METADATA.TXT - 14th of 19 digital documents distributed with the
               "Forest Fire Chronology of Saskatchewan" (FFCS)
               dataset.


<Document overview>

     Provides information about the FFCS database in the Canadian
     General Standards Board (CGSB) format.


<Background>

     The CGSB "Directory Information for Describing Digital Geo-
     referenced Data Sets" (CAN/CGSB-171.3-95) format is used to
     describe the FFCS dataset.  A widely accepted database
     format for the CGSB directory has not yet been established,
     so the metadata are provided in text form.


<Metadata layout>

     The CGSB numerical coding format for metadata entries on the
     form is somewhat awkward: many codes indicate questions;
     some codes are contingent on others; and a few codes act as
     section headings rather than slots for metadata entries.  To
     help potential users of the FFCS database discern between
     CGSB section headings and metadata that describe the
     dataset, all numerically coded section headings in this
     document are tagged with leading and trailing underscores.
     E.g.,  -- the CGSB had not intended to have metadata
     inserted under '_Title of the Data Set_' yet nevertheless
     assigned a code number for this heading.  Headings
     terminating with a colon will contain metadata information.


<Metadata content>

     The CGSB metadata are categorized into identification,
     description, availability, structure, and references
     categories.  The detailed metadata are:


A. IDENTIFICATION

1.0 _Title of the Data Set_
1.1 Official name:
     Forest Fire Chronology of Saskatchewan
     1.1.1 English Name:
          Forest Fire Chronology of Saskatchewan
     1.1.2 French name:
          Not applicable
1.2 Acronym:
     FFCS
1.3 _Previous name (if applicable)_
     1.3.1 English name:
          Not applicable
     1.3.2 French name:
          Not applicable

2.0 _Owner_
2.1 Department, agency, business, community, university, etc:
     Saskatchewan Environment & Resource Management
2.2 Type of Organization:
     02 (Provincial/Territorial government)

3.0 _Contact Person/Position_
3.1 Scientific Contact:
     Retired
3.2 Data Manager:
     Ott Naelapea
     Forestry/Wildlife GIS Coordinator
     Wildlife Branch
     Saskatchewan Environment & Resource Management
     Box 3003, Prince Albert, SK.
     S6V 6G1
     (306)953-2671 - Tel.
     (306)953-2750 - Fax.
     naelapea@derm.gov.sk.ca
3.3 Contact for Access:
     Same as Data Manager


B. DESCRIPTION

4.0 Category of Data Set:
     Forestry/Natural Resources/Wildlife

5.0 _Information on Data Set Content_
5.1 Description of the Data Set:
     Spatial database of forest fires one thousand hectares or
     larger in Saskatchewan from 1945 to 1995
5.2 Current applications:
     -Woodland caribou habitat analyses
     -Elk habitat analyses
     -Moose habitat analyses
     -Determining fire actioning priorities
5.3 Dataset is:
     03 - Linked to non-geographical information
5.4 Variables and attributes or groups of attributes:
     Year-of-burn
     Fire-name
     Fire-number
     Fire-location
     others
5.5 Keywords used to identify the principal elements:
     boreal forest, fire, Saskatchewan, chronology, GIS
5.6 Language of the textual information:
     01 (English only)

6.0 _Areal Coverage_
6.1 _Identification of the area covered by the data set_
     6.1.1 Spatial coordinates:
          Most of the area within lat/longs of 101.7 52
          and 110 60
     6.1.2 Jurisdictional/administrative unit:
          Not applicable
     6.1.3 Other geographical description:
          The area represented by the boreal forest, boreal
          plain, and boreal taiga ecozones within the province of
          Saskatchewan
6.2 Is the areal coverage complete?:
     No -- only areas burned are depicted
6.3 Is the areal coverage uniform?:
     No -- various methods of collecting and compiling the data
     have been used

7.0 _Vertical Coverage_
7.1 Identification of the vertical coverage of the data set:
     Not applicable
7.2 Is the vertical coverage complete:
     Not applicable
7.3 Is the vertical coverage uniform
     Not applicable

8.0 _Time coverage_
8.1 Identification of the period of time covered by the data set:
     From 1945 to 1995
8.2 Is the time coverage complete?:
     Yes
8.3 Is the time coverage uniform?:
     No
     8.3.1 Explain if not uniform:
          A variety of methods were used to generate the source
          maps for this database

