EAARL Submarine Topography-Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary

Metadata:

• Identification_Information
• Data_Quality_Information
• Spatial_Data_Organization_Information
• Spatial_Reference_Information
• Entity_and_Attribute_Information
• Distribution_Information
• Metadata_Reference_Information

Identification_Information:

Citation:

Citation_Information:

Originator: U. S. Geological Survey, FISC St. Petersburg

Publication_Date: Fall 2007

Title:

EAARL Submarine Topography-Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary

Edition: First

Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: remote-sensing image

Series_Information:

Series_Name: Open File Report

Issue_Identification: 2007-1395

Publication_Information:

Publication_Place: FISC St. Petersburg

Publisher: U. S. Geological Survey

Other_Citation_Details:

The U. S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Park Service (NPS), provides the coastal management community with digital elevation products. The U. S. Geological Survey processes aircraft liar data provided by NASA, develops software tools and algorithms to use and analyze the data, and makes products available to the coastal management community.

Description:

Abstract:

Lidar is a remote sensing technique that uses laser light to detect, range, or identify remote objects based on light reflected by the object or emitted through its subsequent fluorescence. Airborne ranging Lidar is now being applied in coastal environments to produce accurate, cost-efficient elevation datasets with high spatial density. The U. S. Geological Survey in cooperation with NASA, NOAA, and NPS is using airborne Lidar to measure the submerged topography of the northern Florida reef tract; secondarily, the data will be assessed for its potential in terms of benthic characterization. Elevation measurements were collected over part of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary  using the NASA Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar (EAARL), a pulsed laser ranging system mounted onboard an aircraft to measure subaerial and submarine topography. The system uses a high frequency laser beam directed at the earth's surface through an opening in the bottom of the aircraft's fuselage. The laser system records the time difference between emission of the laser beam and the reception of the reflected laser signal in the aircraft. The EAARL system, developed by the NASA Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, measures ground elevation with a vertical resolution of roughly 15cm. A sampling rate of up to 3 kHz results in an extremely dense spatial elevation data set. The EAARL system is typically flown at 300m altitude AGL, resulting in a 240m swath for each flightline. Data collection occurred with approximately 50% overlap between flightlines, resulting in about one laser sounding per square meter. The data were processed by the U. S. Geological Survey, FISC St. Petersburg office to produce 1m resolution raster images that can be easily ingested into a Geographic Information System. The data were organized as 2 by 2 kilometer data tiles in 32 bit floating-point integer GeoTIFF files.

Purpose:

The objective of this research is the creation of techniques for the surveying of submerged topography for the purposes of habitat mapping, ecological monitoring, change detection, and event assessment (e.g., hurricanes and extreme storm events). As part of this project, data from NASA EAARL were used. This sensor has the potential to make significant contributions in this realm for measuring shallow water depth and conducting cross-environment surveys. High spectral resolution and low costs were found to be key factors in providing accurate and affordable imagery to managers of coastal tropical habitats.

Supplemental_Information:

Raw Lidar data is not in a format that is generally usable by National Park Service resource managers and scientists for scientific analysis. Converting dense Lidar elevation data into a readily usable format without loss of essential information requires specialized processing. The U. S. Geological Survey converts raw Lidar data into a GIS-compatible map product to be provided to National Park Service GIS specialists, managers, and scientists. The primary tool used in the conversion process is Airborne Lidar Processing System (ALPS), a multi-tiered processing system developed by a USGS/NASA collaborative project for the generation of subaerial and submarine Lidar topographic products. Specialized processing algorithms are used to convert raw waveform Lidar data acquired by the EAARL to geo-referenced spot (x,y,z) returns for submarine topography. These data are then converted to the North American (Horizontal) Datum of 1983 (NAD83) and the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD88, using the Geoid 03 model). The final products are 2x2 kilometer map tiles written out in a standard GeoTIFF with associated metadata information. These tiles are created for visual interpretation and regional quantitative analysis. Metadata files include the standard FGDC format.

