Coastal Base Flood Elevation

Frequently-anticipated questions:

• What does this data set describe?
  1. How should this data set be cited?
  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?
  3. What does it look like?
  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
  5. What is the general form of this data set?
  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?
  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?
• Who produced the data set?
  1. Who are the originators of the data set?
  2. Who also contributed to the data set?
  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
• Why was the data set created?
• How was the data set created?
  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?
  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?
  3. What similar or related data should the user be aware of?
• How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?
  1. How well have the observations been checked?
  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?
  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
  5. How consistent are the relationships among the data, including topology?
• How can someone get a copy of the data set?
  1. Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?
  2. Who distributes the data?
  3. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?
  4. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?
  5. How can I download or order the data?
• Who wrote the metadata?

What does this data set describe?

1. How should this data set be cited?

   Heberger, Matthew, and Herrera, Pablo, 2009, Coastal Base Flood Elevation: The Impacts of Sea-Level Rise on the California Coast, Pacific Institute, Oakland CA.

   Online Links:

   • <http://www.pacinst.org/reports/sea_level_rise>

2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

   West_Bounding_Coordinate: -124.506059

   East_Bounding_Coordinate: -116.711244

   North_Bounding_Coordinate: 42.068938

   South_Bounding_Coordinate: 32.500647

3. What does it look like?

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

   Beginning_Date: 1983

   Ending_Date: 2008

   Currentness_Reference: Based on FEMA flood study dates

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?

      This is a Vector data set. It contains the following vector data types (SDTS terminology):

      • String (582)

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

      The map projection used is Albers Conical Equal Area.

      Projection parameters:

      Standard_Parallel: 34.000000

      Standard_Parallel: 40.500000

      Longitude_of_Central_Meridian: -120.000000

      Latitude_of_Projection_Origin: 0.000000

      False_Easting: 0.000000

      False_Northing: -4000000.000000

      Planar coordinates are encoded using coordinate pair
      Abscissae (x-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 0.000000
      Ordinates (y-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 0.000000
      Planar coordinates are specified in meters

      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_Datum_Name: North American Vertical Datum of 1988

      Altitude_Distance_Units: meters

      Altitude_Encoding_Method: Attribute values

7. How does the data set describe geographic features?

   Coastal_BFE

   FID

   Internal feature number. (Source: ESRI)

   Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.

   Shape

   Feature geometry. (Source: ESRI)

   Coordinates defining the features.

   TOTAL_BFE

   Base Flood Elevation for the 100-year coastal flood event. Values are in NAVD88, feet (rounded to nearest half-foot)

Who produced the data set?

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

2. Who also contributed to the data set?

   Philip Williams & Associates, LTD

3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
   Pacific Institute
   c/o Matthew Heberger
   Research Associate/GIS Manager
   654 13th Street
   Oakland, CA 94612
   USA
   

   (510) 251-1600 (voice)
   (510) 251-2203 (FAX)
   mheberger@pacinst.org
   

   Hours_of_Service: 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Why was the data set created?

This dataset was developed to estimate extents of flooding given the 100-year flood event for the entire California coast. This layer is used as the base upon which impacts of a 1.4 meter sea-level rise are estimated.

How was the data set created?

1. From what previous works were the data drawn?

   (source 1 of 1)

   Bob Battalio, PE, and Phillip Williams & Associates, LTD, 9/19/2008, Coastal Base Flood Elevation Estimates.

   Online Links:

   • <http://www.pacinst.org/reports/sea_level_rise>

   Type_of_Source_Media: ESRI shapefile

2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?

   Date: 1909 (process 1 of 1)

   See PWA memo for detailed methods.

3. What similar or related data should the user be aware of?

   , 2009 Pacific Institute, Oakland.

   This is part of the following larger work.

   Heberger, Matthew, Cooley, Heather, Gleick, Peter, and Herrera, Pablo, 2009 The Impacts of Sea-Level Rise on the California Coast, Pacific Institute, Oakland, Ca.

   Online Links:

   • <http://www.pacinst.org/reports/sea_level_rise>

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

1. How well have the observations been checked?

   See PWA memorandum for methods. See original FEMA Flood Insurance Studies and Ott Water Engineers Study for attrubute accuracy.

2. How accurate are the geographic locations?

   See PWA memo, Ott_water_flood_elev.shp metadata, and FIS_flood_elev.shp metadata

3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

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

   Data set has been visually inspected.

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

   The dataset is topologically correct.

How can someone get a copy of the data set?

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

Access_Constraints:

None. Data are freely downloadable and available for use in GIS and mapping subject the use constraints below.

Use_Constraints:

The data are freely redistributable with proper metadata and source attribution. Please reference the Pacific Institute as the originator of the dataset in any future products or research derived from these data. This information is being made available for informational purposes only. Users of this information agree by their use to hold blameless the State of California, and its respective officers, employees, agents, contractors, and subcontractors for any liability associated with its use in any form. This work shall not be used to assess actual coastal hazards, insurance requirements, or property values and specifically shall not be used in lieu of Flood Insurance Studies and Flood Insurance Rate Maps issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)
   Pacific Institute
   c/o Matthew Heberger
   Research Associate/GIS Manager
   654 13th Street,
   Preservation Park
   Oakland, CA 94612
   USA
   

   (510) 251-1600 (voice)
   (510) 251-2203 (FAX)
   mheberger@pacinst.org
   

   Hours_of_Service: 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM

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

   Downloadable Data

3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

   The data are freely redistributable with proper metadata and source attribution. Please reference the Pacific Institute as the originator of the dataset in any future products or research derived from these data.
   This information is being made available for informational purposes only. Users of this information agree by their use to hold blameless the State of California, and its respective officers, employees, agents, contractors, and subcontractors for any liability associated with its use in any form. This work shall not be used to assess actual coastal hazards, insurance requirements, or property values and specifically shall not be used in lieu of Flood Insurance Studies and Flood Insurance Rate Maps issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

4. How can I download or order the data?
   • Availability in digital form:

     Data format:	ESRI data format, dependent upon request Files are zipped using the 7zip software. Size: 0.601

   • Cost to order the data: None

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

   These data are available in Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) shapefile format. The user must have ArcGIS or ArcView 3.0 or greater software to read and process the data file. In lieu of ArcView or ArcGIS, the user may utilize another GIS application package capable of importing the data. A free data viewer, ArcExplorer, capable of displaying the data is available from ESRI at www.esri.com.

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:

Last modified: 26-Feb-2009

Metadata author:

Pacific Institute
c/o Matthew Heberger
Research Associate/GIS Manager
654 13th Street,
Preservation Park
Oakland, CA 94612
USA

(510) 251-1600 (voice)
(510) 251-2203 (FAX)
mheberger@pacinst.org

Hours_of_Service: 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Metadata standard:

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

Metadata extensions used:

• <http://www.esri.com/metadata/esriprof80.html>