2012-002_296BOTPHOTOS: Location of Sea-Floor Photographs Acquired During U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Cruise 2012-002-FA in Block Island Sound (Geographic, WGS 84)

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Frequently-anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?

Title:
2012-002_296BOTPHOTOS: Location of Sea-Floor Photographs Acquired During U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Cruise 2012-002-FA in Block Island Sound (Geographic, WGS 84)
Abstract:
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is producing detailed geologic maps of the coastal sea floor. Bathymetric and sidescan-sonar data, originally collected by NOAA for charting purposes, provide a fundamental framework for research and management activities along this part of Block Island Sound, show the composition and terrain of the seabed, and provide information on sediment transport and benthic habitat. During June 2012, bottom photographs and surficial sediment data were acquired as part of a ground-truth reconnaissance survey of this area. Interpretations were derived from the multibeam-echosounder, sidescan-sonar, sedimentary, and photographic data collected in Block Island Sound. For more information on the ground-truth survey see <http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/operations/ia/public_ds_info.php?fa=2012-002-FA>.
  1. How should this data set be cited?

    U.S. Geological Survey, 2014, 2012-002_296BOTPHOTOS: Location of Sea-Floor Photographs Acquired During U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Cruise 2012-002-FA in Block Island Sound (Geographic, WGS 84): Open-File Report 2014-1018, U.S. Geological Survey, Coastal and Marine Geology Program, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Woods Hole, MA.

    Online Links:

    This is part of the following larger work.

    McMullen, K.Y., Poppe, L.J., Ackerman, S.D., Blackwood, D.S., Glomb, K.A., and Wood, D.A., 2014, Sea-floor geology in northwestern Block Island Sound, Rhode Island: Open-File Report 2014-1018, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA.

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details: DVD-ROM

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -71.858695
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -71.595651
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 41.359947
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 41.294745

  3. What does it look like?

    <https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2014/1018/data/botphotos/2012-002_296botphotos.gif> (GIF)
    Thumbnail image showing location and extent of bottom photo locations in Block Island Sound

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

    Beginning_Date: 12-Jun-2012
    Ending_Date: 14-Jun-2012
    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):

      • Entity point (214)

    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 0.000001. Longitudes are given to the nearest 0.000001. 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.

  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?

    2012-002_296botphotos
    Shapefile Attribute Table (Source: ESRI)

    FID
    Internal feature number. (Source: ESRI)

    Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.

    Shape
    Feature geometry. (Source: ESRI)

    Coordinates defining the features.

    STATION
    Sequential identifier assigned to each sample site (Source: USGS)

    Characters and numerics identifying sampling sites

    PHOTO
    Unique sequential identifier assigned to each photograph (Source: USGS)

    Characters and numerics identifying photos

    DATE_
    Month, day, and year when the photograph was taken (Source: USGS)

    Character String: Months, days, and year as mm/dd/yyyy

    LATITUDE
    Latitude coordinate of photo location, WGS84 (Source: USGS)

    Range of values
    Minimum:41.294745
    Maximum:41.359947
    Units:Decimal degrees
    Resolution:0.000001

    LONGITUDE
    Longitude coordinate of photo location, WGS84 (Source: USGS)

    Range of values
    Minimum:-71.858695
    Maximum:-71.595651
    Units:Decimal degrees
    Resolution:0.000001

    DEVICE
    Equipment used to collect the photograph (Source: USGS)

    ValueDefinition
    SMALL SEABOSS GRABUSGS Small Seabed Observation and Sampling System (SEABOSS)

    CRUISEID
    Cruise identifier (Source: USGS)

    ValueDefinition
    2012-002-FAField activity serial number assigned by Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center data archives

    PROJECTID
    Name of project for which the photographs were taken. (Source: USGS)

    ValueDefinition
    SURVEY H12296 IN NORTHERN BLOCK ISLAND SOUNDProject name assigned by Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center data archives

    PRINCIPAL
    Name of Chief scientist during the cruise (Source: USGS)

    ValueDefinition
    KMCMULLENKatherine McMullen

    PHOTO_MR
    Relative disk location of medium-resolution photograph (Source: USGS)

    Location of image file

    JDTIME
    Date and time when photo was taken in the format JJJ:HH:MM:SS where JJJ is the Julian day, HH is the hour, MM is the minute, and SS is the second. Time is in GMT and Julian day is the integer number representing the interval of time in days since January 1 of the year of collection. (Source: Scientist)

    Numerics separated by colons

    Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:
    Data layer attributes include date and position photograph was acquired; station and photograph identifiers. The naming convention for photographs is a 4-letter location identification (nbis, referring to northern Block Island Sound), the station number, and a letter of the photograph at that station (multiple photos are often taken at a single location), and the resolution of the photograph if it is not full resolution (mr for medium resolution, and tn for thumbnail). For instance, nbis_64amr.jpg is a photograph from northern Block Island Sound, station 64, photo a, medium resolution and is in JPEG format.

