Description: ELUs are derived from soil and elevation data using a GIS. It was important that we used readily available data and we kept the derivation of ELUs as simple as possible. After consulting the published literature and conferring with expert soil scientists and plant ecologists, we focused on two aspects of soils, soil drainage class and soil texture. Soil drainage class is very good at distinguishing wet versus dry habitats. Soil texture (sandy, silty, loamy, etc.) is an important habitat component for plants. Using USDA SSURGO (State Soil Survey Geographic Database) data that is readily available from RIGIS, we created a raster dataset (50 feet cell size) of the different soil drainage classes and another raster dataset of the soil texture classes. There are many properties of soils that are available to use for analyses such as this, for example stoniness, depth to bedrock, etc. The two factors we chose are extremely important soil properties in supporting different plant communities.Landform represents where a location is with respect to elevation, slope, and aspect (direction a hillside is facing). Landform distinguishes hilltops, hill sides, valley bottoms, etc. We used the RIGIS digital terrain model as our source of elevation data to measure landform. Landform classes were identified using GIS modeling of slope, aspect, and elevation. A description of landform categories and the technical methods to obtain them can be found here.The final ELU map is made by adding together the raster datasets for landform, drainage class, and soil texture. Because we were careful with our encoding system, the sum of the three rasters provides us a composite of the individual datasets. For example, a location that is a well-drained (code value 2000) and consists of gravelly sand (code value 100) a sits on a hilltop (code value 21) and would combine to be ELU 2121 (2000+100+21). This process yielded 204 unique ELUs for the state of Rhode Island. Examination of a cumulative distribution function (CDF) of the ELUs showed that most of the ELUs were small and did not occur very often. Conversely, 20 ELUs were quite common and encompassed almost 85% of the land area of RI.
Copyright Text: URI EDC, URI NRS, URI CRC, Sea Grant RI, TNC
Name: Unfragmented Forest Blocks 2025 (250 to 500 acres)
Display Field: Forest2020
Type: Feature Layer
Geometry Type: esriGeometryPolygon
Description: Please consider the source, spatial accuracy, attribute accuracy, and scale of these data before incorporating them into your project. These data were derived from automated and photo interpreted processes and should be used for preliminary planning purposes only. The wetland areas contained in this data set do not include all wetlands previously identified in other RIGIS land cover/land use data sets or in other separate GIS wetlands data sets and interpretation of wetlands areas should lean toward the side of caution. Wetlands areas previously classified as forested wetlands are shown as forested areas in this data set. Statistical comparisons with RIGIS land cover/land use data prior to 2003 should be treated with caution since significant differences in the methodologies used to delineate features were employed. If data are used for change detection using the 2003/2004 edition be aware that marinas were coded from other transportation and developed recreation to commercial in the 2020 data to more accurately fit the classification system.Landuse/Landcover Types:This coding schema for Land Cover/Land Use type is derived from the Anderson (modified) coding schema used by RIGIS in previous (1988 and 1995) land cover/land use data sets. It includes level 3 coding for Urbanized Developed areas (100 Codes); level 2 coding for agricultural (200 Codes), Forested lands (400 Codes), and Barren Lands (700 Codes); and Level 1 coding for Brushland (300 Code), Open Water (500 Code), and Wetlands (600 Code). This numerical coding schema differs from previous RIGIS land cover/land use coding schema in that the previous data sets from 1988 and 1995 erroneously had forest types as 300 codes and brushland as 400 codes. These were numerically reversed at the direction of the State of Rhode Island. The resulting schema for data created for this project as shown above complies with the true Anderson coding schema.111...High Density Residential (8 houses or more per acre) 112...Medium High Density Residential (4 - 8 houses per acre) 113...Medium Density Residential (1 - 4 houses per acre) 114...Medium Low Density Residential (1 house per 1 to 2 acre) 115...Low Density Residential (>2 acre lots) DESCRIPTION: All residential categories are based on the size of the maintained lot and include the house and the yard area. Lot sizes are visually determined by comparing the houses in an area to the surrounding houses, observing the spacing between the houses and the relative amount of yard space between