A digital polygon layer showing waterfowl concentration and staging areas along Maryland's tidal Chesapeake Bay watershed.

This data release contains three 10-meter resolution GeoTIFFs representing 10-meter (35-foot), 30-meter (100-foot) and 90-meter (300-foot) riparian buffer zones along shorelines, rivers, streams, and other lotic (flowing) water features. The layers are binary, where the value of each cell represents the presence or absence of the buffer zone. In addition, the data release contains shapefile layers that document the extent of corrections that were made to the data to address errors in the stream network (see processing steps section for more details).. The methodology combines various fine-scale input layers, including a 1:24k stream network and Chesapeake Bay 1-meter resolution Land Use/Land Cover to approximate banks of stream channels and waterbodies to better define the riparian zone (CBP, 2023; Hopkins and others, 2020). For shorelines and large rivers, the width of the buffer zone (10, 30, 90 meters) begins at the banks, where land meets water. For finer scale (1:24k) stream features, the buffer zone includes both water and riparian land area, where the buffered width begins at the estimated top of bank. Each 10-meter resolution riparian buffer zone GeoTIFF dataset is contained in an individual .zip file (CBW_riparian_10m_24k_2024.zip, CBW_riparian_30m_24k_2024.zip, CBW_riparian_90m_24k_2024.zip). The shapefile layers that contain the data correction extents are available in the correction_layers.zip file.

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) scientists conducted field data collection efforts during June 11th - 16th, 2020, using a combination of remote sensing technologies to map riverbank and wetland topography and vegetation at five sites in the Chesapeake Bay Region of Virginia. The five sites are located along the James, Severn, and York Rivers. The work was initiated to evaluate the utility of different remote sensing technologies in mapping river bluff and wetland topography and vegetation for change detection and sediment transport modeling. The USGS team collected Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), total station, and ground based lidar (GBL) data while the VIMS team collected aerial imagery using an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS). This data release contains shapefiles of the processed GNSS and total station data, point clouds in the form of lidar data exchange (las) files from the ground lidar data and aerial imagery produced via Structure from Motion (SfM).

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) scientists conducted field data collection efforts during the week of April 8th - 14th, 2018, using a combination of remote sensing technologies to map riverbank and wetland topography and vegetation at four sites in the Chesapeake Bay Region of Virginia. The four sites are located along the James, Severn, and York Rivers. The work was initiated to evaluate the utility of different remote sensing technologies in mapping river bluff and wetland topography and vegetation for change detection and sediment transport modeling. The USGS team collected Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), total station, and ground based lidar (GBL) data while the VIMS team collected aerial imagery using an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS). This data release contains shapefiles of the processed GNSS and total station data, point clouds in the form of lidar data exchange (las) files from the ground lidar data and aerial imagery produced via Structure from Motion (SfM).

Migratory Waterfowl is a 1:24,000-scale, polygon feature-based layer that depicts the concentration areas of migratory waterfowl at specific locations within Connecticut. Paul Merola, former DEP Wildlife Biologist, and Greg Chasko, DEP Wildlife Biologist, identified the migratory waterfowl concentration areas based on the Northeast Coastal Areas Study, Joseph Dowhan, 1991 (see Supplemental Information) as well as by using midwinter surveys, breeding surveys and personal observations. The concentration areas are primarily found along the shoreline and the lower tributaries and wetlands of major Connecticut rivers. In addition to depicting the concentration areas, the potential waterfowl species associated with each polygon have been identified and are listed in the attribute table as boolean values indicating their presence or absence. The intent of this datalayer is to assist in the identification of migratory waterfowl resource areas in the event of an oil spill or other condition that might be a threat to waterfowl species. This layer identifies conditions at a particular point in time. It is not updated and it is not a complete representation of all areas of migratory waterfowl in Connecticut.

This dataset is comprised of six files related to waterbird surveys and resulting Index of Waterbird Community Integrity (IWCI) scores in 21 subestuaries of the Chesapeake Bay from 2010-2014. Two .csv files (1 data file: Prosser et al 2017_IWCI Results MS_Bird Survey Raw Data.csv, 1 definitions file: Prosser et al 2017_IWCI Results MS_Bird Survey Raw Data_Definitions.csv) contain data related to raw waterbird survey data from two seasons (summer and fall). Two .csv files (1 data file: Prosser et al 2017_IWCI Results MS_Species List.csv, 1 definitions file: Prosser et al 2017_IWCI Results MS_Species List_Definitions.csv) contain data related to 60+ Chesapeake waterbird species observed in surveys and their species attribute and IWCI scores. Two .csv files (1 data file: Prosser et al 2017_IWCI Results MS_Scores & Delineations by Site.csv, 1 definitions file: Prosser et al 2017_IWCI Results MS_Scores & Delineations by Site_Definitions.csv) contain data related to IWCI scores and shoreline/land use delineations for the 21 subestuaries of the Chesapeake Bay.

