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Digital Compilation of Landslide Overview Map of the Conterminous United States

Frequently anticipated questions:

• What does this data set describe?
  1. How should this data set be cited?
  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?
  3. What does it look like?
  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
  5. What is the general form of this data set?
  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?
  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?
• Who produced the data set?
  1. Who are the originators of the data set?
  2. Who also contributed to the data set?
  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
• Why was the data set created?
• How was the data set created?
  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?
  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?
  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?
  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?
  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
  5. How consistent are the relationships among the data, including topology?
• How can someone get a copy of the data set?
  1. Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?
  2. Who distributes the data?
  3. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?
  4. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?
  5. How can I download or order the data?
• Who wrote the metadata?

What does this data set describe?

1. How should this data set be cited?

   Godt, Jonathan W. , 1997, Digital Compilation of Landslide Overview Map of the Conterminous United States: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 97-289.

   Online Links:

   • <http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1997/ofr-97-0289/>

   This is part of the following larger work.

   Radbruch-Hall, Dorothy H. , Colton, Roger B. , Davies, William E. , Lucchitta, Ivo, Skipp, Betty A. , and Varnes, David J. , 1982, Landslide overview map of the conterminous United States: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1193.

2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

   West_Bounding_Coordinate: -124.75

   East_Bounding_Coordinate: -66.95

   North_Bounding_Coordinate: 49.40

   South_Bounding_Coordinate: 24.50

3. What does it look like?

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

   Calendar_Date: 1997

   Currentness_Reference: publication date

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

   Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: map

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):

      • entity point
      • complete chain
      • GT-polygon composed of chains

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

7. How does the data set describe geographic features?

   COASTDD.PAT

   U.S. coastline derived from 1:100,00 USGS Digital Line Graphs (Source: OFR-97-0289)

   POPYCOUN

   Country identification (Source: OFR-97-0289)

   Value	Definition
   US	United States

   POPYADMIN

   48 counterminous US states names (Source: OFR-97-0289)

   COASTDD.PAT

   Point coverage of US coastline (same attributes as polygon coverage COASTDD.PAT) (Source: OFR-97-0289)

   COUNTYDD.AAT

   U.S. counties derived from 1:100,00 USGS Digital line Graphs (same attributes as polygon coverage COASTDD.PAT) (Source: OFR-97-0289)

   SLIDEDD.PAT

   landslide polygons (Source: OFR-97-0289)

   SLIDE-AFF

   Landslide susceptibility
   

   Area involved in landsliding
   Incidence:
   greater than 15% = high
   1.5-15% = medium
   less than 1.5% = low
   

   (Source: OFR-97-0289)

   Value	Definition
   COMBO-HIGH	Both incidence and susceptibility are high
   INC-High	High incidence of landslides
   INC-LOW	Low incidence of landslides
   INC-MOD	Moderate incidence of landslides
   SUS-HIGH	High susceptibility of landslides
   SUS-MOD	Moderate susceptibility of landslides

   SLIDEDD.PAT

   landslide points (same attributes as polygon coverage SLIDEDD.PAT) (Source: OFR-97-0289)

Who produced the data set?

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

2. Who also contributed to the data set?

   The original map was compiled by the above authors. Credit should also be given to the Graphics Lab, Geologic Hazards Team, Geologic Division, Golden, Colorado. This work was supported in part by an appointment to the U.S. Geological Survey Earth Sciences Program administered by Oak Ridge Associated Universities.

3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
   Godt, Jonathan W
   USGS-GEO-CRG-GHZ
   Mail Stop 966, USGS
   P.O. Box 25046
   Lakewood, CO 80225
   US
   

   303-273-8626 (voice)
   jgodt@usgs.gov
   

Why was the data set created?

The purpose of this dataset is to give the user a general indication of areas that may be susceptible to landsliding. It is not suitable for local planning or site selection.

How was the data set created?

1. From what previous works were the data drawn?

   Radbruch-Hall and others (1982) (source 1 of 2)

   Radbruch-Hall, Dorothy H. , Colton, Roger B. , Davies, William E. , Lucchitta, Ivo, Skipp, Betty A. , and Varnes, David J. , 1982, Landslide overview map of the conterminous United States: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1193.

   Type_of_Source_Media: paper

   Source_Scale_Denominator: 3750000

   Source_Contribution:

   The original map for which this report is based on and digitized from.

   King and Beikman (1974) (source 2 of 2)

   King, P.B., and Beikman, H.M., 1974, Geologic map of the United States (exclusive of Alaska and Hawaii).

   Type_of_Source_Media: paper

   Source_Scale_Denominator: 2500000

   Source_Contribution:

   The map was prepared by evaluating formations or groups of formations shown on the geologic map of the United States (King and Beikman, 1974) as being of high, medium, or low susceptibility to landsliding and classified the formations as having high, medium, or low landslide incidence (number of landslides).

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

   Date: unknown (process 1 of 1)

   The original 1 : 3,750,00 mylar manuscripts were digitized using ARC/INFO 7.0.4 running under Solaris CDE 1.0.2 on a UNIX workstation. The polygons were then closed at International boundaries and coastlines using a coverage derived from 1 : 1,000,000 Digital Chart of the World. Each landslide polygon was given an attribute describing the percentage of incidence and/or susceptibility. The landslide polygons are attributed with SLIDE-ATT which indicates landslide incidence and susceptibility as INC-LOW, INC- MOD, INC-HIGH, SUS-MOD, SUS-HIGH, COMBO-HIGH. The arcs are attributed with the item POLNTYPE indicating whether the arc encloses a landslide polygon, coastline, or international border.

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?

2. How accurate are the geographic locations?

3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

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

   complete

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

   Published data were used whenever possible for the original map. In many places, the percentage of a formation involved in landsliding, as shown on large-scale published maps, was determined by counting squares of a superimposed grid. Formations shown on the large-scale maps were then correlated with geologic units on the geologic map of the United States. Aerial photography, newspaper accounts, fieldwork, and other published data were used in other areas. For many parts of the country, however, particularly for parts of the Western United States, information on landslides and their relation to geologic conditions is sparse. Data from the relatively small number of geologic maps and reports that give detailed information on slope stability in scattered places, therefore, were extrapolated as accurately as possible into adjacent areas.

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 use of these data should be limited to the digitized scale 1 : 3,750,000.

1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)
   USGS Information Services
   Box 25286, Denver Federal Center
   Denver, Colorado 80255-0046
   USA
   

   1-888-ASK-USGS (voice)
   1-303-202-4695 (FAX)
   infoservices@usgs.gov
   

2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?

   U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 97-289

3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

   This report is preliminary and has not been reviewed for conformity with U.S. Geological Survey editorial standards. Any use of trade, product or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. This work was supported in part by an appointment to the U.S. Geological Survey Earth Sciences Internship Program administered by Oak Ridge Associated Universities.

4. How can I download or order the data?
   • Availability in digital form:

     Data format:	Landslide polygons in format ArcInfo export (version 7.0.4) Size: 27.8 megabytes
     Network links:	<http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1997/ofr-97-0289/slide.tar.gz>

   • Cost to order the data: none

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:

Last modified: 07-Aug-2000

Metadata author:

Jennifer Lenz
U.S. Geological Survey
12201 Surise Valley Drive, Mail Stop 918
Reston, VA 20192
USA

703-648-6974 (voice)
703-648-6560 (FAX)
pschweitzer@usgs.gov

Metadata standard:

Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)