them. Other land cover types (such as forest, wetland or water bodies), even though they may be on a residential property, are mapped separately if they exceed the minimum mapping unit. Duplexes (usually with 2 front doors/pathways and sometimes 2 driveways) will be factored into this calculation while multi-unit complexes will generally be classified as high density residential unless surrounded by a significant amount of maintained yard (such as some condos), in which case it may calculate out to a lower density category. Building sizes of residences (except for some duplexes and multi-unit complexes) are significantly smaller than almost all commercial and industrial buildings.120...Commercial (sale of products and services) DESCRIPTION: Large commercial facilities (such as malls, shopping centers and larger strip commercial areas) are typically well landscaped with parking strategically arranged around the building in multiple areas. There are often a few loading docks. These land uses are usually found in residential areas or grouped with other commercial facilities. Parking areas are included. Smaller commercial facilities (such as neighborhood stores or smaller strip commercial areas) often look similar to residential areas but are sometimes distinguishable by their larger parking areas (compared to residential parking) often behind the building down a driveway with spaces for 5 or 10 vehicles or if in a dense residential area, they may actually be commercial at the ground level and apartments above. Without any of these distinguishing features, these will probably be classified as residential. Also included in this category are office parks, medical offices and lawn and garden centers that do not produce or grow the product (not part of nurseries). Commercial buildings are almost always larger than residential structures.130...Industrial (manufacturing, design, assembly, etc.) DESCRIPTION: Industrial areas are typically not landscaped as thoroughly as a commercial facility. Parking is often in one large lot. These areas generally have many loading docks and there are often truck trailers parked on-site. These facilities are often far from residential areas, often surrounded by forests, but typically near major roads or highways. Parking areas are included. Industrial buildings are almost always larger than residential structures.141...Roads (divided highways >200' plus related facilities) DESCRIPTION: Related facilities would include rest areas, highway maintenance areas, storage areas, on/off ramps, and maintained grassy areas adjacent to the roadway. Also included is the grass or wooded median strip between the roads. Roads less than 200 feet in width that are the center of two differing land use classes will have the land use classes meet at the center line of the road. Bridges that are greater than 200 feet wide will be included in this category.142...Airports (and associated facilities) DESCRIPTION: Airport facilities include runways, maintained grassy areas adjacent to runways, hangars, terminals, freight storage areas and buildings, roads, short and long term parking lots, observation towers and on-site commercial facilities. Abandoned airports should be classified as another use such as Vacant Land (162) or Transitional Land (750) depending on its current use.143...Railroads (and associated facilities) DESCRIPTION: Railroad facilities include all tracks, maintained rights-of-way adjacent to the tracks, terminals, stations, switching yards, storage facilities and buildings, and parking lots around the station.144...Water and Sewage Treatment DESCRIPTION: Water and sewage treatment facilities are typically characterized by circular sedimentation and aeration tanks, associated facilities include pump houses, filtration and aeration buildings, water storage tanks /standpipes as well as parking lots.145...Waste Disposal (landfills, junkyards, etc.) DESCRIPTION: Landfills often can be mistaken for sand and gravel pits (740) but do not have the "spider" shaped sorting/conveyor apparatus associated with sand and gravel operations. There is usually an area of recent activity with disturbed earth and piles of material (waste and cover material) nearby. There will often be large areas that haven't been disturbed for a while. Associated facilities for landfills, junkyards, and automobile dumps include all buildings, roads and parking areas. There are usually construction machines (such as front bucket loaders, road graders, bulldozers and dump trucks) on site. Once landfills are closed, they are covered, graded and often times venting pipes for methane gas can be seen arranged systematically throughout the landfill. There will generally be a high point in the middle of the landfill with moderate slopes out to the edges. Some capped landfills may have been converted to another use, such as Developed Recreation (161).146...Power Lines (100' or more