2010/11 Level 3 Aquatic Areas - Upper Mississippi River System

The U.S. Geological Survey's Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center (UMESC) created high-resolution land cover/use data sets for the Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS). Aerial images of Pools 3-13 Upper Mississippi River System and Pools, Alton-Marseilles, Illinois River were collected in color infrared (CIR) in August of 2010 at 8/pixel and 16/pixel respectively using a mapping-grade Applanix DSS 439 digital aerial camera. In August 2011, CIR aerial images of Pools 14-Open River South, Upper Mississippi River and Dresden pool, Illinois River were collected at 16/pixel with the same camera. The CIR aerial images were interpreted and automated using a 31-class LTRM vegetation classification. These data have been used to create a variety of products, one of which is a data set used to classify aquatic areas. The 2010/11 aquatic areas data sets were created by first generalizing the available land cover/use data into a land/water data set, then reinterpreting the areas classified as water to determine the type of aquatic area. This level 1 aquatic areas data set was then further modified to produce the level 2 aquatic areas data set for those pools that have had bathymetric data collected including pools 3-26 and the open river reach of the Upper Mississippi River, and the Illinois River from the Dresden Pool to the Alton Pool.

The purpose of the level 3 classification procedure was to add metrics describing connectivity, depth, and structures to each polygon in the level 2 aquatic areas dataset. These metrics provide useful information for quantifying habitat for a wide-range of species. This product only contains polygons identified as Structure Channel Border, Unstructured Channel Border, Contiguous Floodplain Lake, Side Channel, and Tertiary Channel.

In addition, the channel border class was further reclassified for level 3 according to the presence of river training structures. River training structures were obtained from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Inland Electronic Navigation Chart.