator and maintainer of the data layer (editor) and producer (publisher) of this information for use. The 2005 Edition includes the same set of geographic features published in 1986 with the addition of metadata. This layer includes information that is static and does not change over time. Data is not updated. Data compiled at 1:125,000 scale.

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

    Bounding coordinates:
    West: -73.742172
    East: -71.781365
    North: 42.052612
    South: 40.988796

  3. What does it look like?

    http://www.cteco.uconn.edu/metadata/dep/browsegraphic/countyindex.gif (GIF)
    Full view of Connecticut County Index

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

    Calendar date: 2005
    Currentness reference:
    Edition 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:
      Connecticut county names and numbers

      This is a Vector data set. It contains the following vector data types (SDTS terminology):
      • G-polygon (8)

    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?

    Connecticut County Index
    Includes one polygon feature for each Connecticut county. (Source: State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection and U.S. Geological Survey, National Mapping Program)

    OBJECTID
    Internal feature number. (Source: ESRI)
                      

    Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.

    SHAPE
    Feature geometry. (Source: ESRI)
                      

    Coordinates defining the features.

    FIPS_COD
    FIPS State and County Code - ID number for the Connecticut County based on U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Geography Division, 1990, Counties and Equivalent Entities of the United States, Its Possessions, and Associated Areas (Federal Information Processing Standard 6-4): Washington, DC, National Institute of Standards and Technology. FIPS PUB 6-4, which lists County Codes for Connecticut and all othe US States is available at http://www.itl.nist.gov/fipspubs/fip6-4.htm (Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census)
                      

    ValueDefinition
    09001
    Fairfield
    09003
    Hartford
    09005
    Litchfield
    09007
    Middlesex
    09009
    New Haven
    09011
    New London
    09013
    Tolland
    09015
    Windham

    CNTY_NO
    County Number - ID number for the County established by the State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection, based on an alphabetic sort of couny names. This attribute value is deprecated in favor of the CNTY_COD attribute established and in us by the Connecticut Office of Policy and Management. (Source: State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection)
                      

    ValueDefinition
    1
    Fairfield
    2
    Hartford
    3
    Litchfield
    4
    Middlesex
    5
    New Haven
    6
    New London
    7
    Tolland
    8
    Windham

    CNTY_COD
    County Code - Numeric Code for the County established by Office of Policy and Management. These codes are listed at http://www.opm.state.ct.us/pdpd3/data/twn.htm (Source: State of Connecticut, Office of Policy and Management)
                      

    ValueDefinition
    1
    Fairfield
    3
    Hartford
    5
    Litchfield
    7
    Middlesex
    9
    New Haven
    11
    New London
    13
    Tolland
    15
    Windham

    COUNTY
    County Name - Text values that correspond to numeric COUNTY_NO attribute values. COUNTY is the English language equivalent of (decodes) the COUNTY_NO field. (Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census)
                      

    See Enumerated Domain Value Definitions for CNTY_COD attribute.

    SHAPE.area
    SHAPE.len
    Entity and attribute overview:
    Includes one polygon feature for each Connecticut county, uniquely identified with County number and County name attribute values. Label polygon features with the COUNTY attribute to display county names on a map.

    Entity and attribute detail citation:
    Connecticut Office of Policy and Management County Codes are available at County Codes established by the Connecticut Office of Policy and Management are listed at http://www.opm.state.ct.us/pdpd3/data/twn.htm
    
    FIPS PUB 6-4, which lists County Codes for Connecticut and all othe US States is available at http://www.itl.nist.gov/fipspubs/fip6-4.htm
Back to Top

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?

    Howie Sternberg
    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
Back to Top

Why was the data set created?

Connecticut County Index is a general purpose index map of Connecticut counties based on information compiled at 1:125,000 scale (1 inch equals approximately 2 miles). The layer is designed to be used to depict Connecticut counties at small scales or on small maps printed on regular size (8.5 x 11 inch) paper, for example. This County Index layer does not accurately represent Connecticut county boundaries because it was digitized at 1:125,000 scale. Do not display, map or analyze the County Index layer with information collected at larger scales. To depict more accurate 1:24,000-scale Connecticut state, county, and town boundaries on a map, use the layer named Town, which is also published by the State of Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection.

Back to Top

How was the data set created?

  1. Where did the data come from?

    Source 1 - Town_Index.shp (source 1 of 3)

    State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection (data editor and publisher), U.S Geological Survey, National Mapping Program (data compiler), 19860101, Connecticut Town Index: State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection, Hartford, Connecticut, USA.

    Online links:
    Type of source media: disc
    Source scale denominator: 125000
    Source contribution:
    Town_Index.shp was originally in ArcInfo Coverage format and digitized in 1986 using the Connecticuct State Plane Coordinate System, North American Datum of 1927 (NAD27). In 1999, the data was converted to ESRI Shapefile format and to the Connecticut State Plane Coordinate System, North American Datum of 1983 (NAD83). The 2005 edition includes complete metadata. Town_Index.shp is in Shapefile format. Prior to 2005, this shapefile was named Town.shp. Town_Index is based on boundary information published on a 1;125,000-scale U.S. Gelogical Survey planimetric map of the State of Connecticut. The planimetry for this map was revised in 1974.