Time_Period_of_Content:

Time_Period_Information:

Multiple_Dates/Times:

Single_Date/Time:

Calendar_Date: 20060417

Single_Date/Time:

Calendar_Date: 20060418

Single_Date/Time:

Calendar_Date: 20060419

Single_Date/Time:

Calendar_Date: 20060420

Currentness_Reference: ground condition

Status:

Progress: Complete

Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: As needed

Spatial_Domain:

Bounding_Coordinates:

West_Bounding_Coordinate:

East_Bounding_Coordinate:

North_Bounding_Coordinate:

South_Bounding_Coordinate:

Keywords:

Theme:

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: None

Theme_Keyword:

Lidar, Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar, digital elevation model, elevation change, laser altimetry, derived surface, coastal resource management, Airborne Lidar Processing System, benthic cover types, submarine elevations

Place:

Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: None

Place_Keyword: Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary

Place_Keyword: Florida

Place_Keyword: Florida Keys

Place_Keyword: United States

Stratum:

Stratum_Keyword: submarine topography

Access_Constraints:

Any use of these data signifies a user's agreement to comprehension and compliance of the U. S. Geological Survey's 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, U. S. Geological Survey does not warrant, endorse, or recommend the use of these data 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. U. S. Geological Survey is providing these data "as is", and 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 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 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 set. Sharing new data layers developed directly from these data would also be appreciated by 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.

Point_of_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization: U.S. Geological Survey, FISC St. Petersburg

Contact_Person: Dr. John C. Brock

Contact_Position: Research Oceanographer

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: mailing and physical address

Address: 600 4th Street South

City: St. Petersburg

State_or_Province: FL

Postal_Code: 33701

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: (727) 803-8747 ext3088

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: (727) 803-2031

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: jbrock@usgs.gov

Hours_of_Service: 8am to 5pm M-F St. Petersburg

Data_Set_Credit:

TheU.S. Geological Survey, FISC St. Petersburg would like to acknowledge NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and NOAA National Geodetic Survey, Remote Sensing Division for their cooperation and assistance in the acquisition and processing of the data. The National Park Service also contributed by cleaning the Lidar dataset in preparation for map production.

Security_Information:

Security_Classification: Unclassified

Native_Data_Set_Environment:

Microsoft Windows XP Version 5.1 (Build 2600) Service Pack 2; ESRI ArcCatalog 9.2.1.1332

Cross_Reference:

Citation_Information:

Originator:

Brock, J.C.; Wright, C.W.; Sallenger, A.H; Krabill, W.B., and Swift

Title:

Basis and Methods of NASA Airborne Topographic Mapper Lidar Surveys for Coastal Studies

Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: journal article

Publication_Information:

Publication_Place: West Palm Beach, FL

Publisher: Journal of Coastal Research

Larger_Work_Citation:

Citation_Information:

Publication_Information:

Publication_Place: Miami, FL

Publisher:

Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Remote Sensing for Marine and Coastal Environments

Cross_Reference:

Citation_Information:

Originator: Wright, C.W. and Brock, J.C.

Title:

EAARL: A Lidar for mapping shallow coral reefs and other coastal environments

Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: Proceedings Article

Publication_Information:

Publication_Place: Miami, FL

Publisher:

Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Remote Sensing for Marine and Coastal Environments

Cross_Reference:

Citation_Information:

Originator: John Brock and Asbury Sallenger

Title:

Airborne Topographic Lidar Mapping for Coastal Science and Resource Management

Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: Open File Report

Publication_Information:

Publication_Place: St. Petersburg

Publisher: U.S. Geological Survey

Cross_Reference:

Citation_Information:

Originator: Nayegandhi, A., Brock, J.C., Wright, C.W., OConnell, M.O., 2006

Title:

Evaluating a small-footprint, waveform-resolving Lidar over coastal vegetation communities

Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: Open File Report

Series_Information:

Series_Name: 2006-12:1408-1417

Publication_Information:

Publisher: Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing

Data_Quality_Information:

Attribute_Accuracy:

Attribute_Accuracy_Report:

The expected accuracy of the measured variables are as follows: attitude within 0.07 degree, 3cm nominal ranging accuracy, and vertical elevation accuracy of +/-20cm for the submerged surface. Quality checks are built into the data-processing software.