The Chesapeake Bay Estuary is the largest estuary in the United States and provides habitats for diverse wildlife and aquatic species, protects communities against flooding, reduces pollution to waterways, and supports local economies through commercial and recreational activities. In the Spring of 2018, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Coastal National Elevation Database (CoNED) Applications Project at the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) Center for Coastal Resources Management (CCRM) initiated collaborative work. The goal of this collaboration is to evaluate how various remote sensing technologies can be employed to model estuarine riverbank topography and measure volumetric change in riverbanks for downstream sediment transport modeling for Chesapeake Bay. Additional science interests for this USGS CoNED and VIMS CCRM collaboration include understanding the spatial extent and variation within tidal wetland boundaries, comparing microtopographic changes of protected/stabilized living shorelines versus natural shorelines, and examining riverine and estuarine land/water interface transitions between topography and bathymetry. The remote sensing technologies investigated in this collaboration include airborne lidar, ground based lidar (GBL), Structure from Motion (SfM) processing of high-resolution imagery, and Satellite Derived Bathymetry (SDB) produced from Landsat 8/9, Sentinel-2, and/or WorldView imagery. Long-term field study sites have been established by VIMS CCRM along the James, Severn, and York Rivers in the Chesapeake Bay Region, with the goal of returning to the sites biannually. The following child pages describe and contain the field data collected during these biannual efforts.

This data release contains areas within Delaware Bay and Delaware Inland Bays that are within tidal elevations, as determined by the Highest Astronomical Tide (HAT), but that are classified as non-tidal or managed wetlands by the National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) or as non-estuarine by the 2016 Coastal Change Analysis Program (C-CAP) land cover dataset. These areas have been assigned the classification codes of NWI, where available, and C-CAP. These data are based on a 5m resolution elevation raster from Coastal National Elevation Database (CoNED), an interpolated surface from Highest Astronomical Tide (HAT) data from National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) tide gauges, and NWI and C-CAP digital wetland products. The area was determined by identifying non-tidal or non-wetland land covers at or below the interpolated HAT tidal elevation. The underlying wetland category from NWI or land cover type from C-CAP was then applied to the entire area to indicate areas for possible land or hydrologic management and assess current and future conditions of land within tidal elevations.

Technological advancements in Global Positioning System (GPS) telemetry markers allow almost real-time observation of waterfowl movements and habitat selection. Telemetry data on ducks marked with GPS transmitters can be used to evaluate performance of remote sensing data (for example, dynamic open-water maps produced by Point Blue Conservation Science) for classifying habitats that are flooded and available for waterfowl. Translating dynamic open-water maps to waterfowl-relevant habitat maps provides a major improvement for wildlife researchers and managers to assist in their assessments of the areas and habitats used by waterfowl as hydrologic conditions change, both temporally and spatially. Suitable habitat maps developed using dynamic water data should accurately and consistently characterize those flooded habitats used by ducks. Because ducks prefer flooded habitats like wetlands and rice fields, duck locations recorded with telemetry technology can be used to validate and enhance maps developed to characterize waterfowl habitats that change temporally with drought or water management. Additionally, high-resolution telemetry data recorded in near real-time can provide information on waterfowl responsiveness to water-management decisions intended to provide adequate habitat for waterfowl. For example, telemetry data can be analyzed to infer duck response to drought in terms of distance traveled to feed and overlap in use of space or habitats by ducks, which have implications for the population dynamics of ducks.

Technological advancements in Global Positioning System (GPS) telemetry markers allow almost real-time observation of waterfowl movements and habitat selection. Telemetry data on ducks marked with GPS transmitters can be used to evaluate performance of remote sensing data (for example, dynamic open-water maps produced by Point Blue Conservation Science) for classifying habitats that are flooded and available for waterfowl. Translating dynamic open-water maps to waterfowl-relevant habitat maps provides a major improvement for wildlife researchers and managers to assist in their assessments of the areas and habitats used by waterfowl as hydrologic conditions change, both temporally and spatially. Suitable habitat maps developed using dynamic water data should accurately and consistently characterize those flooded habitats used by ducks. Because ducks prefer flooded habitats like wetlands and rice fields, duck locations recorded with telemetry technology can be used to validate and enhance maps developed to characterize waterfowl habitats that change temporally with drought or water management. Additionally, high-resolution telemetry data recorded in near real-time can provide information on waterfowl responsiveness to water-management decisions intended to provide adequate habitat for waterfowl. For example, telemetry data can be analyzed to infer duck response to drought in terms of distance traveled to feed and overlap in use of space or habitats by ducks, which have implications for the population dynamics of ducks.