2007 Census of Agriculture County-Level Boundaries, (CoUS_GCS07.shp -.shx, -.dbf, -.sbn, -.sbx, -.prj, CoAK_GCS07.shp -.shx, -.dbf, -.sbn, -.sbx, -.prj, CoHI_GCS07.shp -.shx, -.dbf, -.sbn, -.sbx, -.prj, CoPR_GCS07.shp -.shx, -.dbf, -.sbn, -.sbx, -.prj)

Frequently anticipated questions:


What does this data set describe?

Title:
2007 Census of Agriculture County-Level Boundaries, (CoUS_GCS07.shp -.shx, -.dbf, -.sbn, -.sbx, -.prj, CoAK_GCS07.shp -.shx, -.dbf, -.sbn, -.sbx, -.prj, CoHI_GCS07.shp -.shx, -.dbf, -.sbn, -.sbx, -.prj, CoPR_GCS07.shp -.shx, -.dbf, -.sbn, -.sbx, -.prj)
Abstract:
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) conducted an Agricultural Census in 2007. The statistical census data are summarized at the county, state, and U.S. levels and are available in a digital format. The Research and Development Division of NASS modified generalized county boundaries to show geographic areas for which the 2007 Agricultural Census statistics are reported at the county level. These county-level boundary files were used in the production of the 2007 Census of Agriculture, thematic census maps of the United States. The boundary files can be employed in a Geographic Information System (GIS) with the 2007 Agricultural Census statistical data by using the Agricultural Census county codes to associate the county-level spatial entities with the county-level statistical data.
Supplemental_Information:
These Agricultural Census county-level boundary files may be used with statistical data in the 2007 Census of Agriculture, Volume 1, Geographic Area Series, Parts 1 - 50, 52.
  1. How should this data set be cited?

    United States Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Research and Development Division, Geospatial Information Branch, Spatial Analysis Research Se, 2009, 2007 Census of Agriculture County-Level Boundaries, (CoUS_GCS07.shp -.shx, -.dbf, -.sbn, -.sbx, -.prj, CoAK_GCS07.shp -.shx, -.dbf, -.sbn, -.sbx, -.prj, CoHI_GCS07.shp -.shx, -.dbf, -.sbn, -.sbx, -.prj, CoPR_GCS07.shp -.shx, -.dbf, -.sbn, -.sbx, -.prj): U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Fairfax, Virginia.

    Online Links:

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -178.873
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -65.244
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 71.3653
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 17.946

  3. What does it look like?

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

    Calendar_Date: 2009
    Currentness_Reference:
    2009: Publication of updated county-level boundaries and land areas. 2008: Production of updated county-level boundaries and land areas.

  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?

      Indirect_Spatial_Reference:
      American National Standards Institute, INCITS 31:200x, (Formerly FIPS 6-4) Codes for the identification of Counties and Equivalent Entities of the United States, its Possessions, and Insular Areas. <http://www.census.gov/geo/www/ansi/ansi.html>
      This is a Vector data set. It contains the following vector data types (SDTS terminology):
      • G-Polygon (3158)

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

      Horizontal positions are specified in geographic coordinates, that is, latitude and longitude. Latitudes are given to the nearest .000001. Longitudes are given to the nearest .000001. Latitude and longitude values are specified in Decimal Degrees.

      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 6378137.0.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.257222.

  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?

    CoUS_GCS07/CoAK_GCS07/CoHI_GCS07/CoPR_GCS07
    County-level boundaries of geographic areas for which 2007 Agricultural Census statistics are reported. (Source: USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service.)

    FID
    Internal feature identification number. (Source: ESRI)

    Sequential unique whole numbers automatically generated.

    SHAPE
    Feature geometry. (Source: ESRI)

    Coordinates defining the features.