Completeness_Report:

Several regions of the dataset are labeled as "No Data", which corresponds to a cell value of -100 in the GeoTIFF file. These "No Data" areas are a result of the survey not covering a particular region, optical water depth of greater than 1.5 Secchi disc depths, or the manual removal of Lidar processing artifacts.

Positional_Accuracy:

Horizontal_Positional_Accuracy:

Horizontal_Positional_Accuracy_Report:

Raw elevation measurements have been determined to be within 1 meter horizontal accuracy. Processing steps (grid interpolation) may introduce additional error which has not been tested at the time of this publication.

Quantitative_Horizontal_Positional_Accuracy_Assessment:

Horizontal_Positional_Accuracy_Value: 1

Vertical_Positional_Accuracy:

Vertical_Positional_Accuracy_Report:

Elevations of the DEM are vertically consistent with the point elevation data, +/-20 cm.

Quantitative_Vertical_Positional_Accuracy_Assessment:

Vertical_Positional_Accuracy_Value: .20

Lineage:

Source_Information:

Type_of_Source_Media: Point elevation measurements collected by the EAARL sensor.

Source_Time_Period_of_Content:

Time_Period_Information:

Single_Date/Time:

Calendar_Date: 20060417

Source_Currentness_Reference: ground condition

Process_Step:

Process_Description:

The data are collected using a NOAA DeHavilland Twin Otter aircraft. The NASA Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar (Lidar) laser scanner collects the data using a green (532nm) raster scanning laser, while a digital camera acquires a visual record of the flight. The data are stored on hard drives and archived at the U. S. Geological Survey, FISC St. Petersburg office and the NASA Wallops Flight Facility. The navigational data are processed at Wallops Flight Facility. The navigational and raw data are then downloaded into the Airborne Lidar Processing System (ALPS). Data are converted from units of time to x,y,z points for elevation. The derived surface data can then be converted into raster data (GeoTIFFs).

Process_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization: U. S. Geological Survey, FISC St. Petersburg

Contact_Person: Amar Nayegandhi

Contact_Position: Computer Scientist

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: mailing and physical address

Address: 600 4th Street South

State_or_Province: FL

Postal_Code: 33701

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: 727-803-8747

Hours_of_Service: 8:00am to 5:00pm Monday thru Friday, EST

Contact_Instructions: Call Survey for Details

Process_Step:

Process_Description:

The raster dataset was opened in ERDAS IMAGINE for editing. An Area of Interest (AOI) polygon was drawn around regions of poor data quality. Poor data quality was determined visually by locating gaps in the data as well as artifacts of the Lidar processing. Pixels within the AOI polygons were given a raster value of -100 to correspond with other areas of No Data.

Source_Used_Citation_Abbreviation:

Process_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization: National Park Service South Florida/Caribbean Network

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: mailing and physical address

Address: 18001 Old Cutler Road, Suite 419

City: Palmetto Bay

State_or_Province: Florida

Postal_Code: 33157

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: (305) 252-0347

Hours_of_Service: 8:00am to 5:00pm Monday thru Friday, EST

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: (305) 253-0463

Process_Step:

Process_Description: Metadata imported into ArcCatalog from XML files.

