Yellowstone Sample Collection - database

This database was prepared using a combination of materials that include aerial photographs, topographic maps (1:24,000 and 1:250,000), field notes, and a sample catalog. Our goal was to translate sample collection site locations at Yellowstone National Park and surrounding areas into a GIS database. This was achieved by transferring site locations from aerial photographs and topographic maps into layers in ArcMap. Each field site is located based on field notes describing where a sample was collected. Locations were marked on the photograph or topographic map by a pinhole or dot, respectively, with the corresponding station or site numbers. Station and site numbers were then referenced in the notes to determine the appropriate prefix for the station. Each point on the aerial photograph or topographic map was relocated on the screen in ArcMap, on a digital topographic map, or an aerial photograph. Several samples are present in the field notes and in the catalog but do not correspond to an aerial photograph or could not be found on the topographic maps. These samples are marked with “No” under the LocationFound field and do not have a corresponding point in the SampleSites feature class. Each point represents a field station or collection site with information that was entered into an attributes table (explained in detail in the entity and attribute metadata sections). Tabular information on hand samples, thin sections, and mineral separates were entered by hand. The Samples table includes everything transferred from the paper records and relates to the other tables using the SampleID and to the SampleSites feature class using the SampleSite field.