width) DESCRIPTION: Power lines generally follow straight lines across the landscape. Usually, the support towers are visible at a set interval and often, wires can be seen on an aerial photograph between the towers. Also included in this category are underground pipeline corridors. In both cases, the feature is mapped to the edge of the maintained vegetation. Where power lines or utility corridors pass over or through other land use categories, the other category takes precedence unless the area is managed specifically for the power line (such as forest).147...Other Transportation (terminals, docks, etc.) DESCRIPTION: This category is used for land-based truck terminals and warehouses (with many loading docks) as well as water-based docks and associated buildings used for industrial or commercial purposes not associated with other categories (such as recreation docks used at marinas), but includes commercial fishery facilities. Adjacent parking areas and storage facilities are included. This category takes precedence over Industrial (130) if the primary use is to transport goods. 151...Commercial/Residential Mixed (New not in 1995- There are minimal polygons identified or coded in this category. The intention for inclusion of the category were suggested by Rhode Island to allow for future use.) DESCRIPTION: This category is used for land uses that are a mix of both commercial and residential. Although difficult to tell from aerial photographs, ancillary data may be provided to help classify areas into this type.152...Commercial/Industrial Mixed (Coded as 150 in 1995) DESCRIPTION: Some facilities are not obviously commercial or industrial but a mix of the two. They are nicely landscaped yet have distinguishing characteristics of both commercial and industrial areas. Parking lots are included. Commerce Parks will fit into this category.161...Developed Recreation (all recreation) DESCRIPTION: Developed recreation facilities include stadiums, ball fields, tennis courts, urban parks, basketball courts, ski areas, golf courses, marinas, playgrounds, zoos, amusement parks, developed beach areas, drive-in theaters, fairgrounds, bike paths, race tracks and swimming pools plus associated parking lots. It does not include passive recreation areas such as state forests or parks, except for the developed facilities associated with these areas. These facilities, when associated with institutional land uses, will be pulled out into this category.162...Vacant Land DESCRIPTION: Land is classified as vacant if it is abandoned land that isn't being used for any other land use. It isn't being prepared for another use (see 750 Transitional Area below) and does not have enough tree growth to be classified as forest or enough vegetation to be classified as brushland (300). It may include structures and indicates that the land was previously used for one of the urban categories.163…Cemeteries DESCRIPTION: From small to large cemeteries, these features are obvious by the orderly grid of gravestones, monuments and road networks. Quite often, they are noted on USGS topographic maps. This category includes associated buildings, roads and parking areas.170...Institutional (schools, hospitals, churches, etc.) DESCRIPTION: Institutional land and buildings are public or quasi-public facilities with or without green space designed to serve large numbers of people such as government buildings, schools, colleges, hospitals, prisons, churches, town halls, public works facilities, police stations or fire stations. The maintained areas around the facilities are included as are parking facilities. Some of the facilities at a large college, for example, may be pulled out into other categories (such as an athletic field - 161). However, all dormitories, family and faculty housing and other buildings are included in this category as are grassy areas that are on the property of the institution as are usually noted on USGS topographic maps.210...Pasture (agricultural not suitable for tillage) DESCRIPTION: Pasture land is generally used for grazing of animals and for the growing of grasses for hay. It is often hilly, may have poor drainage or stoniness, and the field boundaries may be less defined than cropland. There may be scattered trees or shrubs in the field. Associated facilities include barns and other outbuildings.220...Cropland (tillable) DESCRIPTION: Cropland is generally tilled land used to grow row crops. There is usually evidence of intense land management. The land is often flat, well drained and the field boundaries are generally very well defined. This category also includes turf farms that grow sod. Associated facilities include barns and other outbuildings.230...Orchards, Groves, Nurseries DESCRIPTION: This category includes fruit orchards, greenhouses, plant nurseries, Christmas tree farms, vine crops (such as vineyards, strawberry and blueberry patches), and cranberry bogs (including