Oceanographic Observations in the Hudson Shelf Valley, December 1999 - April 2000

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Frequently-anticipated questions:


What does this data set describe?

    Title:
    Oceanographic Observations in the Hudson Shelf Valley, December 1999 - April 2000
    Abstract:
    This data report presents oceanographic observations made in the Hudson Shelf Valley, offshore of New York, between December 1999 and April 2000. These observations were made by the U.S. Geological Survey as part of a program to investigate the transport and fate of sediment and associated contaminants in the coastal waters offshore of the New York - New Jersey metropolitan region.

  1. How should this data set be cited?

    Butman, Bradford, Alexander, P. Soupy , Harris, Courtney K. , Traykovski, Peter A. , Marilyn B. ten Brink, Lightsom, Frances S. , and Martini, Marinna A. , 2003, Oceanographic Observations in the Hudson Shelf Valley, December 1999 - April 2000: USGS Open File Report OF 02-217, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA.

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -74.0
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -72.833
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 40.667
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 39.667

  3. What does it look like?

    f1_arraya.jpg (jpg)
    Map showing location of moored array stations occuppied from December 1999 to April 2000.

  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?

    Beginning_Date: 04-Dec-1999
    Ending_Date: 16-Apr-2000
    Currentness_Reference: Publication Date

  5. What is the general form of this data set?

    Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form:
    Time series data are provided in NetCDF, ASCII, and Matlab format.

  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?

    1. How are geographic features stored in the data set?

    2. What coordinate system is used to represent geographic features?

  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?


Who produced the data set?

  1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)

  2. Who also contributed to the data set?

    Bradford Butman and Courtney Harris were co-principal investigators for the Hudson Shelf Valley experiment. Soupy Alexander processed the hydrographic data, prepared the data figures and tables, and did the report layout. Fran Lightsom processed the time-series data. Marinna Martini led the instrument preparation, deployment and recovery. Marilyn Buchholtz ten Brink and Ellen Mecray did the suspended sediment observations. Peter Traykovski was responsible for the Acoustic Backscatter Sensors (ABS) system deployments and data processing. We thank the captains and crews of the Research Vessels Oceanus, Endeavor, and Connecticut for their outstanding logistical support for this measurement program. Erin Galvin, Ben Gutierrez, Bob Barton, Dann Blackwood, JonBorden, Michael Casso, Jessica Cote, Jane Denny, Joanne Fierra, Jason Hyatt, Ellen Mecray, Andre Ramsey, Sunita Shah, Rick Rendigs, and Dave Walsh carried out the work at sea, ashore and in the laboratory. Jon Borden and Marinna Martini led the successful effort to recover the tripod from Station B using an ROV owned by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and skillfully operated by Andy Girard. Donna Newman made the HTML compliant with USGS standards. This research was supported by the U. S. Geological Survey Coastal and Marine Geology Program.

  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?

    Bradford Butman
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Oceanographer
    U.S. Geological Survey
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598
    USA

    508-457-2212 (voice)
    bbutman@usgs.gov


Why was the data set created?

The report presents a description of the field program and instrumentation, an overview of the data through summary plots and statistics, and the data in NetCDF, ASCII, and Matlab format. The objective of this report is to make the data available in digital form, and to provide summary plots and statistics to facilitate browsing of the data set.


How was the data set created?

  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?

  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?

    Date: 2001 (process 1 of 1)
    Field Experiment

    Moored Array

    Measurements were made at 6 stations, four along the axis of the valley (Stations A, B, C and F), and two on the shelf to the east and west (Stations D and E). The moored array was deployed from the RV Oceanus between December 3-7, 1999, and recovered on RV Endeavor between April 14-18, 2000.

    Hydrograhy

    Conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) profiles were obtained on the moored array deployment cruise on RV Oceanus between December 5-7 1999, and on the instrument ecovery cruise on the RV Endeavor on April 15, 2000. Measurements were made with a Sea Bird SBE11 profiling conductivity-temperature-depth sensor. On the RV Oceanus cruise, profiles of light transmission and optical backscatter were also obtained and on the RV Endeavor cruise, profiles of light transmission and flourescence were obtained. Water samples were obtained at selected stations and depths and filtered through pre-weighed 0.4 micron Millipore filters to determine suspended matter concentration. The measured concentrations were used to determine calibrations for the OBS and transmission sensors.