9.0 _Data Updating_
9.1 Date of last revision:
     1996-09-31
9.2 Date of last scientific revision:
     Not applicable
9.3 Frequency of updates:
     06 (Annually)

10.0 _Size of the Data Set_
10.1 Number of Megabytes (uncompressed):
     5.4
10.2 Number of Records:
     750
10.3 Number of attributes per record:
     Five

11.0 _Details of Data Collection_
11.1 Type of base map:
     01 Topographic map
11.2 Date of Data Collection:
     After achieving "fire out" status
     11.2.1 Date of data collection (yyyy-mm-dd):
          Not applicable
     11.2.2 or range of dates:
          From 1945 to 1995
11.3 _Sources of the Data_
     11.3.1 Primary source:
          00   (Other)
          Aerial surveys, and/or ground crew estimates, and/or
          GPS boundaries
     11.3.2 Secondary source:
          1:million map of forest fires from 1971 to 1976
11.4 Circumstances and other details associated with the data
     collection:
     See associated documentation provided (DATAQUAL.TXT)
11.5 Map projection:
     04 (Universal Transverse Mercator)
11.6 Coordinate System:
     01 (Latitude/longitude)
11.7 _Geodetic datum_
     11.7.1 Horizontal datum:
          01 (NAD27)
     11.7.2 Vertical datum:
          05 (Not known)
11.8 _Scale or Resolution_
     11.8.1 Scale or Resolution at which the information was
     collected:
          11.8.1.1 Scale of 1 to:
               Not applicable
          11.8.1.2 or range of scales:
               from 1:15,840 to 1:250,000 (primarily)
                    some 1:million and GPS data as well
          11.8.3 Pixel resolution
               Not applicable
11.9 Positional Accuracy:
     03   (not known)
11.10 The relation to the adjoining maps is:
     01   (seamless, as data have been arranged into a provincial
          coverage)

12.0 Data Quality
     This dataset was generated using a wide range of observation
     quality levels, input sources, compilation methods and data
     sources.  Most boundaries are approximate.


C. AVAILABILITY

13.0 _Access Policy_
13.1 Type of access:
     01 (public)
13.2 Liability Disclaimers:
     No warranties expressed or implied
13.3 Security Restrictions:
     None
13.4 Copyright Status:
     Government of Saskatchewan maintains exclusive ownership of
     the dataset

14.0 _Charges_
14.1 Browsing/Searching:
     Not applicable
14.2 Acquisition:
     Nominal fees for media and shipping might be charged
14.3 Royalty:
     None

15.0 _External communication_
15.1 Physical
     Not applicable at present
15.2 Protocols
     Not applicable at present


16.0 Data Set Media:
     03 (Magnetic media)


D. STRUCTURE

17.0 _Host Computer(s)_
17.1 Type:
     02 (Workstation)
17.1.1 Make(s) and Model(s):
     Sun Sparc 10, Model 30
17.2 Operating System:
     02 (Unix) Solaris 2.5

18.0 Structure Type
18.1 System:
     Arc/INFO GIS version 7.0.3
18.2 DBMS:
     INFO
18.3 Other computerized mapping:
     ArcView 2.0
18.4 The data base is:
          not distributed
          not replicated (yet)
18.5 Linkage of graphic features to attributes:
     to the SK_FIRES via the FIRE_NUM field

19.0 Data Structure
     05 (vector), degree of topology = 2 (spatial relationships
     exist between selected significant points and arcs; explicit
     relationships between arcs and polygonal regions are
     maintained)


E. REFERENCES

20.0 Documentation Available
     19 digital documentation files, 1 draft report
21.0 Demonstration/Tutorial Available:
     No
22.0 Provider of Directory Information
     See Section 3.2


This document prepared by:

Ott Naelapea
Wildlife Branch
Saskatchewan Environment & Resource Management
Box 3003, 800 Central Avenue
Prince Albert, SK.  S6V 6G1
CANADA
(306)953-2671 - Tel.
(306)953-2750 - Fax.

November 28, 1996


Revisions:

March 31, 1997
  -corrected scale information (11.8.1.2) to reflect 1:1,000,000
   source for 1972-1976 data, and that that some 1996 data were
   collected using GPS (Global Positioning System) receivers.