sandy areas adjacent to the bogs that are used in the growing process). The orderly pattern of the vegetation generally indicates that one or more of these land uses is present. Associated facilities include barns, other outbuildings and parking lots. Orchards and greenhouses are often symbolized on USGS topographic maps. Commercial lawn and garden centers that do not pro240...Confined Feeding Operations DESCRIPTION: Confined feeding operations are intensive facilities used for raising livestock or poultry in a small space where there are minimal adjacent grazing lands. This category includes the feeding areas, stables, barns, outbuildings and waste management facilities as well as equipment storage areas.250...Idle Agriculture (abandoned fields and orchards) DESCRIPTION: When pasture, cropland and other agricultural uses have not been active for a few years, it is classified as idle agriculture. Often, early successional vegetation is seen growing in around the edges and there is no evidence of any land or vegetation management. Eventually, it will become brushland (300).300...Brushland (shrub and brush areas, reforestation) (Formerly coded as 400 in 1995) DESCRIPTION: Brushland is characterized by lots of shrubs and very few trees (< 50% canopy). It includes areas that are being reforested but the trees are not large or dense enough to be classified as forests. It also includes areas that are more permanently shrubby, such as heath areas, wild blueberries or mountain laurel.400…Forest Lands (Formerly coded as 300 in 1995) 410...Deciduous Forest (>80% hardwood) (Formerly Brushland in 1995) 420...Coniferous Forest (>80% softwood) 430...Mixed Forest DESCRIPTION: Trees are classified as forests when the tree canopy covers at least 50% of the space when viewed from above on an aerial photograph. The three different categories depend upon the composition of deciduous vs. coniferous trees. On an aerial photograph, most coniferous trees have conical shapes (except for pines) with dense needles and tight branching with dark spectral signatures whereas deciduous trees have a more open or freeform shape with leaves (during the growing season) that give the tree a coarser texture or pattern and a looser or more open branching arrangement. Deciduous spectral signatures are generally lighter than coniferous signatures.500...All Open Water Bodies DESCRIPTION: This category includes open water, such as lakes, ponds, lagoons, bays or rivers wide enough to be mapped as a polygon instead of a line. This includes any open water feature on the land side of the ocean coastline. (In the 1995 landuse 500 was latter recoded as 510-Fresh Water and 520 for salt and brackish water.) 600...Wetland (Non-Forested) DESCRIPTION: Visible grassy or vegetated areas often near or adjacent to open water bodies or streams and or visibly scoured areas that may be associated with tidal flow or flooding. Forested wetlands will be treated as Code 400 forest types. Dead forest wetlands will also be delineated as Code 400 forest types.710...Beaches DESCRIPTION: This category includes fresh and saltwater sandy beaches. If it is a highly developed beach facility with buildings and parking lots, it should be classified as Developed Recreation (161).720...Sandy Areas (not beaches) DESCRIPTION: These are sandy areas that are not beaches, with very little visible vegetation. These are generally small patches of sand in shrub-scrub areas that indicate highly permeable soils with very little organic material.730...Rock Outcrops DESCRIPTION: These are areas of rock with very sparse visible vegetation, usually found in steep areas with a lot of topographic relief, usually cliffs.740...Mines, Quarries and Gravel Pits DESCRIPTION: Sand and gravel pits usually have a "spider" shaped sorting/conveyor apparatus. Mines and quarries usually have very steep sides where there is evidence of some sort of extraction activity. Associated facilities include all buildings, roads and parking areas. There are usually construction machines (such as front bucket loaders, bulldozers and dump trucks) on site. USGS topographic maps will usually mark these features with appropriate symbols.750...Transitional Areas (urban open) DESCRIPTION: Some areas are in the process of being developed from one land use to another. Since these are transitional lands, it is not always apparent what the new land use will be so they are classified as this category. Typically, these areas are being developed for residential, commercial or industrial use. Comparison to older imagery shows that it was previously another land use or land cover category.760...Mixed Barren Areas DESCRIPTION: Mixed barren areas are areas that are very sparsely vegetated but clearly can not be classified as either rock outcrops or sandy areas. They may be a combination of rock and sand but are characterized by little or no vegetation and a visible rock or sandy surface.
