Dataset Selection: B13

EPA Kuchler Potential Natural Vegetation of the Conterminous United States

Principal Investigators:

A.W. Kuchler
US Geological Survey

James Lenihan, David Crumpacker, and Stephen Hodge
USEPA - Environmental Research Laboratory
Corvallis, Oregon

Summary:

This coverage was digitized at the USEPA from the 1979 Physiographic Regions Map produced by the BLM, which added 10 physiognomic types to Kuchler's 1966 USGS Potential Natural Vegetation map (and similarly differs from the 1985 USGS map revised by Kuchler and others) The dataset consists of two thematic layera a) Vegetation Form and b) Vegetation Type.  Data is gridded at a resolution of  5km by 5km.
 
Dataset Description
(file lists/download)
Dataset Element Descriptions
(file download)
Technical Report

Primary References:

Kuchler, A.W. 1964. Potential Natural Vegetation of the Conterminous United States, American Geographical Society, Special Publication No. 36. 

EPA Kuchler Potential Natural Vegetation of the Conterminous United States

DATASET DESCRIPTION

Dataset Description

INTEGRATED DATA­SET

Dataset Citation:

Kuchler, A.W. 1993. Potential Natural Vegetation of the Conterminous United States. Digital vector data in an Albers Equal Area Conic polygon network and derived raster data on a 5 km by 5 km Albers Equal Area 590x940 grid. In: Global Ecosystems Database Version 2.0. Boulder CO: NOAA National Geophysical Data Center. One independent and one dependent single - attribute spatial layer. 3,580,905 bytes in 13 files.

Projection:

Albers Conical Equal Area Projection for the Conterminous United States

Spatial Representation:

(1) Vegetation Form: 5 km x 5 km (Albers Equal Area Conic) grid point samples (center of cell) rasterized from polygon coverage (see below) and reclassed from vegetation types to vegetation forms
(2) Vegetation Type: Vector file: polygon coverage with 6700 meter mean consecutive point spacing, Raster files: 5 km x 5 km (Albers Equal Area Conic) grid point samples (center of cell) rasterized from polygon coverage

Temporal Representation:

Static composite

Data Representation:

(1) Vegetation Form: eight - bit unsigned integers representing vegetation forms reclassed from vegetation types.
(2) Vegetation Type: (a) Polygon vector file: 4 - byte real numbers in pairs representing either (i) integer vegetation types and coordinate point counts pairs, or (ii) floating point x,y coordinate pairs in meters, (b) raster files: eight - bit unsigned integers representing vegetation types.

Layers and Attributes:

One independent and one dependent single - attribute spatial layer 

Dataset Description

DESIGN

Variables:

(1) Vegetation Form major categories
(2) Vegetation Type categories

Origin:

Various, see Kuchler (1964)

Geographic Reference:

Albers Conical Equal Area Projection for the Conterminous United States

Geographic Coverage:

Conterminous United States

Geographic Sampling:

Vector boundary data digitized from a 1:3,186,000 scale map

Time Period:

static composite

Temporal Sampling:

Static composite 

Dataset Description

SOURCE

Source Data Citation:

Kuchler, A.W. 1993. Potential Natural Vegetation of the Conterminous United States. Digital Vector Data (digitized from 1:3,186,000 scale map) on an Albers Equal Area Conic polygon network in ARC/INFO format. Corvallis, OR: US - EPA Environmental Research Laboratory. 3 MB in 1 file on 8 - mm tape.

Contributor:

James Lenihan
Oregon State University
Dept. of Botany and Plant Pathology
Forest Sciences Laboratory
Corvallis, OR 97333

Distributor:

NOAA National Geophysical Data Center
325 Broadway, E/GC - 1
Boulder, Colorado 80303 USA

Date of Production:

1993

Lineage & Contacts:

  1. Kuchler's 1966 USGS Potential Natural Vegetation map.

    2.  
  2. Physiographic Regions Map produced by the BLM (1979)

    3.  
  3. BLM (1979) map digitized into ARC/INFO:

    4. David Crumpacker and Stephen Hodge
    USEPA - Environmental Research Laboratory
    Corvallis, Oregon
     
  4. 116 categories aggregated to 28 (EKFORM)

    5. Jim Lenihan
    USEPA - Environmental Research Laboratory
    Corvallis, Oregon
     
  5. Documentation:

    6. Stephen W. Hodge
    Florida State University
    Institute of Science and Public Affairs
    2035 Paul Dirac Drive
    Suite 130 Morgan Building
    Tallahassee, FL 32310
     
  6. Integration and Publication in GED:

    7. John J. Kineman
    NOAA National Geophysical Data Center
    325 S. Broadway, E/GC1
    Boulder, CO 80303 USA
    fax: (303) 497 - 6513
    Email: jkineman@ngdc.noaa.gov
    Web: http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/seg/eco

Dataset Description

ADDITIONAL REFERENCES

See references in: Kuchler, A.W. 1964. Potential Natural Vegetation of the Conterminous United States, American Geographical Society, Special Publication No. 36.

