Lake Worth (Upland) Lagoon Seagrass Communities (2007)

These data serve as documentation for seagrass coverage in the Lake Worth Lagoon system and the Intercoastal Waterway (ICW) throughout Palm Beach County (excluding the ICW north of Jupiter Inlet and the Loxahatchee River) in 2007. {hotointerpretation was accomplished on Avineon's ImageStation Stereo Display (ISSD). Habitat cover type boundaries were photogrammetrically digitized using CadMap/dgn software in conjunction with ISSD, running on Pentium workstations with Windows XP. This software directly captures digital data into MicroStation (Bentley Microsystems, Inc.) for later importation to ARC/INFO. Photointerpreters utilized previously collected field data along with other available collateral data to assist in their interpretation. Throughout the photointerpretation process, positional accuracy of feature boundaries was maintained according to the photographic signatures apparent on the photography. The minimum mapping unit for classification is 0.25 acres (=0.1 hectares). The horizontal accuracy of the data meets NMAS for 1:24,000 scale maps (+/- 40 feet). A major objective of the Lake Worth Lagoon Management Plan is to restore, preserve and create seagrass beds, oyster bars and other submerged benthic habitat. Aerial surveys enable Palm Beach County (PBC) Department of Environmental Resources Management (ERM) to determine the aerial extent of seagrass beds, mangrove habitat, oyster reefs, and spartina within the Lake Worth Lagoon and Intracoastal Waterway, while the fixed transect survey reveal whether selected seagrass beds are stable, expanding or receding. This feature class combines two feature classes with nearly identical features. This one contains those features associated with the LAKEWORTHLAGOON_2007 AND THE LAKEWORTHLAGOON_UPLAND_2007. Features are similar with the exception that Oyster Beds are mapped independent of Tidal Flats. To get acreage and/or show Tidal Flats as previously shown in LAKEWORTHLAGOON_2007, map Tidal Flats and Oyster Beds as a single category.