DH_BATHCNTR_10m: 10 meter bathymetric contours of the Duxbury-Hull MA Survey Area.

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Frequently-anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?

Title:
DH_BATHCNTR_10m: 10 meter bathymetric contours of the Duxbury-Hull MA Survey Area.
Abstract:
These data were collected under a cooperative agreement with the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Coastal and Marine Geology Program, Woods Hole Science Center (WHSC). Initiated in 2003, the primary objective of this program is to develop regional geologic framework information for the management of coastal and marine resources. Accurate data and maps of sea-floor geology are important first steps toward protecting fish habitat, delineating marine resources, and assessing environmental changes due to natural or human impacts. The project is focused on the inshore waters (5-30 m deep) of Massachusetts between the New Hampshire border and Cape Cod Bay. Data collected for the mapping cooperative have been released in a series of USGS Open-File Reports (<http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/project-pages/coastal_mass/html/current_map.html>). This spatial dataset is from the study area located between Duxbury and Hull Massachusetts, and consists of high-resolution geophysics (bathymetry, backscatter intensity, and seismic reflection) and ground validation (sediment samples, video tracklines and bottom photographs). The data were collected during four separate surveys conducted between 2003 and 2007 (NOAA survey H10993 in 2003, USGS-WHSC survey 06012 in 2006, and USGS-WHSC surveys 07001 and 07003 in 2007) and cover more than 200 square kilometers of the inner continental shelf.
  1. How should this data set be cited?

    U.S. Geological Survey, 2010, DH_BATHCNTR_10m: 10 meter bathymetric contours of the Duxbury-Hull MA Survey Area.: Open-File Report 2009-1072, U.S. Geological Survey, Coastal and Marine Geology Program, Woods Hole Science Center, Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

    Online Links:

    This is part of the following larger work.

    Barnhardt, Walter A. , Ackerman, Seth D. , Andrews, Brian D. , and Baldwin, Wayne E. , 2010, High-Resolution Geological Mapping of the Inner Continental Shelf: Duxbury to Hull, Massachusetts.: Open-File Report 2009-1072, U.S. Geological Survey, Coastal and Marine Geology Program, Woods Hole Science Center, Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

    Online Links:

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -70.825670
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -70.596896
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 42.335234
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 42.080862

  3. What does it look like?

    <https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2009/1072/GIS/browse_jpg/big/DH_BathCntr_10m.jpg> (JPEG)
    thumbnail image of 10 meter bathymetric contours

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

    Beginning_Date: 04-Aug-2006; 20070422
    Ending_Date: 20-Aug-2006; 20070502
    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):

      • String (365)

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

      Horizontal positions are specified in geographic coordinates, that is, latitude and longitude. Latitudes are given to the nearest .0000001. Longitudes are given to the nearest .0000001. Latitude and longitude values are specified in Decimal degrees.

      The horizontal datum used is D_WGS_1984.
      The ellipsoid used is WGS_1984.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378137.000000.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.257224.

      Vertical_Coordinate_System_Definition:
      Depth_System_Definition:
      Depth_Datum_Name: Mean lower low water
      Depth_Resolution: 0.5 m
      Depth_Distance_Units: meters
      Depth_Encoding_Method: Explicit depth coordinate included with horizontal coordinates

  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?

    DH_BathCntr_10m
    10 meter bathymetric contours (Source: USGS)

    FID
    Internal feature number. (Source: ESRI)

    Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.

    Shape
    Feature geometry. (Source: ESRI)

    Coordinates defining the features.

    CONTOUR
    Depth of contour below mean lower low water. (Source: USGS)

    Range of values
    Minimum:10
    Maximum:30
    Units:meters below mean lower low water

    Length_m
    Length of feature in meters (UTM 19, WGS84). (Source: USGS)

    Range of values
    Minimum:101.293
    Maximum:110268
    Units:meters
    Resolution:0.00001

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?

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

    Seth Ackerman
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Geologist
    384 Woods Hole Rd.
    Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598
    USA

    508-548-8700 x2315 (voice)
    508-457-2310 (FAX)
    sackerman@usgs.gov

Why was the data set created?

The purpose of these data is to provide reference depth contours at ten meter intervals for the merged bathymetric data for the survey area.

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: Jun-2009 (process 1 of 5)
    Calculate depth contour shapefile at 10m contour intervals from input grid DH_bath5m. Used the Contour Surface Tool within ArcGIS 9.3 Spatial Analyst Tools. Used 10 meter analysis cell size to generate smoother contours.

    Person who carried out this activity:

    Brian Andrews
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Geographer
    384 Woods Hole Rd.
    Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598
    USA

    508-548-8700 x2348 (voice)
    508-457-2310 (FAX)
    bandrews@usgs.gov

    Data sources used in this process:
    • DH_bath5m (this publication)

    Date: Jun-2009 (process 2 of 5)
    Output depth contours were simplified using the Simplify Line tool in ArcGIS 9.3 Data Management Toolbox. The Simplify Line parameters included the Simplification Algorithm = BEND_SIMPLIFY, Simplification Tolerance Reference Baseline ="100 Meters", RESOLVE_ERRORS KEEP_COLLAPSED_POINTS CHECK.

