Look for complete geospatial metadata in this layer's associated xml document available from the download link

* Metric Name: California Coastal Chinook Salmon Distribution  

* Tier: 2  

* Data Vintage: 09/2005  

* Unit Of Measure: Binary; 0 = not habitat, 1 = habitat.  

* Metric Definition and Relevance: This layer was created to aid SWR biologists in establishing Critical Habitat for Chinook in the California Coastal ESU. The layer represents an approximation of Chinook occupancy and habitat quality in the region and is best suited for mapping those properties in the aforementioned region.

'CC_Chinook_Distribution_06_2005' depicts Chinook presence as well as habitat
type and quality in the California Coastal Evolutionary Significant Unit
(ESU). The data was compiled by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA
Fisheries) Southwest Regional Office (SWR) in an effort to designate Critical
Habitat for Chinook in California. The linework for this layer is based on the
California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) and Pacific States Marine
Fisheries Commission (PSMFC) 1:100,000 scale stream based routed hydrography.
SWR biologists divided the routed hydrography into stream segments using the
best available information to represent local Chinook distribution and
habitat. As a result, each segment has its own unique identifier (GIS_Link)
and related presence and habitat information. The data set is in shapefile
format and can be included as a map layer in a GIS. This data set is an update
of 'CC_Chinook_Draft_2004'

  

* Creation Method: Stream segments were identified and assigned attributes by SWR biologists using CDFG 1:100,000 hydrogrography data and other basemap information on hard copy maps. The segments' upper and lower extents were manually marked onto the basemaps by the biologists. This information was then visually interpreted from the paper maps and entered into a digital format using the "Route Tools'' extension provided by CDFG. The resulting event table was then used with the CDFG routed hydrography as the route reference to create routed events based on the biologists' segment determinations. The Microsoft Access table containing the accompanying segment attribute information was joined using 'GIS_Link' as the related field, and the shapefile 'CC_Chinook_Draft_2004' was created from the routed events. To minimize errors that may have occurred during the process, the completed digital file was compared against the marked maps for consistency. The biologists also reviewed the completed digital file to ensure attribute information was associated with the correct stream segments. Public comments were received following draft publication of the Critical Habitat Proposed Rule in December 2004. These comments were incorporated into the data set and the final distribution file 'CC_Chinook_Distribution_06_2005' was created.  

* Credits: National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries), West Coast Region Data layers from the following were used as basemap layers or as detailed in the 'Process Description' section during the designation process: California Department of Fish and Game, Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission,California Geospatial Information Data Library, State Coastal Conservancy, California Department of Forestry, US Geological Survey.