    Medium resolution photographs can be hyperlinked in this shapefile. In order to effectively utilize this attribute in ArcGIS, the user must follow a couple of steps. First, the user must open the Layer Properties of the bottom photograph shapefile within ArcMap - select the Display tab - and click on the check box next to "Support Hyperlinks using field:" and the field selected from the dropdown menu needs to be "PHOTO_MR". The hyperlink is set to a document. Additionally, a hyperlink base must be supplied in the ArcMap document (mxd) to complete the full path to the images. This is accomplished from File - Document Properties. On the Summary tab there is a section for "Hyperlink base". The text supplied here needs to be the disk information preceding "data" in the full path to the image. If the data are being read from a DVD, this would be the drive letter such as F:\.

    The excel, shapefile, and comma-delimited text files have the same fields of information with the same headers as the shapefile attribute table.

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?

    Katherine McMullen
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Field and Laboratory Technician
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598
    USA

    (508) 548-8700 x2277 (voice)
    (508) 457-2310 (FAX)
    kmcmullen@usgs.gov

Why was the data set created?

The purpose of this dataset is to release the locations and identifiers of 214 bottom photographs collected at 43 stations based on topographic data of the sea floor in Block Island Sound. The photos were collected with a modified Van Veen grab sampler modified to carry still and video camera systems (small SEABOSS) during USGS survey 2012-002, in June 2012.

How was the data set created?

  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?

    (source 1 of 1)

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

    Date: 2012 (process 1 of 3)
    Time recorded in Exif headers of the photographs was matched with navigation data and manually entered into an Excel (.xls) file (2010 version, but saved as an Excel 97-2003 Worksheet).

    Person who carried out this activity:

    Katherine McMullen
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Field and Labratory Technician
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598
    USA

    (508) 548-8700 x2277 (voice)
    (508) 457-2310 (FAX)
    kmcmullen@usgs.gov

    Data sources produced in this process:
    • 2012-002_296botphotos.xls

    Date: 2013 (process 2 of 3)
    ArcMap 9.3 was used to create a shapefile from the Excel file using Tools-Add XY Data to import the excel file with Longitude in the x field and Latitude in the y field. This file was changed to a shapefile by right clicking on the name, selecting Data-Export Data, exporting all features using the layer's source data coordinate system.

    Person who carried out this activity:

    Katherine McMullen
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Field and Laboratory Technician
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA 02543
    USA

    508-548-8700 x2277 (voice)
    508-457-2310 (FAX)
    kmcmullen@usgs.gov

    Data sources used in this process:
    • 2012-002_296botphotos.xls

    Data sources produced in this process:

    • 2012-002_296botphotos.shp

    Date: 2013 (process 3 of 3)
    ArcGIS 9.3 was used to define the projection of the Esri shapefile Geographic WGS84.

    Person who carried out this activity:

    Katherine McMullen
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Field and Laboratory Technician
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA 02543
    USA

    508-548-8700 x2277 (voice)
    508-457-2310 (FAX)
    kmcmullen@usgs.gov

    Data sources used in this process:
    • 2012-002_296botphotos.shp

    Data sources produced in this process:

    • 2012-002_296botphotos.prj

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

    Blackwood, D.S., and Parolski, K.F., 2001, Seabed observation and sampling system: Sea Technology v. 42, no. 2, p. 39-43.

    Poppe, L.J., Danforth, W.W., McMullen, K.Y., Blankenship, M.A., Glomb, K.A., Wright, D.B., and Smith, S.M., 2012, Sea-floor character and sedimentary processes of Block Island Sound, offshore Rhode Island: Open-File Report 2012-1005, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA.

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details: DVD-ROM
    McMullen, K.Y., Poppe, L.J., Ackerman, S.D., Blackwood, D.S., Lewit, P.G., and Parker, C.E., 2013, Sea-floor geology in northeastern Block Island Sound, Rhode Island: Open-File Report 2013-1003, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA.

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details: DVD-ROM

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?

    Navigation was by differential GPS. Although GPS gave the ship's position rather than that of the SEABOSS, water depths were generally shallow and scope of the cable minimal. Therefore, SEABOSS offset from the antenna was less than 10 m. The time on the camera was synchronized with GPS and verified by comparing the time in the Exif header with a photograph of time on a GPS.

  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

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

    Locations of all still photographs of the sea floor in the Block Island Sound H12296 study area collected during the R/V RAFAEL cruise 2012-002 were included in this dataset. Other photographs were collected during cruise 2012-002 that lie outside the study area.

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

    No additional checks for topological consistency were performed on this data.

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 (USGS) as the source of this information.

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

    Katherine McMullen
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Field and Laboratory Technician
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598
    USA

    (508) 548-8700 x2277 (voice)
    (508) 457-2310 (FAX)
    kmcmullen@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 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 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, or NOAA, 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 in Environmental Systems Research Institute (Esri) shapefile format. The user must have a program capable of reading a shapefile. A free data viewer, ArcGIS Explorer, capable of displaying the data is available from Esri at www.esri.com. The user must have software capable of uncompressing archived zip files, such as Winzip or Pkware. These data are available as an Excel formatted (.xls) file. The user must have a software program capable of reading Excel files. These data are available as a generic ASCII formatted text file. The user must have a software program capable of reading the comma-delimited data file.

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 04-Feb-2014
Metadata author:
Katherine McMullen
U.S. Geological Survey
Field and Laboratory Technician
384 Woods Hole Road
Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598
USA

(508) 548-8700 x2277 (voice)
(508) 457-2310 (FAX)
kmcmullen@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 Tue Feb 04 10:54:11 2014