    Person who carried out this activity:

    Brian Andrews
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Geographer
    384 Woods Hole Rd
    Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598
    USA

    508-548-8700 x2348 (voice)
    508-457-2310 (FAX)
    bandrews@usgs.gov

    Date: Jun-2009 (process 3 of 5)
    The simplified contours were then smoothed to enhance cartographic display. The SmoothLine tool in ArcGIS 9.3 ArcToolbox was used to smooth the polyline with following parameters: Smoothing Algorithm= BEZIER_INTERPOLATION, Handling Topological Errors=NO_CHECK.

    Person who carried out this activity:

    Brian Andrews
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Geographer
    384 Woods Hole Rd
    Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598
    USA

    508-548-8700 x2348 (voice)
    508-457-2310 (FAX)
    bandrews@usgs.gov

    Date: Jun-2009 (process 4 of 5)
    Remove Small Contours: 1) Add floating point attribute of "Length_m" to shapefile using the "Add Field" tool in ArcGIS (ver. 9.3) ArcToolbox. 2) Populate new attribute "Length_m" by calculating length in meters of all contour using the "Calculate Geometry" function in the context menu in ArcGIS (ver. 9.3). 3) Delete contours with Length_m<=100 meters using the "select by attribute" context menu in ArcGIS (ver. 9.3) and then deleting the selected records.

    Person who carried out this activity:

    Brian Andrews
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Geographer
    384 Woods Hole Rd
    Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598
    USA

    508-548-8700 x2348 (voice)
    508-457-2310 (FAX)
    bandrews@usgs.gov

    Date: Jun-2009 (process 5 of 5)
    Project shapefile (BathCntr_10m) from UTM Zone 19 WGS84 to the shapefile (DH_BathCntr_10m) in World Geographic Coordinate system (GCS_WGS_1984) 1984 using the "Project" tool in ArcGIS (ver. 9.3) ArcToolBox.

    Person who carried out this activity:

    Brian Andrews
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Geographer
    384 Woods Hole Rd.
    Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598
    USA

    508-548-8700 x2348 (voice)
    508-457-2310 (FAX)
    bandrews@usgs.gov

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

    Barnhardt, Walter A. , Andrews, Brian D. , and Butman, Bradford, 2006, High-Resolution Mapping of the Inner Continental Shelf: Nahant to Gloucester, Massachusetts: Open-File Report 2005-1293, U.S. Geological Survey, Coastal and Marine Geology Program, Woods Hole Science Center, Woods Hole, MA.

    Online Links:

    Ackerman, Seth D. , Butman, Bradford, Barnhardt, Walter A. , Danforth, William W. , and Crocker, James M. , 2006, High-Resolution Geologic Mapping of the Inner Continental Shelf: Boston Harbor and Approaches, Massachusetts: Open-File Report 2006-1008, U.S. Geological Survey, Coastal and Marine Geology Program, Woods Hole Science Center, Woods Hole, MA.

    Online Links:

    Barnhardt, Walter A. , Andrews, Brian D. , Ackerman, Seth D. , Baldwin, Wayne E. , and Hein, Christopher J. , 2009, High-Resolution Geological Mapping of the Inner Continental Shelf: Cape Ann to Salisbury Beach, Massachusetts: Open-File Report 2007-1373, U.S. Geological Survey, Coastal and Marine Geology Program, Woods Hole Science Center, Woods Hole, MA.

    Online Links:

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

  1. How well have the observations been checked?

    All attributes were checked in a consistent manner.

  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?

  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

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

    Small depth contours less than 100 meters in length were removed for cartographic quality.

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

    Bathymetric contours were simplified and smoothed to improve cartographic display of contours

How can someone get a copy of the data set?

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

Access_Constraints: None
Use_Constraints:
Public domain data from the U.S. Government are freely redistributable with proper metadata and source attribution. Please recognize the U.S. Geological Survey as the source of this information.

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

    Seth Ackerman
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Geologist
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598
    USA

    508-548-8700 x2315 (voice)
    508-457-2310 (FAX)
    sackerman@usgs.gov

  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?

    Downloadable Data

  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

    Neither the U.S. Government, the Department of the Interior, nor the USGS, nor any of their employees, contractors, or subcontractors, make any warranty, express or implied, nor assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, nor represent that its use would not infringe on privately owned rights. 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. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

  4. How can I download or order the data?

  5. What hardware or software do I need in order to use the data set?

    These data are available as a shapefile in Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) format. The shapefile is distributed in a compressed format as a WinZip (ver. 9.0) To utilize these data, the user must be able to uncompress the WinZip file and have software capable of viewing ESRI shapefiles.

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 09-Oct-2009
Metadata author:
Seth Ackerman
U.S. Geological Survey
Geologist
U.S. Geological Survey
Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598
USA

508-548-8700 x2315 (voice)
508-457-2310 (FAX)
sackerman@usgs.gov

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

Generated by mp version 2.8.25 on Fri Feb 19 20:52:15 2010