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    • MEPHT | Climate Vulnerability Mapping Tool Data Sources

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    The American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year (2012-2016) estimates were used for the demographic data presented in the vulnerability mapping tool. The estimates are based on collected data and are considered to be the most reliable when compared to the 1-year and 3 year estimates. Specific information on the sources of the data and methods for each ACS-derived indicator are available using American Factfinder (http://factfinder.census.gov/) Data sources for additional calculated variables are included and summarized below.

    Climate Vulnerability Data Sources
    SOURCE INDICATOR DATASET METHOD GEOGRAPHY
    Source: ACS 5 year data 2012-2016 Indicator:
    • Percent of Population Younger than 5
    • Percent of Population Younger than 15
    • Percent of Population Older than 65
    		 Dataset: Table B1001 AGE and SEX 2012-2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates Method: Reported as percentage of population Geography: Census Tract and Community
    Source: ACS 5 year data 2012-2016 Indicator: Percent Population Older than 65 Living Alone Dataset: Table B1001 HOUSEHOLDS AND FAMILIES 2012-2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates Method: Divided total number of households by total population Geography: Census Tract and Community
    Source: ACS 5 year data 2012-2016 Indicator: Percent of Population Living Alone Dataset: Table B1001 HOUSEHOLDS AND FAMILIES 2012-2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates Method: Divided total number of households living alone by total population Geography: Census Tract and Community
    Source: ACS 5 year data 2012-2016 Indicator: Percent of Population that Does Not Identify as White Dataset: Table S0601 SELECTED CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TOTAL AND NATIVE POPULATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES 2012-2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates Method: Percent of people with one or more races identified as white and subtracted  that percent from 1 Geography: Census Tract and Community
    Source: ACS 5 year data 2012-2016 Indicator: Percent of Population Living Without High School Education Dataset: Table B15003 EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT FOR THE POPULATION 25 YEARS AND OVER Universe: Population 25 years and 2012-2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates Method: Divided total with less than high school graduate by total population Geography: Census Tract and Community
    Source: ACS 5 year data 2012-2016 Indicator: Percent of Population Living at or Below Poverty* Dataset: Table B17001 POVERTY STATUS IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS 2012-2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates Method: Reported as percent below poverty level for whom poverty status has been determined Geography: Census Tract and Community
    Source: ACS 5 year data 2012-2016 Indicator: Percent of Families Living at or Below Poverty* Dataset: Table B17023 POVERTY STATUS IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS 2012-2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates Method: Reported as percent below poverty level for whom poverty status has been determined Geography: Census Tract and Community
    Source: ACS 5 year data 2012-2016 Indicator: Percent of Households where no one age 14 or older speaks English Only or "well" or "very well" Dataset: Table C16002 2012-2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates Method: Reported as percent of households where no one age 14 or older speaks English only or "well" or "very well". Geography: Census Tract and Community
    Source:MassGIS Datamaster Openspace Indicator: Percent of Residential Land in 100 year flood zone Dataset: DPH-GIS-massgis.DATAMASTER.OPENSPACE Central\centralgis Method: Percentage of area of community that is open space that is not officially closed to the public. (open space that is closed to the public was subtracted from total open space) Geography: Community
    Source:MassGIS: FEMA 2014 National Flood Hazard Layer Land Use 2005 US Census 2010 MA Communities UMass Donahue Institute: US Census ACS 2015 Estimated Population for MA Towns Indicator: Percent of community residential zones in 100 year, 500 year, and Coastal High Hazard flood plains

    Estimated community population living in 100 year, 500 year, and Coastal High Hazard flood plains    		 Dataset: http://www.mass.gov/anf/research-and-tech/it-serv-and-support/application-serv/office-of-geographic-information-massgis/datalayers/nfhl.html

    http://www.mass.gov/anf/research-and-tech/it-serv-and-support/application-serv/office-of-geographic-information-massgis/datalayers/census2010.html

    http://www.mass.gov/anf/research-and-tech/it-serv-and-support/application-serv/office-of-geographic-information-massgis/datalayers/lus2005.html