    ATLAS_STCO
    Full Agricultural Census state-county equivalent code. (Source: USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service)

    Formal codeset
    Codeset Name:U.S. Department of Commerce, 1990, Counties and Equivalent Entities of The United States, Its Possessions, and Associated Areas (Federal Information Processing Standard 6-4): Washington, D.C. National Institute of Standards and Technology.
    Codeset Source:U.S. Bureau of the Census

    ATLAS_NAME
    Lowercase county equivalent (or agriculture area) name. (Source: USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service)

    Formal codeset
    Codeset Name:U.S. Department of Commerce, 1990, Counties and Equivalent Entities of The United States, Its Possessions, and Associated Areas (Federal Information Processing Standard 6-4): Washington, D.C. National Institute of Standards and Technology.
    Codeset Source:U.S. Bureau of the Census

    ATLAS_CAPS
    Uppercase county equivalent (or agriculture area) name. (Source: USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service)

    Formal codeset
    Codeset Name:U.S. Department of Commerce, 1990, Counties and Equivalent Entities of The United States, Its Possessions, and Associated Areas (Federal Information Processing Standard 6-4): Washington, D.C. National Institute of Standards and Technology.
    Codeset Source:U.S. Bureau of the Census

    ATLAS_AREA
    Land area in square miles of a county equivalent (or agriculture area). (Source: USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service)

    Range of values
    Minimum:4.84564 (actual value, not min. range value)
    Maximum:266451.24866 (actual value, not max. range value)
    Units:Square mile

    ATLAS_ACRE
    Land area in acres of a county equivalent (or agriculture area). (Source: USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service)

    Range of values
    Minimum:3101.21152 (actual value, not min. range value)
    Maximum:170528799.14048 (actual value, not max. range value)
    Units:Acre

    ENTITY
    Type of county-level entity. (Source: USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service)

    ValueDefinition
    County, Parish, Municipio, Agricultural Census AreaType of county-level entity.

    CNTYA
    Agricultural Census county equivalent character codes (Source: USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service)

    Formal codeset
    Codeset Name:U.S. Department of Commerce, 1990, Counties and Equivalent Entities of The United States, Its Possessions, and Associated Areas (Federal Information Processing Standard 6-4): Washington, D.C. National Institute of Standards and Technology.
    Codeset Source:U.S. Bureau of the Census

    CNTYN
    Agricultural Census county equivalent numeric codes (Source: USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service)

    Formal codeset
    Codeset Name:U.S. Department of Commerce, 1990, Counties and Equivalent Entities of The United States, Its Possessions, and Associated Areas (Federal Information Processing Standard 6-4): Washington, D.C. National Institute of Standards and Technology.
    Codeset Source:U.S. Bureau of the Census


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?

    Research and Development Division staff

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

    Spatial Analysis Resection Section staff
    USDA/NASS/RDD/GIB/SARS
    3251 Old Lee Highway, Suite 305
    Fairfax, VA 22030

    703-877-8000 (voice)
    703-877-8044 (FAX)
    HQ_RD_OD@nass.usda.gov


Why was the data set created?

The boundaries are intended for geographic display and analysis at the county- level. The boundary data are designed for small scale thematic mapping applications at a scale of 1:20,000,000 or smaller (e.g., 1:50,000,000, etc.). The county-level boundaries are provided "as is". The USDA/NASS does not warrant the results you may obtain using the Agricultural Census county-level boundary data.


How was the data set created?

  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?

    CoGenAll_D02 (source 1 of 10)
    USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, 2003, Finalized 2002 file of Agricultural Census county-level boundaries: USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Washington, DC.

    Type_of_Source_Media: online
    Source_Scale_Denominator: 20000000
    Source_Contribution: spatial and attribute information

    USCOBDY07 (source 2 of 10)
    U.S. Bureau of the Census, Geography Division, 2008, 2007 Projected_Counties.shp, -.shx, -.dbf (Generalized digital vector files): U.S. Bureau of the Census, Geography Division, Suitland, MD.

    Type_of_Source_Media: online
    Source_Scale_Denominator: 20000000
    Source_Contribution: spatial and attribute information

    EXTRACTCOBDY07 (source 3 of 10)
    USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, 2008, Extracted Broomfield County Colorado boundary file: USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Washington, DC.

    Type_of_Source_Media: online
    Source_Scale_Denominator: 20000000
    Source_Contribution: spatial and attribute information

    UPDTCOBDY07 (source 4 of 10)
    USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, 2008, 2002 Agricultural Census county-level boundaries updated with Broomfield County, CO: USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Washington, DC.

    Type_of_Source_Media: online
    Source_Scale_Denominator: 20000000
    Source_Contribution: spatial and attribute information

    USCOAREA07 (source 5 of 10)
    U.S. Bureau of the Census, Geography Division, 2008, counties_area_perim.xls (2007 U.S. county land area, perimeter data): U.S. Bureau of the Census, Geography Division, Suitland, MD.