Copyright Text: USGS, University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island Department of Administration and Division of Statewide Planning
Name: Unfragmented Forest Blocks 2025 (500 acres or more)
Display Field: Forest2020
Type: Feature Layer
Geometry Type: esriGeometryPolygon
Description: Please consider the source, spatial accuracy, attribute accuracy, and scale of these data before incorporating them into your project. These data were derived from automated and photo interpreted processes and should be used for preliminary planning purposes only. The wetland areas contained in this data set do not include all wetlands previously identified in other RIGIS land cover/land use data sets or in other separate GIS wetlands data sets and interpretation of wetlands areas should lean toward the side of caution. Wetlands areas previously classified as forested wetlands are shown as forested areas in this data set. Statistical comparisons with RIGIS land cover/land use data prior to 2003 should be treated with caution since significant differences in the methodologies used to delineate features were employed. If data are used for change detection using the 2003/2004 edition be aware that marinas were coded from other transportation and developed recreation to commercial in the 2020 data to more accurately fit the classification system.Landuse/Landcover Types:This coding schema for Land Cover/Land Use type is derived from the Anderson (modified) coding schema used by RIGIS in previous (1988 and 1995) land cover/land use data sets. It includes level 3 coding for Urbanized Developed areas (100 Codes); level 2 coding for agricultural (200 Codes), Forested lands (400 Codes), and Barren Lands (700 Codes); and Level 1 coding for Brushland (300 Code), Open Water (500 Code), and Wetlands (600 Code). This numerical coding schema differs from previous RIGIS land cover/land use coding schema in that the previous data sets from 1988 and 1995 erroneously had forest types as 300 codes and brushland as 400 codes. These were numerically reversed at the direction of the State of Rhode Island. The resulting schema for data created for this project as shown above complies with the true Anderson coding schema.111...High Density Residential (8 houses or more per acre) 112...Medium High Density Residential (4 - 8 houses per acre) 113...Medium Density Residential (1 - 4 houses per acre) 114...Medium Low Density Residential (1 house per 1 to 2 acre) 115...Low Density Residential (>2 acre lots) DESCRIPTION: All residential categories are based on the size of the maintained lot and include the house and the yard area. Lot sizes are visually determined by comparing the houses in an area to the surrounding houses, observing the spacing between the houses and the relative amount of yard space between them. Other land cover types (such as forest, wetland or water bodies), even though they may be on a residential property, are mapped separately if they exceed the minimum mapping unit. Duplexes (usually with 2 front doors/pathways and sometimes 2 driveways) will be factored into this calculation while multi-unit complexes will generally be classified as high density residential unless surrounded by a significant amount of maintained yard (such as some condos), in which case it may calculate out to a lower density category. Building sizes of residences (except for some duplexes and multi-unit complexes) are significantly smaller than almost all commercial and industrial buildings.120...Commercial (sale of products and services) DESCRIPTION: Large commercial facilities (such as malls, shopping centers and larger strip commercial areas) are typically well landscaped with parking strategically arranged around the building in multiple areas. There are often a few loading docks. These land uses are usually found in residential areas or grouped with other commercial facilities. Parking areas are included. Smaller commercial facilities (such as neighborhood stores or smaller strip commercial areas) often look similar to residential areas but are sometimes distinguishable by their larger parking areas (compared to residential parking) often behind the building down a driveway with spaces for 5 or 10 vehicles or if in a dense residential area, they may actually be commercial at the ground level and apartments above. Without any of these distinguishing features, these will probably be classified as residential. Also included in this category are office parks, medical offices and lawn and garden centers that do not produce or grow the product (not part of nurseries). Commercial buildings are almost always larger than residential