EAARL Topography-Cape Cod National Seashore

Frequently-anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?

Abstract:
GIS contour lines of Cape Cod National Seashore derived from a Lidar GeoTIFF file.
Supplemental_Information:
See the source Lidar GeoTIFF tile for more specific accuracy information.
  1. How should this data set be cited?

    U. S. Geological Survey, FISC St. Petersburg,600 4th Street South, St. Petersburg, Fall 2007, Open File Report 2007-1375, St. Petersburg, Florida.
    Other_Citation_Details:
    The U. S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the National Park Service (NPS) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), is to provide the coastal management community with usable, useful digital elevation products. The U. S. Geological Survey processes aircraft Lidar data (provided by NASA), develops software tools and algorithms to use and analyze the data and make products available to the coastal management community through a variety of media, including the internet, CD-ROMs, DVDs and data reports.

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

    West_Bounding_Coordinate:
    East_Bounding_Coordinate:
    North_Bounding_Coordinate:
    South_Bounding_Coordinate:

  3. What does it look like?

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

    Calendar_Date: 04-May-2005
    Currentness_Reference: ground condition

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

    Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: Vector digital data

  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?

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

      This is a Vector data set. It contains the following vector data types (SDTS terminology):

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

      Grid_Coordinate_System_Name: Universal Transverse Mercator
      Universal_Transverse_Mercator:
      UTM_Zone_Number: 19
      Transverse_Mercator:
      Scale_Factor_at_Central_Meridian: 0.999600
      Longitude_of_Central_Meridian: -75.000000
      Latitude_of_Projection_Origin: 0.000000
      False_Easting: 500000.000000
      False_Northing: 0.000000

      Planar coordinates are encoded using row and column
      Abscissae (x-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 1.000000
      Ordinates (y-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 1.000000
      Planar coordinates are specified in meters

      The horizontal datum used is North American Datum of 1983.
      The ellipsoid used is Geodetic Reference System 80.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378137.000000.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.257222.

      Vertical_Coordinate_System_Definition:
      Altitude_System_Definition:
      Altitude_Datum_Name: North American Vertical Datum of 1988
      Altitude_Resolution: .15
      Altitude_Distance_Units: meters
      Altitude_Encoding_Method:
      Explicit elevation coordinate included with horizontal coordinates

  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?

    The U. S. Geological Survey, FISC St. Petersburg office, would like to acknowledge NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and the National Park Service for their cooperation and assistance in the development of the data. The U. S. Geological Survey would also like to acknowledge National Park Service management and personnel at Cape Cod National Seashore.

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

    U. S. Geological Survey, FISC St. Petersburg
    600 4th Street South
    St. Petersburg, Florida 33701
    USA

    727 803-8747 (voice)

    Hours_of_Service: 8:30-5:00 M-F EST
    Contact_Instructions: Call Survey for Details

Why was the data set created?

This contour shapefile was generated from a Lidar GeoTIFF. It shows contour lines at 1 to 5 meter intervals, and will be used to aid in the interpretation and display of the Lidar data files.

How was the data set created?

  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?

    (source 1 of 1)
    Type_of_Source_Media: computer program

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

    Date: 14-Apr-2007 (process 1 of 3)
    The Lidar GeoTIFF data was too coarse to create aesthetically pleasing contours. A Neighborhood Statistics operation was run on the Lidar GeoTIFF file in ArcMap. The settings for the Neighborhood Statistics operation were a 14x14 cell rectangle, using the mean as the statistic type and then output to a temporary raster grid.

    Person who carried out this activity:

    U. S. Geological Survey, FISC St. Petersburg
    600 4th Street South
    St. Petersburg, FL 33701
    USA

    727-803-8747 (voice)

    Hours_of_Service: 8:30-5:00 M-F EST
    Contact_Instructions: Call Survey for Details

    Date: Spring 2007 (process 2 of 3)
    Contour lines were generated using the Contour operation in ArcMap. The temporary Neighborhood Statistics grid was used as the input surface and the contour interval was set to 1 (meter). This was output to a permanent shapefile.

