Municipal Boundaries

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Frequently-anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?

Title: Municipal Boundaries
Abstract:
The North Carolina Department of Transportation - GIS Unit developed the digital GIS Municipal Boundaries - Powell Bill 2009 data set from the 2009 Powell Bill boundaries which incorporated municipalities in North Carolina that participate in the Powell Bill Program are required to submit to NCDOT on a regular basis. Boundaries of municipalities which do not participate in the Powell Bill Program are also included in the layer. These boundaries are periodically updated from maps and GIS data submitted by the local towns or counties to the North Carolina Department of Transportation - GIS Unit. Sources for the boundaries vary in scale and format based on what was supplied.
Supplemental_Information:
2009 Powell Bill Information: 507 Cities/Towns are participating in the Powell Bill Program.
Red Cross of Stanly County is a first year participant in the program.
44 Cities/Towns are not participating in the Powell Bill Program, but are incorporated and are included in the layer.
Total: 551 Cities/Towns.
Powell Bill Participants are responsible for submitting paper maps to the NCDOT Powell Bill Administration annually, if there have been changes to their boundaries since the previous year. For the Powell Bill Participants, the NCDOT GIS Unit updates the boundaries for the municipalities that have submitted maps. For Non-Powell Bill Participants, the NCDOT GIS Unit updates the boundaries periodically. Sources for these updates come from contacting the local government agencies.
Attributes for all municipalities are updated on an annual basis, where applicable.
  1. How should this data set be cited?

    The North Carolina Department of Transportation Geographic Information Systems Unit, 2010 May, Municipal Boundaries: 2009.1 N/A, The North Carolina Department of Transportation Geographic Information Systems Unit, Raleigh, North Carolina.

    Online Links:

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -84.130377
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -75.534219
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 36.562719
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 33.741740

  3. What does it look like?

  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?

    Calendar_Date: 2010
    Time_of_Day: unknown
    Currentness_Reference: publication date

  5. What is the general form of this data set?

    Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector digital data

  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?

    1. How are geographic features stored in the data set?

      This is a Vector data set. It contains the following vector data types (SDTS terminology):

      • G-polygon (551)

    2. What coordinate system is used to represent geographic features?

      The map projection used is Lambert Conformal Conic.

      Projection parameters:
      Standard_Parallel: 34.333333
      Standard_Parallel: 36.166667
      Longitude_of_Central_Meridian: -79.000000
      Latitude_of_Projection_Origin: 33.750000
      False_Easting: 2000000.002617
      False_Northing: 0.000000

      Planar coordinates are encoded using coordinate pair
      Abscissae (x-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 0.000000
      Ordinates (y-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 0.000000
      Planar coordinates are specified in survey feet

      The horizontal datum used is North American Datum of 1983.
      The ellipsoid used is Geodetic Reference System 80.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378137.000000.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.257222.

      Vertical_Coordinate_System_Definition:
      Altitude_System_Definition:
      Altitude_Datum_Name: None
      Altitude_Resolution: 0.000010
      Altitude_Distance_Units: None
      Altitude_Encoding_Method:
      Explicit elevation coordinate included with horizontal coordinates

  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?

    MunicipalBoundaries_polys
    Multi-part polygons (Source: NCDOT - GIS Unit)

    MB_NAME
    Name of city or town (Source: North Carolina State Demographics Unit)

    551 municipalities in North Carolina

    MB_NAME_U
    Capitalized MB_NAME (Source: North Carolina State Demographics Unit)

    551 municipalities in North Carolina

    CNTY_1
    County that contains the largest land area of each municipality (Source: NCDOT GIS)

    100 Counties in North Carolina

    CNTY_2
    County that contains the second largest land area of each municipality (Source: NCDOT GIS)

    100 Counties in North Carolina

    CNTY_3
    County that contains the third largest land area of each municipality (Source: NCDOT GIS)