    Type_of_Source_Media: online
    Source_Contribution: attribute information

    USCOFIPSCONV (source 6 of 10)
    USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, 2008, U.S. county FIPS codes conversion to Agricultural Census county codes: USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Washington, DC.

    Type_of_Source_Media: paper
    Source_Contribution: attribute information

    SQMIACREUSCO07 (source 7 of 10)
    USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, 2008, Recalculated 2007 Agricultural Census county-level land area values: USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Washington, DC.

    Type_of_Source_Media: online
    Source_Contribution: attribute information

    AREAUSCOBDY07 (source 8 of 10)
    USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, 2008, 2007 Agricultural Census county-level boundary files with updated 2007 land areas: USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Washington, DC.

    Type_of_Source_Media: online
    Source_Scale_Denominator: 20000000
    Source_Contribution: spatial and attribute information

    CoUS_AEA07 (source 9 of 10)
    USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, 2008, 2007 Agricultural Census county-level boundary files with Miami-Dade FIPS Code 12086: USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Washington, DC.

    Type_of_Source_Media: online
    Source_Scale_Denominator: 20000000
    Source_Contribution: spatial and attribute information

    CoUS_GCS07 (source 10 of 10)
    USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, 2008, Final unprojected 2007 Agricultural Census county-level boundary files: USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Washington, DC.

    Type_of_Source_Media: online
    Source_Scale_Denominator: 20000000
    Source_Contribution: spatial and attribute information

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

    Date: 2008 (process 1 of 8)
    1 - Procurement of spatial and attribute data. The original generalized projected county-level boundary data files and a separate county area-perimeter data file were obtained by special request from the U.S. Bureau of the Census, Geography Division. The spatial data file format is Environmental Systems Research Institute's (ESRI) ArcView shapefile format. The area data file format is Microsoft Excel.

    Data sources used in this process:

    • USCOBDY07
    • USCOAREA07

    Date: 2008 (process 2 of 8)
    2 - Extract Broomfield County, Colorado boundary. Extracted county boundary for Broomfield County, Colorado to a separate file.

    Data sources used in this process:

    • USCOBDY07

    Data sources produced in this process:

    • EXTRACTCOBDY07

    Date: 2008 (process 3 of 8)
    3 - Update 2002 county boundary file with Broomfield County, Colorado. Updated the 2002 generalized county boundary file with the extracted 2007 Broomfield County Colorado boundary file. The boundaries of counties adjacent to Broomfield County (Adams, Boulder, Jeferson and Weld) were also modified.

    Data sources used in this process:

    • USCOBDY07
    • EXTRACTCOBDY07

    Data sources produced in this process:

    • UPDTCOBDY07

    Date: 2008 (process 4 of 8)
    4 - Modification of county-level codes. The county-level boundaries show geographic areas for which 2007 agricultural census statistics are reported. Certain individual counties were assigned the FIPS code of a designated adjacent or surrounding county. The following is a list of counties with modified boundaries. The Agricultural Census county codes and associated (=) U.S. county FIPS codes are identified below. 02010 = 02010, 02013, 02016, 02050, 02060, 02070, 02150, 02164, 02180, 02185, 02188, 02270. 02020 = 02020, 02170, 02261. 02090 = 02090, 02068, 02240, 02290. 02110 = 02110, 02100, 02130, 02201, 02220, 02232, 02280, 02282. 15009 = 15009, 15005. 24033 = 24033, 11001. 24005 = 24005, 24510. 29189 = 29189, 29510. 51003 = 51003, 51540. 51005 = 51005, 51580. 51015 = 51015, 51790, 51820. 51019 = 51019, 51515. 51031 = 51031, 51680. 51041 = 51041, 51570. 51059 = 51059, 51510, 51600, 51610. 51069 = 51069, 51840. 51077 = 51077, 51640. 51081 = 51081, 51595. 51087 = 51087, 51760. 51089 = 51089, 51690. 51095 = 51095, 51830. 51121 = 51121, 51750. 51143 = 51143, 51590. 51149 = 51149, 51670, 51730. 51153 = 51153, 51683, 51685. 51161 = 51161, 51770, 51775. 51163 = 51163, 51530, 51678. 51165 = 51165, 51660. 51175 = 51175, 51620. 51177 = 51177, 51630. 51191 = 51191, 51520. 51195 = 51195, 51720. 51199 = 51199, 51650, 51700, 51735. 51550 = 51550, 51740. 51810 = 51810, 51710.

