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What information is needed for my project?

The required map information is established using standard land planning processes (models). Particular models require particular map data.

One must be very thorough in the initial (inventory) phases of the Geographic Information Systems process. Existing local features are always an integral part of determining an appropriate community development plan. Field visits, photographs, and (land and water) maps are used to identify, and then inventory (in terms of absence or presence) all significant local features. Next, it is important to determine how to “best” represents the collective features (accurately) on an existing, or newly created (base) map.

The data collection process is sometimes called “feature inventory.” The following listing suggests the type of features that could (or should) be identified, inventoried, and classified.

Features should be “of value” to the information-gathering effort. As you study a map (or photographs) of an area, always ask a few practical questions before deciding to use or discard a feature from the exhaustive list of data inventory possibilities.

    • Does (other) more accurate or reliable information currently exist?
    • What agencies or organizations have useful information? (USGS, SCS, USFS, etc.)
    • Which paper or electronic maps have specific features? (USGS topography, etc)
    • Is the particular feature “under consideration” needed in this GIS project?
    • Will the overall quality of the project suffer if I do not to include this feature?
    • What are the units of measure that “quantify” each of the map features?

Some map features are measured directly, others are interpreted indirectly. Specific categories of map feature classifications will always vary depending on the use, and the user. The following are suggested map feature classification categories utilized by the U.S. Geological Survey, et al. (Listed by general land activity category).

The Features list includes examples from both the Built and Natural environment.

Agricultural Map Features

Abandoned farm fields
Abandoned pasture Bailed hay (round and square)
Barns and other buildings
Cultivated crops
Row crops
Broadcast crops
Drill crops
Fence rows
Greenhouses
Hay stockpiles
Hedge rows
Improved pastures
Irrigated cropland
Livestock
Orchards
Terraced cropland and contour plowing
Unimproved pastures
Vineyards
Wood lots
Shrubs
Wooded marsh
Clearings

Engineering Features

Athletic stadiums
Bridges
Campgrounds
Canals and drainage ditches
Cemeteries
Dam structures
Drive in theaters
Fences
Fire (lookout) towers
Levees
Military forts
Picnic areas
Pipelines
Power substations
Power transmission lines
wooden poles
metal towers
underground cables
Racetracks
Railroad stations
Railroads (related detail features)
Reservoirs
River docks and ferry landings
Road-cuts and Road-fills
Sewage disposal plants
Ski lifts
Tanks (Oil, gas, and water)
Telephone lines wooden poles metal towers underground
Telephone substations
Towers (radio and television)
Water filtration plants
Water storage tanks
Windmills

Forest Vegetation Features

Coniferous trees (Pine trees)
Deciduous trees (Hardwood trees)
Mixed Predominately Coniferous trees, and Deciduous trees. (60/40)
Mixed Predominately Deciduous trees and Coniferous trees. (60/40)
Bottomland hardwoods Understory

Geological and Physiographic Features

Alluvial Fans
Anticlines and Synclines
Cliffs
Eskers and Drumlins
Geological faults and fractures
Hogback ridges
Rock outcrops
Sheet or gully erosion
Volcanic lava flows

Industrial and Utility Features

Automobile manufacturing
Cement, and concrete manufacturing
Chemical manufacturing and storage
Corridors and Rights-of-way (gas, oil, and electric)
Electric lines (wooden and steel towers)
Electrical power plants
Electrical substations (power distribution)
Furniture manufacturing
Lumberyards
Meat processing plants
Municipal water wells
Petroleum and chemical plants
Petroleum and chemical storage areas
Pulp and paper mills
Sawmills
Sewage disposal plants
Steel and other metal fabrication
Stockyards
Textile mills
Water purification plants

Military and Defense Features

Airfields (airplanes and helicopters)
Ammunition dumps (storage)
Artillery ranges
Barracks (Quarters or Residences)
Base (post)
Headquarters
Dry-docks
Mechanized vehicle storage (repair)
Radar installations
Rifle ranges
Shipyards
Tanks (storage of water, oil, and gas)
Temporary encampments
Warship docks

Mining and Excavation Features

Area stripping
Auger mining
Contour stripping
Dredging
Hydraulic mining
Land clearing operations
Open-pit mining
Rock quarries
Mine dumps
Mine shafts
Mine tunnels
Oil and gas fields
Quarries
Storage piles
Borrow pits
Gravel, sand, or clay pits

Transportation and Communication Features

Abandoned Railroads
Airport facilities
Aprons
Buildings (various)
Hangers
Runways
Taxiways
Terminals
Airports
Airfields
Heliports
Landing areas
Landing strips
Boat docks and piers
Bus terminals
County or Parish
(2 lane) Divided highway
(3 lane) Divided highway
(4 lane) Divided highway
Federal Highways
(2 lane) Divided highway
(3 lane) Divided highway
(4 lane) Divided highway
Ferries
Footpaths
Fords (river)
Gravel (non-surfaced roads)
Interchanges Jeep trails and woods roads
Lock structures
Overpasses and underpasses
Radio and television towers
Railroad (ROW)
Railroad terminals and switchyards
State highways
(2 lane) Divided highway
(3 lane) Divided highway
(4 lane) Divided highway
Timber yarding
Traffic circles
Trucking terminals

Urban Features

Apartment houses
Armories
Athletic fields
Auditoriums
Automobile sales
Bus terminals
Canals
Canals (drainage)
Capitols
Cemeteries
Central Business District
Churches
City blocks
City and Town Halls
Civic centers
Colleges
Community Centers
Country Clubs
Court Houses
Courtyards
Drive-in theaters
Factories
Factory buildings
Garages (storage, and service)
Gasoline stations (service stations)
Golf Courses
Hospitals
Hotels
Industrial complexes
Junkyards
Libraries
Medical Centers
Memorials
Mobile homes
Monuments and statues
Mosques
Motels
Museums
Open areas
Parks and playgrounds
Post Offices
Power plants
Prisons
Private Schools
Public Schools
Race tracks
horse
dog
other
Rapid transit facilities
Recreation areas
Recreational centers
Refineries
Rest Homes
Restaurants
Roller Rinks
Schools (K-12, etc)
Shopping centers
Shopping districts
Stadiums
Stockyards
Tennis Courts
Universities
Vacant lots
Warehouses

Water and Shoreline Features

Abandoned aqueduct, canal, etc.
Aqueduct tunnel
Bare rock
Beaches
Bogs
Canal locks
Canals (navigable)
Coastal bays or inlets
Coral reefs
Deltas
Ditches
Dry lakes or ponds
Elevated aqueduct or conduit
Falls
Fish hatcheries
Flood plains
Gauging stations
Inundated areas
Intermittent lakes or ponds
Lakes (large)
Marshes
Mudflats
Perennial lakes or ponds
Perennial streams and rivers
Ponds
Rapids
Sand bars
Sea walls
Shorelines
Sinkholes
Submerged areas
Swamps
Tidal pools
Washes
Water wells
Wetlands
Wooded marsh
Wooded swamps