    100 Counties in North Carolina

    CNTY_4
    County that contains the fourth largest land area of each municipality (Source: NCDOT GIS)

    100 Counties in North Carolina

    DOT_DIV
    DOT Division that contains the majority land area of each municipality, used for maintaining layer (Source: NCDOT)

    Formal codeset
    Codeset Name:DOT Division Codes
    Codeset Source:North Carolina Department of Transportation

    TOWN_CODE
    DOT Town Code (Source: NCDOT)

    Formal codeset
    Codeset Name:DOT Town Codes
    Codeset Source:North Carolina Department of Transportation

    CENSUSTYPE
    Census Category (Source: U.S. Census Bureau)

    ValueDefinition
    Census TypesU.S. Census Bureau

    INC_DATE
    Date of Incorporation (Source: NCDOT, local government agencies)

    ValueDefinition
    DatesNorth Carolina State Demographics or Local Government Agencies

    INC_YEAR
    Year of Incorporation (Source: NCDOT, local government agencies)

    Range of values
    Minimum:0 (unknown); 1705
    Maximum:2007
    Units:Years
    Resolution:1

    PB_PART
    2009 Powell Bill Participants (Source: NCDOT Powell Bill Administration)

    ValueDefinition
    Indicates Powell Bill Participants for the year 2009North Carolina Powell Bill Administration

    CHANGED
    Indicates most recent change to municipal boundary since 2005 (Source: NCDOT Powell Bill Administration and NCDOT GIS)

    ValueDefinition
    ChangedNorth Carolina Powell Bill Administration

    CHANGE_YR
    Year of last change [CHANGED] (Source: NCDOT Powell Bill Administration and NCDOT GIS)

    Year of Change (0 indicates an unknown year prior to 2005)

    POP_EST
    Population estimates (Source: North Carolina Powell Bill Administration and the North Carolina State Demographics Unit)

    Range of values
    Minimum:52
    Maximum:700,464
    Units:People
    Resolution:1

    POP_EST_YR
    Year (July) of population estimate [POP_EST] (Source: North Carolina Powell Bill Administration and the North Carolina State Demographics Unit)

    Range of values
    Units:Years

    POP_00
    Census Population from April 2000 (Source: U.S. Census Bureau)

    Range of values
    Minimum:0 (Eastover); 30
    Maximum:540,167
    Units:People

    FID
    Internal feature number. (Source: ESRI)

    Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.

    POP_GROWTH
    Population Growth from 2000 to 2008 (Source: NCDOT GIS)

    Range of values
    Minimum:-1,013
    Maximum:160,297
    Units:People = [POP_EST] - [POP_00]

    PCT_GROWTH
    Population Percentage growth since 2000 (Source: NCDOT GIS)

    Range of values
    Minimum:-16.9
    Maximum:551.3
    Units:0.1% = ([POP_GROWTH] / [POP_00]) * 100

    Coordinates defining the features.

    Shape
    Feature geometry. (Source: ESRI)

    Coordinates defining the features.

Who produced the data set?

  1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)

  2. Who also contributed to the data set?

    These data are maintained by the Data Conversion Group of the North Carolina Department of Transportation - GIS Unit.

  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?

    NC Department of Transportation Geographic Information Systems Unit
    GIS Helpdesk
    4101 Capital Blvd.
    Raleigh, North Carolina 27604
    USA

    919-707-2152 (voice)
    919-707-2214 (FAX)
    gishelp@dot.state.nc.us

    Hours_of_Service: 8am to 5pm, M-F
    Contact_Instructions: Phone or e-mail.

Why was the data set created?

This data were created to assist governmental agencies and others in making resource management decisions through use of a Geographic Information System (GIS). Municipal boundaries are recognized as a base cartographic layer for location analysis.

How was the data set created?

  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?

    Powell Bill Participants (source 1 of 2)
    North Carolina Department of Transportation, 2009 July, Powell Bill Participants: N/A N/A, N/A, N/A.