Process_Date: 20070808

Process_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization: U. S. Geological Survey, FISC St. Petersburg

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: mailing and physical address

Address: 600 4th Street South

City: St. Petersburg

State_or_Province: FL

Postal_Code: 33701

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: 727-803-8747

Spatial_Data_Organization_Information:

Direct_Spatial_Reference_Method: Raster

Raster_Object_Information:

Raster_Object_Type: Pixel

Row_Count: 2001

Column_Count: 2001

Vertical_Count: 1

Spatial_Reference_Information:

Horizontal_Coordinate_System_Definition:

Planar:

Grid_Coordinate_System:

Grid_Coordinate_System_Name: Universal Transverse Mercator

Universal_Transverse_Mercator:

UTM_Zone_Number: 17

Transverse_Mercator:

Scale_Factor_at_Central_Meridian: 0.999600

Longitude_of_Central_Meridian: -81.000000

Latitude_of_Projection_Origin: 0.000000

False_Easting: 500000.000000

False_Northing: 0.000000

Planar_Coordinate_Information:

Planar_Coordinate_Encoding_Method: row and column

Coordinate_Representation:

Abscissa_Resolution: 1.000000

Ordinate_Resolution: 1.000000

Planar_Distance_Units: meters

Geodetic_Model:

Horizontal_Datum_Name: North American Datum of 1983

Ellipsoid_Name: Geodetic Reference System 80

Semi-major_Axis: 6378137.000000

Denominator_of_Flattening_Ratio: 298.257222

Entity_and_Attribute_Information:

Detailed_Description:

Entity_Type:

Entity_Type_Label: GeoTiff

Overview_Description:

Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:

This Digital Elevation Model is a GeoTIFF derived from point data. It is raster data consisting of cells. Each cell has an elevation value associated with it. Cell size is 1 meter by 1 meter.

Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation:

This Digital Elevation Model is a GeoTIFF derived from point data referenced to WGS84, NAD83 UTM eastings and northings (m). The variables measured by EAARL are: distance between aircraft and GPS satellites (m), attitude information (roll, pitch, heading in degrees), scan angle (degrees), second of the epoch (sec), and 1ns time-resolved return intensity waveform (digital counts). It is raster data consisting of cells. Each cell has an elevation value associated with it. 

Distribution_Information:

Distributor:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization: U. S. Geological Survey, FISC St. Petersburg

Contact_Person: Jerry Butcher

Contact_Position: Windows System Administrator

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: mailing and physical address

Address: 600 4th Street South

City: St. Petersburg

State_or_Province: FL

Postal_Code: 33701

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: 727 803-8747

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

Resource_Description:

EAARL Submarine Topography-Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary

Distribution_Liability:

The U. S. Geological Survey shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of the data described and/or contained herein. These data and related graphics are not legal documents and are not intended to be used as such.

Standard_Order_Process:

Digital_Form:

Digital_Transfer_Information:

Format_Name: TIFF

Format_Version_Number: January 2007

Format_Specification: GeoTIFF

Transfer_Size: 0.000

Digital_Transfer_Option:

Offline_Option:

Offline_Media: DVD

Fees: 0

Ordering_Instructions: Call U. S. Geological Survey for Details

Custom_Order_Process: Call U. S. Geological Survey for Details

Available_Time_Period:

Time_Period_Information:

Multiple_Dates/Times:

Single_Date/Time:

Calendar_Date: 20060417

Single_Date/Time:

Calendar_Date: 20060418

Single_Date/Time:

Calendar_Date: 20060419

Single_Date/Time:

Calendar_Date: 20060420

Metadata_Reference_Information:

Metadata_Date: 20070808

Metadata_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization: U. S. Geological Survey, FISC St. Petersburg

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: mailing and physical address

Address: 600 4th Street South

Address: Suite 419

City: St. Petersburg

State_or_Province: Florida

Postal_Code: 33701

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: 727-803-8747

Hours_of_Service: 8am to 5pm M-F EST

Metadata_Standard_Name: FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata

Metadata_Standard_Version: FGDC-STD-001-1998

Metadata_Time_Convention: local time

Metadata_Access_Constraints: None

Metadata_Use_Constraints: None