Section 1	Identification Information
Originator	Natural Resources Research Institute
Title	Counties for the Lake Superior Basin
Abstract	The counties coverage is mostly a reference map describing the extent and boundaries of each county within the Lake Superior Basin. Although the 'time period of content' field is not complete, data is expected to be fairly recent, and county lines appear to be updated.
Purpose	A base data layer.
Time Period of Content Date	Unknown
Currentness Reference	Observed
Progress	Complete
Maintenance and Update Frequency	As needed
Spatial Extent of Data	All states within the Lake Superior Drainage Basin including: Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan.
Bounding Coordinates	-97.293 -81.564 49.255 41.573
Place Keywords	Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, all county names
Theme Keywords	None
Theme Keyword Thesaurus	None
Access Constraints	None
Use Constraints	None
Contact Person Information	Gerald Sjerven, GIS Specialist Natural Resources Research Institute 5013 Miller Trunk Hwy Duluth, Minnesota 55811 Phone: (218)-720-4388 FAX: (218)-720-4328 E-mail: gsjerven@sage.nrri.umn.edu
Browse Graphic File Name	none available
Browse Graphic File Description
Associated Data Sets
Section 2	Data Quality Information - - - - - - Go back to top
Attribute Accuracy	Contact NRRI
Logical Consistency	Contact NRRI
Completeness	Contact NRRI
Horizontal Positional Accuracy	Contact NRRI
Vertical Positional Accuracy	Not applicable
Lineage	State county coverages were created for MN, WI, and MI by merging the counties together for each state. The shoreline was then selected for each state (including islands), and 'put' into a coverage. The Canadian islands and shoreline were later added using 'put' as well. Further information: Source codes that specify the original digital source of complete chains in the TIGER/Line ® files are listed in the Sources section of this chapter. These codes cover the source categories in the Census TIGER ® data base: initial source, pre-1990 computer operations, office operations, enumerator operations, local official updates, post-1990 census updates, and pre-2000 computer operations. The initial sources used to create the Census TIGER ® data base were the USGS 1:100,000-scale Digital Line Graph (DLG), USGS 1:24,000-scale quadrangles, the Census Bureau’s 1980 geographic base files (GBF/DIME-Files), and a variety of miscellaneous maps for selected areas outside the contiguous 48 states. The DLG coverage is extensive, albeit of variable currency, and comprises most of the rural, small city, and suburban area of the TIGER/Line ® files. GBF/DIME-File coverage areas were updated through 1987 with the manual translation of features from the most recent aerial photography available to the Census Bureau. In order to create a current geographic data base for the extraction of the 1995 TIGER/Line ® files, the Census Bureau used various internal and external procedures through 1995 to update and maintain the Census TIGER ® data base. While the Census Bureau has made a reasonable and systematic attempt to gather the most recent information available about the features that this file portrays, the Census Bureau cautions users that the files are no more complete than the source documents used in their compilation, the vintage of those source documents, and the translation of the information on those source documents. The Census Bureau added, to the Census TIGER ® data base, the enumerator updates compiled during the 1988-1990 census operations. The updates came from map annotations made by enumerators as they attempted to locate living quarters by traversing every street feature in their assignment area. The Census Bureau digitized the enumerator updates directly into the Census TIGER ® data base with-out geodetic controls or the use of aerial photography to confirm the features’ existence or locational accuracy. The Census Bureau also made other corrections and updates to the map sheets supplied by local participants in various Census Bureau programs. Unconfirmed local updates originated from map reviews by local government officials or their liaisons. Maps were sent to the highest elected official of governmental units between 1990-1995 for use in various census programs, and some maps were returned with update annotations and corrections. The Census Bureau generally added the updates to the Census TIGER ® data base without extensive checks when the elected official approved the boundary or feature correction. Changes made by local officials do not have geodetic control. Data was then clipped with the 50 km lake superior basin boundary, and split into county coverages for the US side. It was left whole for the Canadian side.
Source Scale Denominator	250000
Section 3	Spatial Data Organization Information - - - - - - Go back to top
Native Data Set Environment	UNIX-ARC/INFO Ver. 7.1.2, Sun Solaris operating system
Geographic Reference for Tabular Data	None
Spatial Object Type	Vector
Vendor Specific Object Types	arc, line, polygon
Tiling Scheme	Counties
Section 4	Spatial Reference Information - - - - - - Go back to top
Horizontal Coordinate Scheme	Geographic (Lat. Long.)
Ellipsoid	GRS80
Horizontal Datum	NAD83
Horizontal Units	Meters
Distance Resolution
Altitude Datum	Not applicable
Depth Datum	Not applicable
Map Projection Name	Albers Equal Area
Map Projection Parameters	Standard Parallel: 29.5 Standard Parallel: 45.5 Longitude Of Central Meridian: -96 Latitude Of Projection Origin: 23 False Easting: 0 False Northing: 0
Other Coordinate System's Definition	Planar Coordinate Encoding Method: Coordinate Pair Abscissa Resolution: 1 Ordinate Resolution: 1 Semi-Major Axis: 6378206.4 Denominator of Flattening Ratio: 294.98
Section 5	Entity and Attribute Information - - - - - - Go back to top
Entity and Attribute Overview	County number and county-id are codes that represent certain counties for the state. The 'fips' code determines this state with Minnesota = 27, Wisconsin = 55, and Michigan = 26.
Entity and Attribute Detailed Citation	None
Section 6	Distribution Information - - - - - - Go back to top
Publisher	Natural Resources Research Institute
Publication Date	Unpublished material
Contact Person Information	Gerald Sjerven, GIS Specialist Natural Resources Research Institute 5013 Miller Trunk Hwy Duluth, Minnesota 55811 Phone: (218)-720-4388 FAX: (218)-720-4328 E-mail: gsjerven@sage.nrri.umn.edu
Distributor's Data Set Identifier
Distribution Liability	No warranty expressed or implied is made regarding the accuracy or utility of the data on any other system or for general or scientific purposes, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty. This disclaimer applies both to individual use of the data and aggregate use with other data. It is strongly recommended that careful attention be paid to the contents of the metadata file associated with these data. The University of Minnesota shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of the data described and/or contained herein.
Transfer Format Name	ARC/Info export format
Transfer Format Version Number
Transfer Size
Ordering Instructions
Online Linkage	Click here to download data. (See Ordering Instructions above for details.) By clicking here, you agree to the notice in "Distribution Liability" above.
Section 7	Metadata Reference Information - - - - - - Go back to top
Metadata Date	08/25/1999
Contact Person Information	Joel Nelson, GIS Intern Natural Resource Research Institute 5013 Miller Trunk Highway Duluth, Minnesota 55811 Phone: (218)-720-4254 FAX: (218)-720-4328 E-mail: jnelson@sage.nrri.umn.edu
Metadata Standard Name	Minnesota Geographic Metadata Guidelines
Metadata Standard Version	Datalogr 2.01
Metadata Standard Online Linkage	http://www.lmic.state.mn.us/gc/stds/metadata.htm

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