    Other_Citation_Details: Published map series
    Type_of_Source_Media: Paper maps
    Source_Contribution: Powell Bill Administration

    Non-Powell Bill Participants (source 2 of 2)
    agencies, Local government , 2009, Non-Powell Bill Participants: N/A N/A, N/A, N/A.

    Type_of_Source_Media: Paper Maps and GIS Layers
    Source_Contribution: Local Government Agencies

  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?

    Date: 2009 (process 1 of 6)
    The North Carolina Department of Transportation collects town and city maps of various scales from municipalities participating in the Powell Bill Program. Maps and GIS Layers of municipalities that do not participate in the Powell Bill Program are also collected periodically.

    Date: 2009 (process 2 of 6)
    The North Carolina Department of Transportation - GIS Unit Data Conversion Group digitizes the boundaries. The digital files are compared for accuracy against the originals.

    Date: 2010 (process 3 of 6)
    Attributes are updated in a separate database and are joined to the boundaries after the digitizing process is complete.

    Date: 2010 (process 4 of 6)
    Metadata is updated

    Date: 2010 (process 5 of 6)
    Correction made to the Kernersville boundary.

    Date: 2010 (process 6 of 6)
    Projected in meters.

  3. What similar or related data should the user be aware of?

How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?

  1. How well have the observations been checked?

    There are no measurement, precision, spatial or data schema standards assigned to this data set. Some informal attribute validation was applied.

  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?

    The accuracy of the individual municipal boundaries in this data set vary according to the sources of the boundaries and other resources used as reference to digitize the boundaries. Sources for the boundaries vary in scale and format based on whatever the municipality supplied. Other resources used as reference are submitted do the Department of Transportation - GIS Unit by local government agencies in GIS format.
    The Department of Transportation - GIS Unit should be contacted for specific information on a particular municipality.

  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?

    These data represent the locations and identities of incorporated municipalities in North Carolina according to the North Carolina State Demographics Unit.

  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?

    Topology was verified to check for overlapping polygons.

How can someone get a copy of the data set?

Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?

Access_Constraints: None
Use_Constraints:
The North Carolina Department of Transportation shall not be held liable for any errors in this data. This includes errors of omission, commission, errors concerning the content of the data, and relative and positional accuracy of the data. This data cannot be constructed to be a legal document. Primary sources from which this data was compiled must be consulted for verification of information contained in this data. This data may not be resold.

  1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)

    NC Department of Transportation Geographic Information Systems Unit
    GIS Helpdesk
    4101 Capital Blvd.
    Raleigh, North Carolina 27604

    919-707-2152 (voice)
    919-707-2214 (FAX)
    gishelp@dot.state.nc.us

    Hours_of_Service: 8am to 5pm, M-F
    Contact_Instructions: E-mail and phone
  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?

    Downloadable Data

  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

    The North Carolina Department of Transportation shall not be held liable for any errors in this data. This includes errors of omission, commission, errors concerning the content of the data, and relative and positional accuracy of the data. This data cannot be constructed to be a legal document. Primary sources from which this data was compiled must be consulted for verification of information contained in this data. This data may not be resold.

  4. How can I download or order the data?

  5. Is there some other way to get the data?

    none

  6. What hardware or software do I need in order to use the data set?

    ESRI Software

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 05-May-2010
Last Reviewed: 14-Mar-2010
Metadata author:
The North Carolina Department of Transportation Geographic Information Systems Unit
GIS Helpdesk
4101 Capital Blvd.
Raleigh, North Carolina 27604
USA

919-707-2152 (voice)
919-707-2214 (FAX)
gishelp@dot.state.nc.us

Hours_of_Service: 8am to 5pm, M-F
Contact_Instructions: E-mail: gishelp@dot.state.nc.us
Metadata standard:
FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)
Metadata extensions used:

Generated by mp version 2.9.5 on Wed May 05 10:21:48 2010