Shoreline Situation Reports (SSR) were first generated by VIMS in the 1970's to report the condition and status of the shore lands. The reports are intended to assist planners, managers, and regulators in decisions pertaining to management of coastal areas and natural resources therein. Data collected describes conditions in the immediate riparian zone, the bank, and along the shore.
To inventory the Appoquinimink River, Saint Jones River, and Blackbird Creek tidal shoreline conditions.
There are three shapefiles associated with Saint Jones River shoreline survey; stjo_lubc, stjo_astru, and stjo_sstru. Stjo_lubc (land use, bank cover and marsh edge condition for Saint Jones River) is an linear shapefile containing data about the land use, bank height, bank cover, marsh edge condition, eroion, and beach status along the shoreline. Stjo_sstru (Saint Jones River shoreline structures)) is an linear shapefile delineating hard structures in place for shoreline protection (bulkhead, riprap, debris, miscellaneous and groin fields). Stjo_astru (Saint Jones River access structures) is a point shapefile with locations of docks, ramps, and boathouses.
ground condition at time of survey
These data should not be used for jurisdictional permit determinations beyond providing general shoreline condition or status information. These data have not been surveyed to property boundaries.
The attributes were compared to original GPS data logs for accuracy and errors were corrected where noted.
Chain-node topology present. Linear coverages were built for line and point coverages were built for points.
Saint Jones River shoreline was surveyed from the mouth on the Delaware Bay to Laurel Bend.
Land use and shoreline structures were recorded with a GPS unit as the boat moved along the shoreline. Data was transfererred from the GPS boat track to an existing digital shoreline coverage by projecting data to the shoreline at a 90 degree angle from the boat track. Rectified digital orthophoto quads were used as a background coverage to aid in data positioning. Dock and boathouse point data were aligned with docks on the images. Positional accuracy for data that has been corrected with imagery is +/- 2 meters (equivalent to image resolution). Data not visable on the imagery (bulkheads, riprap, etc.) has a positional accuracy of =/- 11 meters. Accuracy was determined by comparing digitally processed data locations to onsite GPS ground surveys collected at random.
Serves as a background coverage
A shoreline from NHD was placed over the imagery and altered where needed.
Data was collected by a two-person field crew ( one data collector and one boat operator/data collector) using two hand held Trimble GeoExplorers GPS Units, while navigating along the shoreline. A data dictionary designed for the inventory was installed on each GPS unit. The data collector records natural features including land use, bank height, bank cover, presence of marsh or beach, and shoreline or marsh edge stability. The boat operator collects data on the hardened structures: riprap, bulkheads, docks, boatramps, etc. Point features (docks, boathouses, ramps, outfalls) were surveyed witha five second observation recorded at 1 reading/second. Linear features were surveyed kinematically at a rate of one observation every 3 seconds.
Data from the GPS units were postprocessed on a PC with Trimble Pathfinder Office software. Postprocessing included differential correction using data collected at various CORS (continuously operating reference stations) sites. Corrected data is converted into shapefiles for further processing.
ArcMap 9.2 software on a PC was used to attribute the base shoreline. Boat-track points and arcs, imagery and the base shoreline were displayed in ArcMap. Shoreline arcs were split using the edit tool and the spatial adjustment attribute transfer tool was used to move the attributes from the boat-track to the shoreline. Arcs were split on and points were moved to locations on the shoreline that were perpendicular to the original locations on the boat-track. Imagery provided additional information for placement of features.
Three 1:12,000 scale plates were created for Appoquinimink River, four 1:12,000 scale plates for Blackbird Creek, and four 1:12,000 plates for Saint Jones River. Each plate has four maps: riparian land use, bank and marsh edge conditions, shoreline features, and natural buffers. Imagery is displayed in the background to provide users with additional information. Maps are created using ArcMap software.
Data received a final check in hard copy format. Changes were made as necessary to data.
Metadata imported.
Internal feature number.
ESRI
Feature geometry.
ESRI
When the riparian forest is clearly present, but not wide enough to constitute a true forest or forest buffer, a forest fringe is noted as a secondary land use.
Bank or marsh edge stability. Low is minimal erosion, high includes slumping, scarps and exposed roots, undercut is when the lower portion of bank is eroded causing the upper portion of bank to hang over
a narrow strip of marsh vegetation <30 feet extending along the shoreline, the vegetation must be relatively well established, although not necessarily densely populated
Extensive marsh is > 30 feet.
Presence or absence of beach
date of field survey
the presence or absence of Phragmites australis
all cropland
lots cleared to bare soil
includes small and moderate business operations, and recreational facilities.
stands> 18 feet tall and >30 feet in width
includes grass fields and pasture lands
large industrial and manufacturing operations
areas where roads or parking lots are adjacent to the shore
includes single and multi-family dwellings
stands<18 feet in height
height from the toe to the edge of the fastland
>75% cover
25-75% cover
< 25% cover
P.O. Box 1346
The Comprehensive Coastal Inventory Program (CCI) at VIMS performs a service by distributing data generated by either CCI or public agencies which offer data without restsriction or charge. CCI assumes no responsibility for data accuracy or precision, metadata completeness or correctness for digital information. CCI assumes noliability for misuse of any data which may arise as a result of any alteration, conversion, or combination with other data sources. As well, the timeliness and scale of these products must be considered when evaluating appropriate use.
P.O. Box 1346