When you connect to the NBII Metadata Clearinghouse you will be able to search through metadata-based descriptions of biological data sets and information products from many different sources to identify those that meet your particular search criteria.
The NBII Metadata Clearinghouse: http://metadata.nbii.gov/
The NBII Home Page: http://www.nbii.gov/
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This data set comprises a portion of the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) data for Northwest Arctic, Alaska. ESI data characterize the marine and coastal environments and wildlife by their sensitivity to spilled oil. The ESI data include information for three main components: shoreline habitats, sensitive biological resources, and human-use resources.
Besides the above warning, there are no use constraints on these data. Note that the ESI database should not be used to the exclusion of other pertinent data or information held by state or federal agencies or other organizations. Likewise, information contained in the database cannot be used in place of consultations with environmental, natural resource, and cultural resource agencies, or in place of field surveys. Recognize that the information contained in the ESI database represents known concentration areas or occurrences of natural, cultural, and human-use resources, but does not necessarily represent the full distribution or range of each species or resource. This is particularly important to recognize when considering potential impacts to protected resources, such as endangered species, wetlands, etc. Acknowledgment of the originators, publishers, contributors, and sources listed would be appreciated in products derived from these data.
The Spatial_Data_Organization Information section refers only to the source files in the ARC export format. The following files are included in that data set: birds.e00, esi.e00, fish.e00, fishl.e00, habitats.e00, hydro.e00, index.e00, invert.e00, m_mammal.e00, m_mampt.e00, mgt.e00, nests.e00, socecon.e00, t_mammal.e00. Associated relational and desktop data tables provided in Arc export and text format are bio_lut, biofile, biores, breed, breed_dt, seasonal, soc_dat, soc_lut, sources, species, and status.
After the data are delivered to NOAA, they are again subjected to a number of quality and consistency checks. In the process of checking for topological and database consistencies, new ID's and RARNUM's or HUNUM's are also generated. The new ID's are a combination of atlas number, element number, and record number. In addition, the value used to represent the element is modified to reflect the type of feature being mapped. In the case of an element that is normally represented by a point or polygon, a value of 20 is added to the standard element value for mapping of linear features. In the case where an element usually mapped as a polygon is represented by a point, a value of 30 is added to the regular element value. The RARNUM's are also modified to include the atlas number, so multiple atlases can be combined and RARNUM's remain unique. RARNUM's are redefined on an element basis, so "resource at risk" groupings will contain only a single element. HUNUM's are also modified to include the atlas number.
Information gathered during initial interviews and from hardcopy sources was compiled onto USGS 1:250,000 topographic quadrangles. The compiled data were digitized off the base maps into an ArcInfo system to create the BIRDS data layer. The 2001 USFWS vector polygon data were then incorporated into this data layer. All ESI, biology, and human-use data were plotted onto hardcopy draft maps. Following the creation of draft maps, a second set of interviews with resource experts was conducted. Participants who were unable to attend the meetings were sent a set of maps for review. Edits to the BIRDS data layer were made based on the recommendations of the resource experts, and final hardcopy maps were created.
Concentration information varied, and therefore for some species and locations, descriptive terms such as "very high" or "high" were used, while for others, numerical counts of nests or individuals were used. Concentration ranges, such as "1,000s" or "10,000s", were used in many cases, as exact concentrations vary from year to year. Concentration and seasonality information was provided by resource experts, or was extracted from published sources, reports, and survey data. In some cases, no quantitative abundance data were available.
Note that all attribute information is stored in a series of relational files, described below. See the Browse_Graphic section for a link to the entity-relationship diagram, which describes the relationships between attribute tables in the ESI data structure.
Due to the complexity of the relational database model, the data items are also post-processed into a flat file format. This table, called BIOFILE, may be used in place of the relational files described below to ease simple data queries. The items in the flat file are ELEMENT, SUBELEMENT, NAME, GEN_SPEC, S_F, T_E, NHP, DATE_PUB, CONC, JAN, FEB, MAR, APR, MAY, JUN, JUL, AUG, SEP, OCT, NOV, DEC, BREED1, BREED2, BREED3, BREED4, BREED5, RARNUM, G_SOURCE, S_SOURCE, and BREED. All of these items are the same as their counterparts in the individual data tables described below, except the BREED1-BREED5 and BREED items. BREED is a newly generated variable used to link to the BREED_DT data table, a modified, more compact version of the relational BREED data table. BREED1-BREED5 give a text summary of when each life stage occurs within the associated map object. The life stages referred to are the same as those listed in the Detailed_Description of the BREED data table. The link to the BIOFILE may be made through the BIO_LUT, using ID to link to RARNUM, or BIOFILE may be linked directly to the RARNUM in each of the geographic layer's attribute data tables. As mentioned, BREED_DT is an auxiliary support data table to the flat file structure, which allows the user to do searches based on month for seasonal breeding activities. The link from the flat file to BREED_DT is the BREED item.
A second supporting data table is SOURCES. This is the same as the source file described above, and the link from the flat file is both G_SOURCE and S_SOURCE. It should be noted that although the flat file eases data query, it is not a normalized database structure, and actual updates performed by the states and other responsible agencies should be done using the relational data tables. The entity-relationship diagram describing relationships between attribute tables in the ESI data structure does NOT include the BIOFILE data table, and this data table is NOT described in detail below.