    Source 2 - County_Index.shp (source 2 of 3)

    State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection (data editor and publisher), U.S Geological Survey, National Mapping Program (data compiler), 19860101, Connecticut County Index: State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection, Hartford, Connecticut, USA.

    Online links:
    Type of source media: disc
    Source scale denominator: 125000
    Source contribution:
    County_Index.shp is in Shapefile format. Prior to 2005, this shapefile was named County.shp. The 2005 edition includes complete metadata.

    Source 3 - County_Index (source 3 of 3)

    State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection (data editor and publisher), U.S Geological Survey, National Mapping Program (data compiler), 19860101, Connecticut County Index: State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection, Hartford, Connecticut, USA.

    Online links:
    Type of source media: disc
    Source scale denominator: 125000
    Source contribution:
    County_Index is in GeoDatabase Feature Class format.

  2. What changes have been made?

    Date: 1986-2005 (change 1 of 2)
    Create County Index layer - County Index is derived from the 1:125,000-scale Town Index layer, which is also published by the State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection. To derive county polygon features from town polygon features, town features were attributed with county number and name values. Towns polygon features in the same county were then merged to form eight polygon features, one for each county. The TOWN_NO and TOWN attributes from the Town Index layer were replaced with CNTY_COD and COUNTY attributes that store county number and name, respectively. Using ArcView 3.3 software and an Avenue script named Table.ExportSorted (Peter Girard, author) available from the ArcScripts download page at www.esri.com, the polygon feature attribute table was permanently sorted in ascending order by County number.

    Person responsible for change:
    Howie Sternberg
    State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection
    79 Elm Street
    Hartford, Connecticut 06106
    USA

    860-424-3540 (voice)

    Data sources used in this process:
    • Source 1 - Town_Index.shp

    Data sources produced in this process:
    • Source 2 - County_Index.shp

    Date: 2006 (change 2 of 2)
    Convert to GeoDatabase Feature Class format - Defined new Feature Class named County_Index; and imported the attribute definitions, loaded features and imported metadata from County_Index.shp shapefile. 
    
    Spatial Reference Properties for Feature Class:
    
    Coordinate System: NAD_1983_StatePlane_Connecticut_FIPS_0600_Feet
    XY Domain MinX: 100000; MaxX: 2247483.645
    XY Domain MinY: 200000; MaxY: 2347483.645
    Precision: 1000

    Person responsible for change:
    Howie Sternberg
    State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection
    79 Elm Street
    Hartford, Connecticut 06106
    USA

    860-424-3540 (voice)

    Data sources used in this process:
    • Source 2 - County_Index.shp

    Data sources produced in this process:
    • Source 3 - County_Index

Back to Top

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

  1. How well have the observations been checked?

    All attributes have valid values. Values are within defined domains. The County number and County name polygon attributes were manually entered.

  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?

    The horizontal positional accuracy of this data is unknown. Avoid displaying or printing this information at map scales greater than 1:125,000 (1 inch equals approximately 2 miles).

  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

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

    The completeness of the data  reflects the feature content of the data source, which a 1:125,000-scale planemetric map of Connecticut published by the U.S Geological Survey. This data is not updated.

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

    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. Establishment of logical consistency was orginally performed by the State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection using ESRI ArcInfo software to manually create and control feature topology. The original minimum distance between vertices (ArcInfo Coverage fuzzy tolerance) and a minimum allowed overshoot length (ArcInfo Coverage dangle length) were not documented and unknown at the time this metadata was created in 2005. However, the original data was known to be topologically clean. After subsequently converting the data from ESRI ArcInfo Coverage to ESRI Shapefile format, no automated procedures or tests were performed to enforce the topology rules other than visual inspection.

Back to Top

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:
No restrictions or legal prerequisites for using the data. The data is suitable for use at appropriate scale, and is not intended for maps printed at scales greater or more detailed than 1:125,000 scale (1 inch equals approximately 2 miles). Although this data set has been used by the State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by the State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection as to the accuracy of the data and or related materials. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by the State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection in the use of these data or related materials. The user assumes the entire risk related to the use of these data. Once the data is distributed to the user, modifications made to the data by the user should be noted in the metadata. When printing this data on a map or using it in a software application, analysis, or report, please acknowledge the State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Geological Survey, National Mapping Program as the source for this information.  For example, include the following data source description when printing this layer on a map: Counties - From the County Index layer, compiled and published by CT DEP and the USGS. Source map scale is 1:125,000.

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?

    Connecticut County Index

  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

    Although this data set  has been used by the State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by the State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection as to the accuracy of the data and or related materials.  The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by the State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection in the use of these data or related materials. The user assumes the entire risk related to the use of these data. Once the data is distributed to the user, modifications made to the data by the user should be noted in the metadata.

  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.

Back to Top

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 20111214

Metadata author:
Howie Sternberg
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

  • Back to Top