structures.130...Industrial (manufacturing, design, assembly, etc.) DESCRIPTION: Industrial areas are typically not landscaped as thoroughly as a commercial facility. Parking is often in one large lot. These areas generally have many loading docks and there are often truck trailers parked on-site. These facilities are often far from residential areas, often surrounded by forests, but typically near major roads or highways. Parking areas are included. Industrial buildings are almost always larger than residential structures.141...Roads (divided highways >200' plus related facilities) DESCRIPTION: Related facilities would include rest areas, highway maintenance areas, storage areas, on/off ramps, and maintained grassy areas adjacent to the roadway. Also included is the grass or wooded median strip between the roads. Roads less than 200 feet in width that are the center of two differing land use classes will have the land use classes meet at the center line of the road. Bridges that are greater than 200 feet wide will be included in this category.142...Airports (and associated facilities) DESCRIPTION: Airport facilities include runways, maintained grassy areas adjacent to runways, hangars, terminals, freight storage areas and buildings, roads, short and long term parking lots, observation towers and on-site commercial facilities. Abandoned airports should be classified as another use such as Vacant Land (162) or Transitional Land (750) depending on its current use.143...Railroads (and associated facilities) DESCRIPTION: Railroad facilities include all tracks, maintained rights-of-way adjacent to the tracks, terminals, stations, switching yards, storage facilities and buildings, and parking lots around the station.144...Water and Sewage Treatment DESCRIPTION: Water and sewage treatment facilities are typically characterized by circular sedimentation and aeration tanks, associated facilities include pump houses, filtration and aeration buildings, water storage tanks /standpipes as well as parking lots.145...Waste Disposal (landfills, junkyards, etc.) DESCRIPTION: Landfills often can be mistaken for sand and gravel pits (740) but do not have the "spider" shaped sorting/conveyor apparatus associated with sand and gravel operations. There is usually an area of recent activity with disturbed earth and piles of material (waste and cover material) nearby. There will often be large areas that haven't been disturbed for a while. Associated facilities for landfills, junkyards, and automobile dumps include all buildings, roads and parking areas. There are usually construction machines (such as front bucket loaders, road graders, bulldozers and dump trucks) on site. Once landfills are closed, they are covered, graded and often times venting pipes for methane gas can be seen arranged systematically throughout the landfill. There will generally be a high point in the middle of the landfill with moderate slopes out to the edges. Some capped landfills may have been converted to another use, such as Developed Recreation (161).146...Power Lines (100' or more width) DESCRIPTION: Power lines generally follow straight lines across the landscape. Usually, the support towers are visible at a set interval and often, wires can be seen on an aerial photograph between the towers. Also included in this category are underground pipeline corridors. In both cases, the feature is mapped to the edge of the maintained vegetation. Where power lines or utility corridors pass over or through other land use categories, the other category takes precedence unless the area is managed specifically for the power line (such as forest).147...Other Transportation (terminals, docks, etc.) DESCRIPTION: This category is used for land-based truck terminals and warehouses (with many loading docks) as well as water-based docks and associated buildings used for industrial or commercial purposes not associated with other categories (such as recreation docks used at marinas), but includes commercial fishery facilities. Adjacent parking areas and storage facilities are included. This category takes precedence over Industrial (130) if the primary use is to transport goods. 