    Data sources used in this process:

    • USCOAREA07

    Data sources produced in this process:

    • USCOFIPSCONV

    Date: 2008 (process 5 of 8)
    5 - Calculation of land area. The land area values (in square miles) of aggregated counties in the area-perimeter file were calculated by summing the land area values of the aggregated counties (see above list of aggregated counties). A field was added to the area-perimeter file to contain the county acreage. The land area values (in acres) of aggregated counties were calculated by multiplying the land area (in square miles) of the aggregated counties by 640 (1 square mile contains 640 acres).

    Data sources used in this process:

    • USCOAREA07
    • USCOFIPSCONV

    Data sources produced in this process:

    • SQMIACREUSCO07

    Date: 2008 (process 6 of 8)
    6 - Modification and update of county-level boundary file. The Agricultural Census county boundary files were modified to contain fields for county area in square miles and acreage. The new area fields were populated with data from the area-perimeter file.

    Data sources used in this process:

    • UPDTCOBDY07
    • SQMIACREUSCO07

    Data sources produced in this process:

    • AREAUSCOBDY07

    Date: 2008 (process 7 of 8)
    7 - Update county-level boundary file with Miami-Dade FIPS code. The Miami-Dade FIPS code was changed from 12025 to 12086.

    Data sources used in this process:

    • AREAUSCOBDY07

    Data sources produced in this process:

    • CoUS_AEA07

    Date: 2008 (process 8 of 8)
    8 - Unproject county-level boundary files. Unprojected the county-level boundary files to GCS, NAD83 datum.

    Data sources used in this process:

    • CoUS_AEA07

    Data sources produced in this process:

    • CoUS_GCS07

  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?

    Unmodified entities have entity codes and names which conform to the Federal Information Processing Standard 6-4. Area values in square miles are derived from land polygon area values from the U.S. Census Bureau's TIGER database.

  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?

    The county-level boundary data are highly generalized and suitable for use in small scale (1:20,000,000) thematic mapping applications. No accuracy tests were performed.

  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

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

    The generalized data do NOT include 1) boundaries for the Aleutian Islands in the Eastern Hemisphere, 2) boundaries for Hawaiian Islands west of -160.25 degrees longitude, 3) very small polygons because of coordinate thinning, and 4) water polygons. This data set provides the land area in square miles and number of acres for each county equivalent (or agricultural census area in Alaska). The land area values are based on the area of land polygons from the U.S. Census Bureau's TIGER database. If a county is composed of several polygons, the area value assigned to each polygon is the land area value of the entire county (for the purpose of choropleth mapping). Some of the county-level boundaries were modified to show geographic areas for which Agricultural Census statistics are reported. County Federal Information Processing (FIPS) codes for the modified counties were replaced by Agricultural Census county codes. States with modifications to their county boundaries and county codes are - Alaska, Hawaii, Maryland, Missouri, Virginia (and the District of Columbia).

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

    No topological checks were performed on the data.


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:
None. Acknowledgment of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service would be appreciated in products derived from these data files.

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

    USDA, NASS Customer service
    1400 Independence Avenue
    Washington, District of Columbia 20250
    USA

    1-800-727-9540 (voice)
    202-690-2090 (FAX)
    nass@nass.usda.gov

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

    United States: 2007 Census of Agriculture downloadable county-level boundary files.

  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

    Users of the Agricultural Census county-level boundary data are solely responsible for interpretations made from the product. The boundary data are provided "as is". USDA/NASS does not warrant results you may obtain by using the boundary data. Feel free to contact our staff at (HQ_RD_OD@nass.usda.gov) if technical questions arise in the use of the county-level boundary data.

  4. How can I download or order the data?


Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 14-Jan-2009
Metadata author:
USDA/NASS/RDD/GIB/SARS
3251 Old Lee Highway, Suite 305
Fairfax, VA 22030
USA

703-877-8000 (voice)
703-877-8044 (FAX)
HQ_RD_OD@nass.usda.gov

Metadata standard:
FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)


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