Dataset Description

FILE LISTS

EPA Kuchler Potential Natural Vegetation of the Conterminous United States

DATASET ELEMENT DESCRIPTIONS

  • Vegetation Form
  • Vegetation Type
    •

    Vegetation Form

    Description:

    This layer consists of 28 vegetation "form" classes (EKFORM) aggregated by the USEPA (Jim Lenihan) from 116 EPA Kuchler Vegetation Types (EKTYPE).

     Structure:

    Vector: Polygon units in an Albers Equal Area projection (meters) for the Conterminous United States
    Raster data file: 5 km x 5 km Albers Equal Area grid for the Conterminous United States

     Series:

    none

     System Files:

    File type Metadata Data 
    Raster grid  ekform.doc ekform.img
    Raster Series 
    Vector Point 
    Vector Line
    Vector Polygon  ekveg.dvc ekveg.vec
    Attribute Table  eklgnd.txt eklgnd.mdb
    Color Palette 
    Projection albersus.ref

     Notes:

    1. 116 categories aggregated to 28 by Jim Lenihan
    2. The attribute table (eklgnd) is an extract of four fields from the ARC/INFO Polygon Attribute Table (pat) with unique IDs assigned.
    3. The vector polygon file was produced for visual overlay using the "Ungenerate" procedure in Arc/Info.
    4. The vector polygon file produced for rasterization using the "DLG" procedure is included in the SOURCE directory.

    Vegetation Type

    Description:

    Original 116 Kuchler vegetation types (Kuchler, 1964) for the Conterminous United States, digitized from the BLM 1979 Physiographic Regions Map.

     Structure:

    Vector: Polygon units in an Albers Equal Area projection (meters) for the Conterminous United States
    Raster: 5 km x 5 km Albers Equal Area grid for the Conterminous United States

     Series:

    None

     System Files:

    File type Metadata Data 
    Raster grid  ektype.doc ektype.img
    Raster Series 
    Vector Point 
    Vector Line
    Vector Polygon  ekveg.dvc ekveg.vec
    Attribute Table  eklgnd.txt eklgnd.mdb
    Color Palette 
    Projection albersus.ref

     Notes:

    1. The attribute table (eklgnd) is an extract of four fields from the ARC/INFO Polygon Attribute Table (pat) with unique IDs assigned.
    2. The vector polygon file was produced for visual overlay using the "Ungenerate" procedure in Arc/Info.
    3. The vector polygon file produced for rasterization using the "DLG" procedure is included in the SOURCE directory.

    EPA Kuchler Potential Natural Vegetation of the Conterminous United States

    TECHNICAL REPORT

  • Dataset Production
  • Data Integration Report
    •

    Technical Report

    Dataset Production

    Stephen W. Hodge
    Florida State University
    Institute of Science and Public Affairs
    2035 Paul Dirac Drive
    Suite 130 Morgan Building
    Tallahassee, FL 32310

    This coverage has been digitized from the 1979 Physiographic Regions Map produced by the BLM. This BLM product contains more than the complete set of information form Kuchler's 1966 USGS Potential Natural Vegetation map. The USGS map was revised in 1985 by Kuchler and others. In comparison to the 1985 USGS map (106 types for the contiguous U.S.), the BLM map contains 10 additional physiognomic types (116 types for the same area). These disparate units are defined as follows:

    10. Ponderosa shrub forest (Pinus)
    11. Western Pine (Pinus)
    22. Great Basin pine forest (Pinus)
    24. Juniper steppe woodland (Juniperus - Artemisia - Agropyron)
    25. Alder - ash forest (Ulmus - Fraxinus)
    34. Montane chaparral (Arctostaphylos - Castanopsis - Ceanothus)
    36. Mosaic of numbers 30 and 35
    44. Creosote bush - tarbush (Larrea - Flourensia)
    60. Mesquite savanna (Prosopis - Hilaria)
    72. Sea oats prairie (Uniola - Andiropogon)
    80. Marl - everglade (Mariscus and Persea - Taxodium)
    109. Transition between numbers 104 and 106

    Other info:

    1979 BLM map - - scale: 1:3,168,000
    - - by: Kenneth Brown and Richard Kerr

    1985 USGS map - - scale: 1:7,500,000
    - - by: A.W. Kuchler

    The relationships that exist between the physiognomic units defined in the 1985 USGS map and those used in coverage digitized from the 1979 BLM are summarized in the following table.

