Embedded Files
Cartographic map products are open and free to use for students and faculty in research and projects
**All maps are free to use, but please provide appropriate acknowledgement or credit including both the map author, Chris Shaffer, GIS Manager/Instructor, Environmental Science and Sustainability Department, Allegheny College, 2025, and the data sources used which are stated on the maps themselves.
FRENCH CREEK BASIN
Basin boundary, main stem and major tributaries, significant waterbodies, interstate highways, selected populated places, administrative boundaries such as states and counties, and latitude and longitude reference grid.
All of the features of the general base map, plus an inset map depicting the location of the basin in respect to the northeastern part of the U.S.
Map of the basin depicting streams symbolized by the Arthur Strahler (1952) stream ordering system. The outermost tributaries are assigned a value of 1. When two tributaries of the same order converge, the order is 1 higher, but when two tributaries of differing orders merge, the value of the higher order is assigned. This hierarchy is not only convenient for classifying tributaries, but also helps in understanding the hydrologic, geomorphic, and ecological processes that occur at each level.
Map depicting all public and privately owned land that is managed for protection, conservation, and/or recreation. This includes federal land like the Erie National Wildlife Refuge, state forests and game lands, local land including parks and playgrounds, and land trusts and easements controlled by non-profit agencies such as the Foundation for Sustainable Forestry, French Creek Valley Conservancy, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, and others.
Map depicting landcover as portrayed by the National Land Cover Dataset (NLCD). This dataset is based on Earth surface reflectance of solar radiation as detected and captured by sensors onboard Landsat satellites. Each 30x30m pixel is coded into general thematic classes of agriculture, forest, urban, and water and then more detailed subclasses such as broadleaf, conifer, and mixed forest. Dating back to the early 1990s, this dataset facilitates the evaluation of current landcover composition as well as changes over time.
Map depicting landcover as portrayed by the National Land Cover Dataset (NLCD). This dataset is based on Earth surface reflectance of solar radiation as detected and captured by sensors onboard Landsat satellites. Each 30x30m pixel is coded into general thematic classes of agriculture, forest, urban, and water and then more detailed subclasses such as broadleaf, conifer, and mixed forest. Dating back to the early 1990s, this dataset facilitates the evaluation of current landcover composition as well as changes over time.
A digital elevation model or DEM, represents elevation of the ground surface across an area. Each pixel is equally-sized and is coded with elevation above sea mean level. Resolution, a measure of the amount of ground represented by each pixel, is key to determining both the accuracy and level of detail. DEM's support a wide-range of products including aspect, slope, and shaded relief, as well as analyzes such as visibility, 3D visualizations, and hydrological modeling.
Map depicting major vehicular transportation routes including interstate highways (e.g. I-79), secondary highways (e.g. U.S. Highway 322), local connecting roads (e.g. State Highway 27), and local roads (e.g. Park Avenue). Larger roads utilize highway shield symbols to indicate the route number, but the names are omitted on smaller roads due to the scale of the map and extent of the region.
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