Characterization of seafloor photographs near the mouth of the Elwha River during the first two years of dam removal (2011-2013)

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Frequently anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?

Title:
Characterization of seafloor photographs near the mouth of the Elwha River during the first two years of dam removal (2011-2013)
Abstract:
We characterized seafloor sediment conditions near the mouth of the Elwha River from underwater photographs taken every four hours from September 2011 to December 2013. A digital camera was affixed to a tripod that was deployed in approximately 10 meters of water. Each photograph was qualitatively characterized as one of six categories: (1) base, or no sediment; (2) low sediment; (3) medium sediment; (4) high sediment; (5) turbid; or (6) kelp. For base conditions, no sediment was present on the seafloor. Low sediment conditions were characterized by a light dusting of sediment; medium sediment conditions were characterized by a layer of sediment that covered all rock surfaces but did not obscure the relief of the seafloor; high sediment conditions were characterized by a layer of sediment that covered all rock surfaces and obscured the relief of the seafloor. During turbid conditions, suspended sediment in the water column obscured the view of the seafloor, and during kelp conditions, blades of kelp covered the camera lens, blocking our view of the seafloor.
Supplemental_Information:
Additional information about the field activities from which these data were derived are available online at:
https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fan=TD211PS https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fan=TR212PS https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fan=TR312PS https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fan=TR412PS https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fan=TR213PS https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fan=TR413PS https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fan=TR613PS https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fan=TR114PS
Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
  1. How might this data set be cited?
    Foley, Melissa M., and Warrick, Jonathan A., 2017, Characterization of seafloor photographs near the mouth of the Elwha River during the first two years of dam removal (2011-2013): data release DOI:10.5066/F7MC8XHX, U.S. Geological Survey, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Santa Cruz, California.

    Online Links:

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?
    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -123.55931
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -123.55444
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 48.21778
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 48.15333
  3. What does it look like?
  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
    Beginning_Date: 12-Sep-2011
    Ending_Date: 23-Dec-2013
    Currentness_Reference:
    ground condition at time data were collected
  5. What is the general form of this data set?
    Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: comma-delimited text
  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?
    1. How are geographic features stored in the data set?
      This is a Point data set. It contains the following vector data types (SDTS terminology):
      • Point (4741)
    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 0.00001. Longitudes are given to the nearest 0.0001. Latitude and longitude values are specified in Decimal degrees. The horizontal datum used is WGS_1984.
      The ellipsoid used is WGS_1984.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378137.0.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.258223563.
  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?
    Tripod photographs
    Tabular data (Source: Producer defined)
    PhotoNumber
    Number corresponding to the counter on the camera. Numbers are sequential, but there are breaks in the numbers when the camera was being serviced. Test photographs were removed from the dataset. Number gaps also occurred when the camera and flash system were not working properly. (Source: producer defined)
    Range of values
    Minimum:2467
    Maximum:9941
    Units:sequential whole numbers
    Resolution:1
    Date
    Date photograph was taken in mm/dd/yyyy format (Source: producer defined)
    Range of values
    Minimum:09/12/2011
    Maximum:12/23/2013
    Units:Dates in mm/dd/yyyy format
    WeekNum
    number corresponding to the week in the year, starting from January 1, when the photograph was taken. (Source: producer defined)
    Range of values
    Minimum:1
    Maximum:53
    Units:sequential whole numbers
    Resolution:1
    MonthNum
    number corresponding to the month in the year, starting from January, when the photograph was taken. (Source: producer defined)
    Range of values
    Minimum:1
    Maximum:12
    Units:sequential whole numbers
    Resolution:1
    Time
    Time photograph was taken in HH:MM format relative to Pacific Daylight Time or Pacific Standard Time. (Source: producer defined)
    Range of values
    Minimum:01:11
    Maximum:22:59
    Units:Time in HH:MM format
    SedimentCode
    alphabetic code used to define the sediment condition captured in the photograph (Source: producer defined)
    ValueDefinition
    BBase condition; no sediment on the seafloor
    Llow sedimentation; light dusting of sediment on the seafloor
    Mmedium sedimentation; layer of sediment covered all rock surfaces but did not obscure the relief of the seafloor
    Hhigh sedimentation (layer of sediment covered all rock surfaces and obscured the relief of the seafloor
    Tturbid; suspended sediment in the water column obscured the view of the seafloor
    Kkelp; blades of kelp covered the camera lens, blocking our view of the seafloor
    NumberCode
    numeric code used to define the sediment condition captured in the photograph (Source: producer defined)
    ValueDefinition
    0base condition; no sediment on the seafloor
    1low sedimentation; light dusting of sediment on the seafloor
    2medium sedimentation; layer of sediment covered all rock surfaces but did not obscure the relief of the seafloor
    3high sedimentation; layer of sediment covered all rock surfaces and obscured the relief of the seafloor
    4turbid; suspended sediment in the water column obscured the view of the seafloor
    5kelp; blades of kelp covered the camera lens, blocking our view of the seafloor

