Project Objective: To support the development of bay-wide habitat protection and restoration planning actions.

Mapped resources: Eelgrass beds (Zostera marina), marshes, beaches, tidal flats, rocky shores, oyster reefs.

Source of Information: True color aerial photography

Dates of Photography: July 6, 1996 and August 11, 1996 

Scales of Photography: 1:12,000 and 1:40,000 with a 30% east-west sidelap and 60 % north-south overlap.

Source of Aerial Photography: J.W. Sewall Company

Protocol: NOAA Coastal-Change Analysis Program

Project Coordination: RIDEM Narragansett Bay Estuary Program

Photoanalysis: University of Massachusetts Natural Resources Assessment Group

Wetland Classification System: Classification of Wetlands and Deep Water Habitats of the U.S. (Cowardin et al., 1979)

Digitization and GIS Map Production: RIDEM Geographic Information System Program

Cooperative Project Partners: Save The Bay, Inc. and City of Warwick, R.I.

Funding Sources: U.S. EPA, RIDEM Aqua Fund and Narragansett Bay Estuary Programs, and Save The Bay, Inc.

Notes:

• The maps illustrate conditions as they existed in 1996. Changes in size, density, dominance, or composition of the coastal vegetation may have occurred since this time. 
• Limitations for photo-interpretation of eelgrass beds include light penetration, water clarity, and water depth.
• This shoreline is a representation of the inland edge of coastal features as photo-interpretable on the 1:40,000 scale photography.
• For illustrative purposes, the maps combine the wetland classifications (Cowardin et al., 1979) into habitat groups.
• Minimum polygonal mapping units are 0.5 acre for eelgrass beds, 0.25 acre for isolated (discrete) coastal wetlands and features, and 3 to 5 acres for internal polygons.  The linear mapping unit indicates areas that are approximately 15 to 40 feet wide (e.g., fringe marsh, beaches, rocky shores). 
• The maps are intended for planning purposes only.