Over the years, the Peconic Estuary Program has acquired a multitude of GIS layers. GIS is an acronym for Geographical Information System, a powerful new tool to digitize data on maps. Using GIS, geographic data can be displayed and analyzed in ways that were once impossible. For example, the PEP Critical Lands Protection Strategy used GIS to overlay different environmental criteria to prioritize available lands for protection. The parcels which met more of the criteria were ranked as higher priority for protection by the GIS software.
All of the PEP GIS layers (most of which were generated in ArcView) are available free of charge to scientists, managers and the public. A sampling of our available data layers can be seen below. Other available layers are listed below. To request the raw ArcView shapefiles and associated metadata, or high resolution versions of the images below, e-mail the request to info@peconicestuary.org with a brief description of what the data will be used for.
Critical Natural Resource Areas: In 1996, the PEP teamed with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to identify "critical natural resource areas," or CNRAs, in the Peconic Estuary watershed. CNRAs are geographically specific locations that have significant biodiversity and may require an extra level protection to preserve their unique characteristics. An analysis of species distribution and important habitats resulted in the delineation of the 17 CNRAs depicted below.
Hardened Shoreline: The Peconic Estuary's hardened shores were inventoried by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service using aerial photographs taken in the fall of 2000. The Peconic BayKeeper groundtruthed the data. The layer below includes docks, bulkheads and seawalls, and other (which includes breakwaters, groins, jettys, piers, and revetments). Note that the raw datafile breaks the latter category into its components.
Impervious Surface: The map below shows the results of work by the U.S. Geological Survey to inventory impervious surface in the Peconic watershed using aerial photographs taken in 2001.
Land Use and Land Cover: The U.S. Geological Survey completed a comprehensive study of land cover in the Peconic Estuary watershed in 2005. Land cover types were assigned based on aerial photographs taken in 2001. Thirty different land uses were classified; the map below groups them into eight broader categories.
Submerged Aquatic Vegetation: The Peconic Estuary's submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) was inventoried by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service using aerial photographs taken in the fall of 2000. The layer below maps the distribution of green fleece (Codium fragile), eelgrass (Zostera marina), widgeongrass (Ruppia maritima), sea lettuce (Ulva lactuca), and other/unknown SAV.
Uncertified Shellfish Beds: Shellfish bed closures, both year-round and seasonal, are mapped below. Note that some areas are closed due to administrative reasons, such as the waters around Plum Island, rather than due to poor water quality. This layer reflects the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation's uncertified areas as of January 1, 2004.
SCDHS Water Quality Monitoring Stations: The map below shows the location of the water quality stations monitored by the Suffolk County Department of Health Services in the Peconic Estuary. Also mapped are the YSI (Yellow Springs Instruments) continuous monitoring stations deployed in the Peconic Estuary during the summer months. Each YSI measures temperature, salinity (calculated from conductivity), dissolved oxygen, and depth every fifteen minutes.
Tidal Wetlands: The image below highlights tidal wetlands mapped in the Peconics through the National Wetlands Inventory by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1994.
Other available layers: Click here to request the ArcView files...
Long Island municipal boundaries
Peconic Estuary groundwater contributing area (marks PEP Study Area)
Peconic Estuary nitrogen-stressed subwatersheds
Peconic Estuary shoreline (used to calculate shoreline length)
Peconic Estuary stormwater contributing area
Peconic Estuary waterbodies (including the names of 175 harbors, bays, ponds, and streams)
Peconic boat launches
Peconic dry wells
Peconic road ends
Peconic storm drain outfalls
