The USEPA GIS technical guidance is also very useful [53]. Its geospatial
policies and standards are intended to provide support of all USEPA Region
2 GIS-related projects [53]. Engineers and planners should contact their own
USEPA Regional Office for any needed technical support [47, 53].
EnviroMapper provides a map interface to discover facility locations and associated environmental information for the data within the Envirofacts Warehouse.
The EPA Geospatial Data Access Project provides downloadable files of USEPA
facility locations and associated information in a variety of data formats.
Glossary [37, 46–53]
Abiotic
Nonliving characteristic of the environment; the physical and chemical components that relate to the state of ecological resources.
Accuracy
The degree to which a calculation, a measurement, or set of measurements agree with a true value or an accepted reference value.
Accuracy includes a combination of random error (precision) and
systematic error (bias) components which are due to sampling and
analytical operations; a data quality indicator. USEPA recommends
that this term not be used and that precision and bias be used to
convey the information usually associated with accuracy.
Acid deposition
“A complex chemical and atmospheric phenomenon that occurs
when emissions of sulfur and nitrogen compounds and other substances are transformed by chemical processes in the atmosphere,
often far from the original sources, and then deposited on earth in
either a wet or dry form. The wet forms, popularly called ‘acid rain,’
can fall as rain, snow, or fog. The dry forms are acidic gases or
particulates.”
Adaptive sampling
strategy
A sampling strategy that allows modification of sampling design
and analysis to adapt to changing objectives or to changing
circumstances.
Agroecosystem
A dynamic association of crops, pastures, livestock, other flora and
fauna, atmosphere, soils, and water. Agroecosystems are contained
within larger landscapes that include uncultivated land, drainage
networks, rural communities, and wildlife.
Albers map projection
A standard map projection for representing the US states. This is a
conic equal area projection.
Ancillary data
Data collected from studies within EMAP but not used directly in
the computation of an indicator. Ancillary data can help characterize parameters and assist in the interpretation of datasets; time, stage
of tide, and weather conditions are examples of ancillary data.
Annual statistical
summary
A document that presents a brief and comprehensive report of
EMAP data collected on a single EMAP resource for a specific
year. Annual statistical summaries may include cumulative frequency distributions, estimates of the extent of nominal or
subnominal condition, comparisons among regions, or comparisons
of data over time.
Area frame
A sampling frame obtained by dividing a region into well-defined,
identifiable subregions that in aggregate comprise the total area of
5 Geographic Information Systems and Remote Sensing Applications in Environmental. . . 217
policies and standards are intended to provide support of all USEPA Region
2 GIS-related projects [53]. Engineers and planners should contact their own
USEPA Regional Office for any needed technical support [47, 53].
EnviroMapper provides a map interface to discover facility locations and associated environmental information for the data within the Envirofacts Warehouse.
The EPA Geospatial Data Access Project provides downloadable files of USEPA
facility locations and associated information in a variety of data formats.
Glossary [37, 46–53]
Abiotic
Nonliving characteristic of the environment; the physical and chemical components that relate to the state of ecological resources.
Accuracy
The degree to which a calculation, a measurement, or set of measurements agree with a true value or an accepted reference value.
Accuracy includes a combination of random error (precision) and
systematic error (bias) components which are due to sampling and
analytical operations; a data quality indicator. USEPA recommends
that this term not be used and that precision and bias be used to
convey the information usually associated with accuracy.
Acid deposition
“A complex chemical and atmospheric phenomenon that occurs
when emissions of sulfur and nitrogen compounds and other substances are transformed by chemical processes in the atmosphere,
often far from the original sources, and then deposited on earth in
either a wet or dry form. The wet forms, popularly called ‘acid rain,’
can fall as rain, snow, or fog. The dry forms are acidic gases or
particulates.”
Adaptive sampling
strategy
A sampling strategy that allows modification of sampling design
and analysis to adapt to changing objectives or to changing
circumstances.
Agroecosystem
A dynamic association of crops, pastures, livestock, other flora and
fauna, atmosphere, soils, and water. Agroecosystems are contained
within larger landscapes that include uncultivated land, drainage
networks, rural communities, and wildlife.
Albers map projection
A standard map projection for representing the US states. This is a
conic equal area projection.
Ancillary data
Data collected from studies within EMAP but not used directly in
the computation of an indicator. Ancillary data can help characterize parameters and assist in the interpretation of datasets; time, stage
of tide, and weather conditions are examples of ancillary data.
Annual statistical
summary
A document that presents a brief and comprehensive report of
EMAP data collected on a single EMAP resource for a specific
year. Annual statistical summaries may include cumulative frequency distributions, estimates of the extent of nominal or
subnominal condition, comparisons among regions, or comparisons
of data over time.
Area frame
A sampling frame obtained by dividing a region into well-defined,
identifiable subregions that in aggregate comprise the total area of
5 Geographic Information Systems and Remote Sensing Applications in Environmental. . . 217