Description: <DIV STYLE="text-align:Left;"><DIV><DIV><P><SPAN>Provisional release of statewide NWI dataset. Final version that has undergone thorough review should be available May 2019. The National Wetland Inventory (NWI) data for Minnesota are being updated through a multi-agency collaborative effort under leadership of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MNDNR). The update is being conducted in geographic phases with data released for each region as it is finalized. This metadata record covers all five geographic regions: central, east-central, northeast, northwest and southern Minnesota. Major funding was provided by the Environmental and Natural Resources Trust Fund. The updated NWI classify wetlands according to the system developed by Cowardin et al. (1979). The data also contains a simplified plant community classification (SPCC) and a simplified hydrogeomorphic (HGM) classification. Quality assurance of the data included visual inspection, automated checks for attribute validity and topologic consistency, as well as a formal accuracy assessment based on an independent field verified data set. Further details on the methods employed can be found in the technical procedures document for this project located on the project website (http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/eco/wetlands/nwi_proj.html ). The updated NWI data are primarily based on spring aerial imagery acquired in 2011 and LiDAR elevation data as well as other modern ancillary data. These data are intended to replace the original 1980s NWI data. NWI data support effective wetland management, protection, and restoration. The data provide a baseline for assessing the effectiveness of wetland policies and management actions. These data are used at all levels of government, as well as by private industry and non-profit organizations for wetland regulation and management, land use and conservation planning, environmental impact assessment, and natural resource inventories. The ESRI File Geodatabase download includes four layer files that classify data with symbology using an attribute field in the base data: 1) NWI Circular 39 Class 2009-2014 (CIRC39_CLASS): The classification system known as Circular 39 is an older classification system developed primarily for the inventory and classification of waterfowl habitat (Shaw and Fredine 1956). Wetlands are classified based on the frequency and depth of inundation as well as vegetation community. This classification system has 20 different wetland types, of which eight (8) are present in Minnesota. 2) NWI Cowardin Class 2009-2014 (COW_CLASS1): The Cowardin system is the primary classification system used by the National Wetland Inventory to describe wetlands and ecologically related deep water habitats. It is a hierarchical classification organized into ecological system, classes, and subclasses. The class and subclass levels are primarily based on plant community or substrate. Beyond this, the system also provides information on water regime and a variety of other special cases. 3) NWI Simplified HGM Class 2009-2014 (HGM_SYMBOL): This Simplified Hydrogeomorphic system classifies wetlands not based on their plant communities, but rather based on their geomorphic setting (i.e. landscape position), water source, and hydrodynamics. 4) NWI Simplified Plant Community Class 2009-2014 (SPCC_DESC): This classification system is based on the Wetland Plants and Plant Communities of Minnesota and Wisconsin (Eggers & Reed 2011). Some of the distinctions between these plant community classes are difficult to reliably assess using aerial imagery data; therefore, for the NWI we have reduced the simplified this system to nine vegetated classes and one non-vegetated class. CENTRAL: Operational support for wetland mapping and classification was provided by Ducks Unlimited (DU) and support for methods development and field validation were provided by the Remote Sensing and Geospatial Analysis Laboratory at the University of Minnesota. The DNR Resource Assessment Office provided additional support data processing, field checking, and quality control review. The east-central project area consists of 15 counties including: Aitkin, Beltrami, Benton, Cass, Crow Wing, Hubbard, Itasca, Kanabec, Mille Lacs, Morrison, Pine, Stearns, Todd, Wadena, and a portion of Carlton Counties. The updated wetland inventory area included complete coverage for all USGS quarter quadrangles that intersect any of these counties (about 20,300 square miles).The NWI classification process for east-central Minnesota consisted of three basic steps: 1) creation of image segments (polygons), 2) RandomForest classification of the segments, and 3) photo-interpretation/editing of the classified image segments. EAST-CENTRAL: Operational support for wetland mapping and classification was provided by Ducks Unlimited (DU) and support for methods development and field validation were provided by the Remote Sensing and Geospatial Analysis Laboratory at the University of Minnesota. The DNR Resource Assessment Office provided additional support data processing, field checking, and quality control review. The east-central project area consists of 13 counties including: Anoka, Carver, Chisago, Dakota, Goodhue, Hennepin, Isanti, Ramsey, Rice, Scott, Sherburne, Washington, and Wright Counties. The