151...Commercial/Residential Mixed (New not in 1995- There are minimal polygons identified or coded in this category. The intention for inclusion of the category were suggested by Rhode Island to allow for future use.) DESCRIPTION: This category is used for land uses that are a mix of both commercial and residential. Although difficult to tell from aerial photographs, ancillary data may be provided to help classify areas into this type.152...Commercial/Industrial Mixed (Coded as 150 in 1995) DESCRIPTION: Some facilities are not obviously commercial or industrial but a mix of the two. They are nicely landscaped yet have distinguishing characteristics of both commercial and industrial areas. Parking lots are included. Commerce Parks will fit into this category.161...Developed Recreation (all recreation) DESCRIPTION: Developed recreation facilities include stadiums, ball fields, tennis courts, urban parks, basketball courts, ski areas, golf courses, marinas, playgrounds, zoos, amusement parks, developed beach areas, drive-in theaters, fairgrounds, bike paths, race tracks and swimming pools plus associated parking lots. It does not include passive recreation areas such as state forests or parks, except for the developed facilities associated with these areas. These facilities, when associated with institutional land uses, will be pulled out into this category.162...Vacant Land DESCRIPTION: Land is classified as vacant if it is abandoned land that isn't being used for any other land use. It isn't being prepared for another use (see 750 Transitional Area below) and does not have enough tree growth to be classified as forest or enough vegetation to be classified as brushland (300). It may include structures and indicates that the land was previously used for one of the urban categories.163…Cemeteries DESCRIPTION: From small to large cemeteries, these features are obvious by the orderly grid of gravestones, monuments and road networks. Quite often, they are noted on USGS topographic maps. This category includes associated buildings, roads and parking areas.170...Institutional (schools, hospitals, churches, etc.) DESCRIPTION: Institutional land and buildings are public or quasi-public facilities with or without green space designed to serve large numbers of people such as government buildings, schools, colleges, hospitals, prisons, churches, town halls, public works facilities, police stations or fire stations. The maintained areas around the facilities are included as are parking facilities. Some of the facilities at a large college, for example, may be pulled out into other categories (such as an athletic field - 161). However, all dormitories, family and faculty housing and other buildings are included in this category as are grassy areas that are on the property of the institution as are usually noted on USGS topographic maps.210...Pasture (agricultural not suitable for tillage) DESCRIPTION: Pasture land is generally used for grazing of animals and for the growing of grasses for hay. It is often hilly, may have poor drainage or stoniness, and the field boundaries may be less defined than cropland. There may be scattered trees or shrubs in the field. Associated facilities include barns and other outbuildings.220...Cropland (tillable) DESCRIPTION: Cropland is generally tilled land used to grow row crops. There is usually evidence of intense land management. The land is often flat, well drained and the field boundaries are generally very well defined. This category also includes turf farms that grow sod. Associated facilities include barns and other outbuildings.230...Orchards, Groves, Nurseries DESCRIPTION: This category includes fruit orchards, greenhouses, plant nurseries, Christmas tree farms, vine crops (such as vineyards, strawberry and blueberry patches), and cranberry bogs (including sandy areas adjacent to the bogs that are used in the growing process). The orderly pattern of the vegetation generally indicates that one or more of these land uses is present. Associated facilities include barns, other outbuildings and parking lots. Orchards and greenhouses are often symbolized on USGS topographic maps. Commercial lawn and garden centers that do not pro240...Confined Feeding Operations DESCRIPTION: Confined feeding operations are intensive facilities used for raising livestock or poultry in a small space where there are minimal adjacent grazing lands. This category includes the feeding areas, stables, barns, outbuildings and waste management facilities as well as equipment storage areas.250...Idle Agriculture (abandoned fields and orchards) DESCRIPTION: When pasture, cropland and other agricultural uses have not been active for a few years, it is classified as idle agriculture. Often, early successional vegetation is seen growing in around the edges and there is no evidence of any land or vegetation management. Eventually, it will become brushland (300).300...Brushland (shrub and brush areas, reforestation) (Formerly coded as 400 in 1995) DESCRIPTION: Brushland is characterized by lots of shrubs and very few trees (< 50% canopy). It includes areas that are being reforested but the