DATA DICTIONARY

Polygon attribute table:   nwi24p.pat

ITEM NAME WIDTH OUTPUT TYPE DEC DESCRIPTION OF ITEM CONTENT
AREA 8 18 F 5 Area of polygon in square meters.
PERIMETER 8 18 F 5 Length of polygon boundary in meters.
NWI24P# 4 5 B - Internal sequence number.
NWI24P-ID 4 5 B - User ID.
NWI_CODE 4 4 I - Unique code for each occurrence of a wetland type within Minnesota based on the original wetland types from USFWS.
COWARDIN 16 16 C - The mapped wetland code as it appears on the NWI published maps. The wetland classification system is hierarchical, with wetlands and deepwater habitats divided among five major systems at the broadest level. The five systems include Marine (open ocean and associated coastline), Estuarine (salt marshes and brackish tidal water), Riverine (rivers, creeks, and streams), Lacustrine (lakes and deep ponds), and Palustrine (shallow ponds, marshes, swamps, sloughs). Systems are further subdivided into subsystems which reflect hydrologic conditions. Below the subsystem is the class which describes the appearance of the wetland in terms of vegetation or substrate. Each class is further subdivided into subclasses; vegetated subclasses are described in terms of life form and substrate subclasses in terms of composition. The classification system also includes modifiers to describe hydrology (water regime), soils, water chemistry (pH, salinity), and special modifiers relating to man's activities (e.g., impounded, partly drained).
Same as attribute label MAP_WET_C only does not represent the final NWI map. It is essentially a cleaned up version based on discussion between Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MnDNR) staff and local USFWS staff. Some codes were not used uniformly throughout Minnesota and other codes changed over time.
WETYPE 12 12 C - Five general wetland types created from NWI System, Subsystem, and Class1 codes.
OPEN WATER
                L         (Lacustrine)
                PAB    (Palustrine Aquatic Bed)
                PUB    (Palustrine Unconsolidated Bottom)
                PUS     (Palustrine Unconsolidated Shore)

EMERGENT
                PEM    (Palustrine Emergent)

SCRUB-SHRUB
                PSS      (Palustrine Scrub/Shrub)

FORESTED
                PFO     (Palustrine Forested)

RIVERINE
                R2         (Riverine Upper Perennial)
                R4         (Riverine Unknown Perennial)
SYSTEM 1 1 C -
The wetland System code.
L   Lacustrine (lakes and deep ponds).
P   Palustrine (shallow ponds, marshes, swamps and sloughs).
R   Riverine (rivers, creeks and streams).
U   Upland - Primarily represents upland areas.
SUBSYSTEM 2 2 C -
The wetland Subsystem code.
L1   Limnetic - (within the Lacustrine System)
L2   Littoral - (within the Lacustrine System)
R1   Lower Perennial - (within the Riverine System)
R2   Upper Perennial - (within the Riverine System)
R3   Intermittent - (within the Riverine System)
R4   Unknown Perennial - (within the Riverine System)
CLASS1 2 2 C -
The wetland Class1 code.
AB   Aquatic Bed
EM   Emergent
FO   Forested
SS   Scrub/Shrub
UB   Unconsolidated Bottom
US   Unconsolidated Shore
SUBCLASS1 3 3 C - The wetland Sublass1 code.
CLASS2 2 2 C - The wetland Class2 code.
SUBCLASS2 3 3 C - The wetland Sublass1 code.
WREG 1 1 C -
The wetland Water Regime Modifier code.
A   Temporarily Flooded
B   Saturated
C   Seasonally Flooded
D   Seasonally Well-drained
E   Seasonally Saturated
F   Semipermanently Flooded
G   Intermittently Exposed
H   Permanently Flooded
J   Intermittently Flooded
K   Artificially Flooded
U   Unknown
W   Intermittently Flooded/Temporary
Y   Saturated/Semipermanent/Seasonals
Z   Intermittently Exposed/Permanent
SOILM 1 1 C -
The wetland Soil Modifier code.
g   Organic soil modifier
n   Mineral soils
SPEC-MOD1 1 1 C -
The wetland Special Modifier code
b   Beaver
d   Partly Drained
f   Farmed
h   Diked/Impounded
r   Artificial
s   Spoil
x   Excavated
SPEC-MOD2 1 1 C - The wetland Special Modifier code
CIRC39 2 2 I - The Circular 39 Classification
0--No wetland data.
1--Seasonally flooded basin or flat.
2--Wet meadow.
3--Shallow marsh.
4--Deep marsh.
5--Shallow open water.
6--Shrub swamp.
7--Wooded swamps.
8--Bogs.
80--Municipal and industrial activities
90--Riverine systems
98--Uplands
ACRES 10 10 N 2 Acres of each individual polygon.
MAJOR2 2 2 I - Minnesota unique two digit major watershed ID number.
MAJOR-NAME 50 50 C - Major Watershed name.
PEDIGREE 12 12 C - Acronym that identifies the organization responsible for polygon features and attributes.
FWS U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
DNR Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
MSU Minnesota State University, Mankato
Water Resources Center.
PEDYEAR 4 4 I - Year in which the polygon feature was created or last updated.