    Relationships Between 1979 BLM and 1985 USGS Physiognomic Units

    BLM USGS BLM  USGS BLM USGS  BLM USBS BLM  USGS
    1 1 28 24 55 49 82  73 109 97 
    2 2 29 25 56 50 83  74 110 100 
    3 3 30 26 57 51 84  75 111 101 
    4 4 31 27 58 52 85  76 112 102 
    5 5 32 28 59 53 86  77 113 103 
    6 6 33 29 60 76 87  78 114 104 
    7 7 34 22,29,5 61 54 88 79 115 105
    8 8 35 30 62 55 89  80 116 106 
    9 9 36 26 63 56 90  81 117 - - 
    10 10 37 31 64 57 91  82 118 - - 
    11 10 38 32 65 58 92  83 119 - - 
    12 11 39 33 66 59 93  84 120 - -
    13 12 40 34 67 60 94  85 121 HI - 1 
    14 13 41 35 68 61 95  86 122 HI - 2 
    15 14 42 36 69 62 96  87 123 HI - 3 
    16 15 43 37 70 63 97  88 124 HI - 4 
    17 16 44 52 71 64 98  89 125 HI - 5 
    18 17 45 38 72 70 99  90 126 HI - 6 
    19 18 46 39 73 65 100  91 127 HI - 7 
    20 19 47 40 74 66 101  92 128 - - 
    21 20 48 41 75 67 102  93 129 - - 
    22 10 49 42 76 68 103  94 130 - - 
    23 21 50 43 77 69 104  95 131 46 
    24 49 51 44 78 70 105  96 132 - - 
    25 2 52 45 79 71 106  97 133 - - 
    26 22 53 46 80 83 107  98 134 - - 
    27 23 54 47 81 72 108  99 135 - - 

    NOTE: From these relationships, given a community type in the BLM coverage, one can identify the corresponding community type on the USGS map. Note that community type 34 on the BLM coverage is a composite of 3 different community types from the USGS map, #'s 22, 29, and 5.

    Technical Report

    DATA INTEGRATION REPORT

    John J. Kineman
    NOAA National Geophysical Data Center
    325 S. Broadway, E/GC1
    Boulder, CO 80303 USA
    fax: (303) 497 - 6513
    Email: jkineman@ngdc.noaa.gov
    Web: http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/seg/eco

    The source data file was originally in ARC/INFO EXPORT format. One coverage was provided. The coverage consisted of a map of feature polygons and an attribute table listing a vegetation type and form for each polygon.

    The coverage was exported from ARC/INFO as a DLG file (with coordinate transformation), and then imported into IDRISI as a polygon vector file. The reverse coordinate transformation was applied in IDRISI to restore coordinate values.

    Next the IDRISI module POLYRAS was run on the polygon vector file in order to create a raster file of vegetation types. This raster file was then reclassed to create the raster file of vegetation forms. Registration accuracy was checked against Pospeschil US Boundaries from Micro World Databank II (GED 1.0, 1994) and the projection parameters (see Geographic Reference above) were reconfirmed within ARC/INFO. In spot checking the raster files some local areas were found to be mis - registered by up to 7 km, however the best overall fit with Pospeschil US Boundaries... was achieved.

    The 5 km by 5 km grid size was chosen as being most appropriate for the resolution of the source vector data given the available grid sizes compatible with the GED nested grid structure (see User's Guide).

    The vector polygon file produced for rasterization using the "DLG" procedure is included in the SOURCE directory.

    The vector polygon file included in the main dataset (not the Source directory) was created using the "Ungenerate" command in Arc/Info after first substituting the values in the -ID field with the data values for the file (EKTYPE). This produces a vector polygon map that does not "reverse out" the holes. Such files are better for visual overlay (for example in Idrisi) because the connecting lines between parent and polygon are removed; however, they are less robust for use in rasterizing because one must be certain that hole polygons follow sequentially in the file after the parent polygons. If this is not the case, the parent polygon data will "fill-in" the hole during rasterization.