    http://www.massbenchmarks.org/statedata/data/mdc2015/UMDI%20Summary%20US%20Census%202015%20MA%20MCD%20Population%20Estimates.pdf
    		 Method: In ArcGIS: intersected community layer with land use layer to tag land use zones with towns. Then took that layer and intersected it (separately) with the NFHL flood zone layer. I then exported the layer data to comma separated files and imported those into MS Excel. In excel: removed all nonresidential land use zones from the data set, and then all flood zones that didn’t have anything to do with floods (such as the undetermined zones, the floodway zones that represent lake and river beds, the “not in flood zone” zones, etc.). Calculated total residential land and residential land in “coastal high hazard zones” and the 500 and 100 year flood zones, and calculated percent of residential land in each zone type. Coastal high hazard zones can overlap other zones, which means that totals for each community sometimes add up to over 100% on the totals – EPHT should not use totals for that reason. Calculated population assuming that it was evenly distributed in residential zones – multiply town population (2015 estimated) by percent of residential land to get populations in specific hazard zones are more informative for assessing vulnerability. Geography: Community
    Source: MassGIS:
    Q3 Flood Zones 2005

    Land Use 2005

    US Census 2010 MA Communities

    UMass Donahue Institute: US Census ACS 2015 Estimated Population for MA Towns     		Indicator: Percent of community residential zones in 100 year, 500 year, and Coastal High Hazard flood plains

    Estimated community population living in 100 year, 500 year, and Coastal High Hazard flood plains     		Dataset: http://www.mass.gov/anf/research-and-tech/it-serv-and-support/application-serv/office-of-geographic-information-massgis/datalayers/q3.html

    http://www.mass.gov/anf/research-and-tech/it-serv-and-support/application-serv/office-of-geographic-information-massgis/datalayers/census2010.html

    http://www.mass.gov/anf/research-and-tech/it-serv-and-support/application-serv/office-of-geographic-information-massgis/datalayers/lus2005.html

    http://www.massbenchmarks.org/statedata/data/mdc2015/UMDI%20Summary%20US%20Census%202015%20MA%20MCD%20Population%20Estimates.pdf
    		 Method: In ArcGIS: intersected community layer with land use layer to tag land use zones with towns. Then took that layer and intersected it (separately) with the Q3 flood zone layer. I then exported the layer data to comma separated files and imported those into MS Excel. In excel: removed all nonresidential land use zones from the data set, and then all flood zones that didn’t have anything to do with floods (such as the undetermined zones, the floodway zones that represent lake and river beds, the “not in flood zone” zones, etc.). Calculated total residential land and residential land in “coastal high hazard zones” and the 500 and 100 year flood zones, and calculated percent of residential land in each zone type. Coastal high hazard zones can overlap other zones, which means that totals for each community sometimes add up to over 100% on the totals – EPHT should not use totals for that reason. Calculated population assuming that it was evenly distributed in residential zones – multiply town population (2015 estimated) by percent of residential land to get populations in specific hazard zones are more informative for assessing vulnerability. Geography: Community
    Source: MassGIS Indicator: Impervious areas Dataset: http://www.mass.gov/anf/research-and-tech/it-serv-and-support/application-serv/office-of-geographic-information-massgis/datalayers/impervioussurface.html" Method: The Impervious Surface raster layer represents impervious surfaces covering the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The surfaces were extracted using semi-automated techniques by Sanborn Map Company from 50-cm Vexcel UltraCam near infrared orthoimagery that was acquired in April 2005 as part of the Color Ortho Imageryproject. The pixel size for the impervious surface data is 1-meter. Geography: State
    Source: Massachusetts Climate Change Clearinghouse http://www.resilientma.org Indicator: Baseline (1971-2000) and Projected (2040, 2070) Climate Indicators:

    • # Days per year over 90F
    • Average June-August High Temp
    • # Days per year rainfall >1"
    • # Days per year rainfall >2"
    • Annual Rainfall
    		 Dataset: Downloaded from http://www.resilientma.org/data/data Method: Data files were downloaded by watershed. Individual cities and towns were assigned their corresponding watersheds according to this document: https://nescaum-dataservices-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/resources/production/MA%20Statewide%20and%20MajorBasins%20Climate%20Projections_Guidebook%20Supplement_March2018.pdf Geography: Community
    *SPECIAL NOTE for Individual and Family Poverty Indicators: Family Poverty is being added here because individual level poverty statistics are misleading for communities where a substantial percentage of residents are college and university students.
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