Who produced the data set?

  1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)
    • Melissa M. Foley
    • Jonathan A. Warrick
  2. Who also contributed to the data set?
    Thanks go to the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center Marine Facility crew for their hard work with the tripod deployments and equipment turnarounds: Henry Chezar, Robert Wyland, Thomas Reiss, Jamie Grover, Peter Dal Ferro, Jenny White, Cordell Johnson, Joanne Ferreira
  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
    Jonathan A. Warrick
    U.S. Geological Survey, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
    Research Geologist
    2885 Mission Street
    Santa Cruz, CA

    831-460-7569 (voice)
    831-427-4748 (FAX)
    jwarrick@usgs.gov

Why was the data set created?

Data were collected to assess seafloor sediment conditions near the mouth of the Elwha River during the first two years of dam removal (September 2011 to December 2013).

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: 12-Sep-2011 (process 1 of 3)
    Photographs of the seafloor were taken every four hours during instrument deployment from September 2011 to December 2013.
    Date: 01-Feb-2014 (process 2 of 3)
    Photographs were qualitatively assigned to one of six categories: (1) base, (2) low sediment, (3) medium sediment, (4) high sediment, (5) turbid, (6) kelp.
    Date: 19-Oct-2020 (process 3 of 3)
    Edited metadata to add keywords section with USGS persistent identifier as theme keyword. No data were changed. Person who carried out this activity:
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Attn: VeeAnn A. Cross
    Marine Geologist
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA

    508-548-8700 x2251 (voice)
    508-457-2310 (FAX)
    vatnipp@usgs.gov
  3. What similar or related data should the user be aware of?
    Foley, Melissa M., and Warrick, Jonathan A., 2017, Ephemeral seafloor sedimentation during dam removal: Elwha River, Washington: Continental Shelf Research, journal article.

    Online Links:

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

  1. How well have the observations been checked?
    No formal attribute accuracy tests were conducted.
  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?
    +/- 3.0 m
  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
    Data were not collected while instruments were being serviced (typically four days), which occurred approximately every six months. Test photographs and bad photographs (for example, when the camera and/or flash system were not working properly) were removed from the dataset during post-processing.
  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?
    No formal logical accuracy tests were conducted.

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:
USGS-authored or produced data and information are in the public domain from the U.S. Government and are freely redistributable with proper metadata and source attribution. Please recognize and acknowledge the U.S. Geological Survey as the originator of the dataset and in products derived from these data.
  1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)
    U.S. Geological Survey - ScienceBase
    Denver Federal Center, Building 810, Mail Stop 302
    Denver, CO

    1-888-275-8747 (voice)
    sciencebase@usgs.gov
  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set? These data are available in csv format (tripod_photo_classifications.csv), along with CSDGM FGDC-compliant metadata.
  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?
    Unless otherwise stated, all data, metadata and related materials are considered to satisfy the quality standards relative to the purpose for which the data were collected. Although these data and associated metadata have been reviewed for accuracy and completeness and approved for release by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), no warranty expressed or implied is made regarding the display or utility of the data on any other system or for general or scientific purposes, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty.
  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 can be viewed with word-processing software.

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 19-Oct-2020
Metadata author:
Jonathan A. Warrick
U.S. Geological Survey, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
Research Geologist
2885 Mission Street
Santa Cruz, CA
United States of America

831-460-7569 (voice)
jwarrick@usgs.gov
Metadata standard:
Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)
This page is <https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/catalog/pcmsc/DataReleases/ScienceBase/DR_F7MC8XHX/tripod_photo_classifications_metadata.faq.html>
Generated by mp version 2.9.50 on Tue Sep 21 18:17:19 2021