trees are not large or dense enough to be classified as forests. It also includes areas that are more permanently shrubby, such as heath areas, wild blueberries or mountain laurel.400…Forest Lands (Formerly coded as 300 in 1995) 410...Deciduous Forest (>80% hardwood) (Formerly Brushland in 1995) 420...Coniferous Forest (>80% softwood) 430...Mixed Forest DESCRIPTION: Trees are classified as forests when the tree canopy covers at least 50% of the space when viewed from above on an aerial photograph. The three different categories depend upon the composition of deciduous vs. coniferous trees. On an aerial photograph, most coniferous trees have conical shapes (except for pines) with dense needles and tight branching with dark spectral signatures whereas deciduous trees have a more open or freeform shape with leaves (during the growing season) that give the tree a coarser texture or pattern and a looser or more open branching arrangement. Deciduous spectral signatures are generally lighter than coniferous signatures.500...All Open Water Bodies DESCRIPTION: This category includes open water, such as lakes, ponds, lagoons, bays or rivers wide enough to be mapped as a polygon instead of a line. This includes any open water feature on the land side of the ocean coastline. (In the 1995 landuse 500 was latter recoded as 510-Fresh Water and 520 for salt and brackish water.) 600...Wetland (Non-Forested) DESCRIPTION: Visible grassy or vegetated areas often near or adjacent to open water bodies or streams and or visibly scoured areas that may be associated with tidal flow or flooding. Forested wetlands will be treated as Code 400 forest types. Dead forest wetlands will also be delineated as Code 400 forest types.710...Beaches DESCRIPTION: This category includes fresh and saltwater sandy beaches. If it is a highly developed beach facility with buildings and parking lots, it should be classified as Developed Recreation (161).720...Sandy Areas (not beaches) DESCRIPTION: These are sandy areas that are not beaches, with very little visible vegetation. These are generally small patches of sand in shrub-scrub areas that indicate highly permeable soils with very little organic material.730...Rock Outcrops DESCRIPTION: These are areas of rock with very sparse visible vegetation, usually found in steep areas with a lot of topographic relief, usually cliffs.740...Mines, Quarries and Gravel Pits DESCRIPTION: Sand and gravel pits usually have a "spider" shaped sorting/conveyor apparatus. Mines and quarries usually have very steep sides where there is evidence of some sort of extraction activity. Associated facilities include all buildings, roads and parking areas. There are usually construction machines (such as front bucket loaders, bulldozers and dump trucks) on site. USGS topographic maps will usually mark these features with appropriate symbols.750...Transitional Areas (urban open) DESCRIPTION: Some areas are in the process of being developed from one land use to another. Since these are transitional lands, it is not always apparent what the new land use will be so they are classified as this category. Typically, these areas are being developed for residential, commercial or industrial use. Comparison to older imagery shows that it was previously another land use or land cover category.760...Mixed Barren Areas DESCRIPTION: Mixed barren areas are areas that are very sparsely vegetated but clearly can not be classified as either rock outcrops or sandy areas. They may be a combination of rock and sand but are characterized by little or no vegetation and a visible rock or sandy surface.
Copyright Text: USGS, University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island Department of Administration and Division of Statewide Planning
Description: This is a statewide, seamless digital dataset of the ecological communities for the State of Rhode Island, which was derived using automated and semi-automated methods and based on imagery captured in 2011. The project area encompasses the State of Rhode Island and also extends 1/2 mile into the neighboring states of Connecticut and Massachusetts or to the limits of source orthophotography. Geographic feature accuracy meets the National Mapping Standards for 1:5000 scale mapping with respect to base level data (roads, hydrography, and orthos). The minimum mapping unit for this dataset is .5 acre. The ecological communities classification scheme used for these data was based on the Rhode Island Ecological Communities Classification document created by Richard W. Enser on October 4, 2011.
Copyright Text: This dataset was created by Photo Science Inc., a Quantum Spatial Company