    Data Processing

    Data processing was conducted using the WHOI-USGS Oceanographic Data //www.mathworks.com/), and keeps data in EPIC //www.pmel.noaa.gov/epic/). The ABS data were processed using Matlab.

    After data were decoded and calibrated, they were carefully checked for instrument malfunctions and then edited. The beginning and end of each data series were truncated and wild points deleted. Short data gaps (less than about 8 data values, which is half an hour for Seacats and tripods) were filled by linear interpolation. The data were carefully checked at each stage of processing. After editing, the basic version of the data file includes all variables recorded at the basic sampling interval. An hour-averaged data file and a low-pass filtered data file were created from the basic version. The low-pass filter essentially removes all fluctuations having periods shorter than 33 hours (Flagg et al., 1976). Low-pass filtered data was subsampled every 6 hours.

    Reference

    Flagg, C.N., Vermersch, J.A., and Beardsley, R.C., 1976, 1974 M.I.T. New England Shelf The moored array: M.I.T. Report 76-1, Cambridge, MA, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

    Person who carried out this activity:

    Fran Lightsom
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598
    USA

    508-457-2242 (voice)


How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?

  1. How well have the observations been checked?

    After data were decoded and calibrated, they were carefully checked for instrument malfunctions and then edited. The beginning and end of each data series were truncated and wild points deleted. Short data gaps (less than about 8 data values, which is half an hour for Seacats and tripods) were filled by linear interpolation. The data were carefully checked at each stage of processing. After editing, the basic version of the data file includes all variables recorded at the basic sampling interval.

  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?

    Mooring and station locations were determined using GPS.

  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

    Water depths were determined sonically and are accurate to a few meters.

  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?

    Data are complete. Some of the time series have gaps that can be identified by viewing the time series plots.

  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?

    Data is consistent


How can someone get a copy of the data set?

Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?

Access_Constraints:
These data were prepared by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, make any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed in this report, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference therein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. Any views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. Although all data have been used by the USGS, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by the USGS as to the accuracy of the data and/or related materials. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by the USGS in the use of these data or related materials.
Use_Constraints:
These data were prepared by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, make any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed in this report, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference therein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. Any views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. Although all data have been used by the USGS, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by the USGS as to the accuracy of the data and/or related materials. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by the USGS in the use of these data or related materials. Biological fouling may degrade the transmission measurements after several months of deployment. Organisms grow on the lenses and gradually block light transmission, which results in a gradual upward drift of the beam attenuation coefficient. The attenuation data nor the optical backscatter data have not been corrected for biological fouling and should be interpreted with care.

  1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 2)

    U.S. Geological Survey Information Services
    Box 25286 Denver Federal Center
    Denver, Colorado 80225-0046
    USA

    303.202.4700 (voice)
    303.202.4188 (FAX)

    Hours_of_Service: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mountain Time
  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?

    USGS Open-File Report 02-217

  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

    These data were prepared by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, make any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed in this report, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference therein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. Any views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. Although all data have been used by the USGS, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by the USGS as to the accuracy of the data and/or related materials. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by the USGS in the use of these data or related materials.

  4. How can I download or order the data?


  1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 2 of 2)

    Bradford Butman, U.S. Geological Survey
    Oceanographer
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543-1598
    USA

    508.548.8700x2212 (voice)
    508.457.2309 (FAX)
    bbutman@usgs.gov

    Hours_of_Service: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST
  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?

  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

    These data were prepared by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, make any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed in this report, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference therein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. Any views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. Although all data have been used by the USGS, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by the USGS as to the accuracy of the data and/or related materials. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by the USGS in the use of these data or related materials.

  4. How can I download or order the data?


Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: May-2002

Metadata author:
Bradford Butman
U.S. Geological Surveuy
Oceanographer
U.S. Geological Survey
384 Woods Hole Road
Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598

508-457-2212 (voice)

Metadata standard:
FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)


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