    Person who carried out this activity:

    U. S. Geological Survey, FISC St. Petersburg
    600 4th Street South
    St. Petersburg, FL 33701
    USA

    727-803-8747 (voice)

    Hours_of_Service: 8:30-5:00 M-F EST

    Date: Summer 2007 (process 3 of 3)
    Metadata imported into ArcCatalog from XML file.

    Person who carried out this activity:

    U. S. Geological Survey, FISC St. Petersburg
    600 4th Street South
    St. Petersburg, FL 33701
    USA

    727 803-8747 (voice)

    Hours_of_Service: 8:30-5:00 M-F EST

  3. What similar or related data should the user be aware of?

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

  1. How well have the observations been checked?

    The expected accuracy of the measured variables is as follows: attitude within 0.07 degree, 3-cm nominal ranging accuracy, and verticle elevation accuracy of +/- 15cm (bare earth). Quality checks are built into the data-processing software.

  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?

    Raw elevation measurements have been determined to be within 1.5 meter horizontal accuracy. Processing steps (grid interpolation) may introduce additional error which has not been tested at the time of this publication.

  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

    Elevations of the DEM are vertically consistent with the point elevation data, +/- 15cm.

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

    Contour lines break where there was no data (value of -100) in the original Lidar tiles.

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

    This layer was generated from an existing Lidar tile.

How can someone get a copy of the data set?

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

Access_Constraints:
Any use of these data signifies a user's agreement to comprehension and compliance of the U. S. Geological Survey Standard Disclaimer. Ensure all portions of metadata are read and clearly understood before using these data in order to protect both user and U. S. Geological Survey interests. See section 6.3 Distribution Liability.
Use_Constraints:
Although the U. S. Geological Survey is making these data sets available to others who may find the data of value, the U. S. Geological Survey does not warrant, endorse, or recommend the use of these data setse for any given purpose. The user assumes the entire risk related to the use of these data. These data sets are not for navigational purposes. The U. S. Geological Survey is providing these data "as is", and the U. S. Geological Survey disclaims any and all warranties, whether expressed or implied, including (without limitation) any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. In no event will the U. S. Geological Survey be liable to you or to any third party for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, special, or exemplary damages or lost profits resulting from any use or misuse of these data.

Acknowledgement of the U.S. Geological Survey, FISC St. Petersburg office, as a data source would be appreciated in products developed from these data, and such acknowledgement as is standard for citation and legal practices for data source is expected by users of this data. Sharing new data layers developed directly from these data would also be appreciated by the U. S. Geological Survey staff. Users should be aware that comparisons with other data sets for the same area from other time periods may be inaccurate due to inconsistencies resulting from changes in photo interpretation, mapping conventions, and digital processes over time. These data are not legal documents and are not to be used as such.

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

    U. S. Geological Survey, FISC St. Petersburg
    600 4th Street South
    St. Petersburg, FL 33701
    USA

    727-803-8747 (voice)

    Hours_of_Service: 8:30-5:00 M-F EST
    Contact_Instructions: Call U. S. Geological Survey for Details
  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?

    OFR_2007-1375

  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

    The U. S. Geological Survey gives no warranty, expressed or implied, as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of these data. It is strongly recommended that these data are directly acquired from a U. S. Geological Survey server and not indirectly through other sources which may have changed the data in some way. Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system at the U. S. Geological Survey, no warranty expressed or implied is made regarding the utility of the data on another system or for general or scientific purposes, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty. This disclaimer applies both to individual use of the data and aggregate use with other data.

  4. How can I download or order the data?

  5. Is there some other way to get the data?

    Call U. S. Geological Survey for Details

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 14-May-2007
Metadata author:
U. S. Geological Survey, FISC St. Petersburg
600 4th Street South
St. Petersburg, FL 33701
USA

727-803-8747 (voice)

Hours_of_Service: 8:30-5:00 M-F EST
Contact_Instructions: Call Survey for Details
Metadata standard:
FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)

Generated by mp version 2.8.6 on Wed May 23 09:31:35 2007