updated wetland inventory area included complete coverage for all USGS quarter quadrangles that intersect any of these counties (about 7,150 square miles).The NWI classification process for east-central Minnesota consisted of three basic steps: 1) creation of image segments (polygons), 2) RandomForest classification of the segments, and 3) photo-interpretation/editing of the classified image segments. NORTHEAST: Operational support for wetland mapping and classification was provided by Ducks Unlimited (DU) and support for methods development and field validation were provided by the Remote Sensing and Geospatial Analysis Laboratory at the University of Minnesota. The DNR Resource Assessment Office provided additional support data processing, field checking, and quality control review. The project area consists of 5 counties in northeast Minnesota including: Cook, Koochiching, Lake, St. Louis, and a portion of Carlton Counties. The project encompasses 1,097 USGS quarter quads covering an area of 14,330 square miles (17% of the state). The NWI classification process for northeast Minnesota consisted of three basic steps: 1) creation of image segments (polygons), 2) RandomForest classification of the segments, and 3) photo-interpretation of the classified image segments. Please note that a portion of Koochiching County was completed as a separate pilot project. Those data are not yet included in the greater northeast regional product and will be incorporated after their validation is complete. NORTHWEST: Operational support for wetland mapping and classification was provided by Geospatial Services of St. Mary's University of Minnesota (SMUMN) and support for methods development and field validation were provided by the Remote Sensing and Geospatial Analysis Laboratory at the University of Minnesota. The MNDNR Resource Assessment Office provided additional support data processing, field checking, and quality control review. Major funding was provided by the Environmental and Natural Resources Trust Fund. The project area consists of 19 counties in northwest Minnesota including: Becker, Clay, Clearwater, Douglas, Grant, Kittson, Lake of the Woods, Mahnomen, Marshall, Norman, Otter Tail, Pennington, Polk, Pope, Red Lake, Roseau, Stevens, Traverse, and Wilkin Counties. The project encompasses 1,634 USGS quarter quads covering an area of 20,570 square miles (24% of the state). The NWI classification process for southern Minnesota relied on visual image interpretation and other geospatial techniques to identify and classify wetlands using remote sensing data. SOUTHERN: Operational support for wetland mapping and classification was provided by Geospatial Services of St. Mary's University of Minnesota (SMUMN) and support for methods development and field validation were provided by the Remote Sensing and Geospatial Analysis Laboratory at the University of Minnesota. The MNDNR Resource Assessment Office provided additional support data processing, field checking, and quality control review. Major funding was provided by the Environmental and Natural Resources Trust Fund. The project area consists of 36 counties in southern Minnesota including: Big Stone, Blue Earth, Brown, Chippewa, Cottonwood, Dodge, Faribault, Fillmore, Freeborn, Houston, Jackson, Kandiyohi, Lac qui Parle, Le Sueur, Lincoln, Lyon, Martin, McLeod, Meeker, Mower, Murray, Nicollet, Nobles, Olmstead, Pipestone, Redwood, Renville, Rock, Sibley, Steele, Swift, Wabasha, Waseca, Watonwan, Winona, and Yellow Medicine Counties. The project encompasses 1,787 USGS quarter quads covering an area of 23,900 square miles (28% of the state). The NWI classification process for southern Minnesota relied on visual image interpretation and other geospatial techniques to identify and classify wetlands using remote sensing data. NOTE: The layer files for this data have been set up to restrict drawing of the data when zoomed out beyond 1:250,000 scale. This is, in part, to prevent problems with slow performance with this large dataset.</SPAN></P></DIV></DIV></DIV>
Service Item Id: 0becf18efef34168957cbd7e9b6a4d3c
Copyright Text: Funding for this project was provided by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR). The Trust Fund is a permanent fund constitutionally established by the citizens of Minnesota to assist in the protection, conservation, preservation, and enhancement of the state's air, water, land, fish, wildlife, and other natural resources. Currently 40% of net Minnesota State Lottery proceeds are dedicated to building the Trust Fund and ensuring future benefits for Minnesota's environment and natural resources. Additional funding and support was supplied by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Ducks Unlimited (DU), St. Mary's University of Minnesota (SMUMN), and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MNDNR) partnered to perform the NWI update for the southern project area. DU and SMUMN had primary responsibility for developing the final updated NWI and MNDNR had primary responsibility overall project management and quality assurance oversight as well as providing support for data processing and field data collection. The Remote Sensing and Geospatial Analysis Laboratory at the University of Minnesota provided support for methods development and acquisition of independent field validation data.