Benthic Biological Interpretation for California Seafloor Mapping Project

Frequently anticipated questions:

• What does this data set describe?
  1. How might this data set be cited?
  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?
  3. What does it look like?
  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
  5. What is the general form of this data set?
  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?
  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?
• Who produced the data set?
  1. Who are the originators of the data set?
  2. Who also contributed to the data set?
  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
• Why was the data set created?
• How was the data set created?
  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?
  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?
  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?
  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?
  5. How consistent are the relationships among the data, including topology?
• How can someone get a copy of the data set?
  1. Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?
  2. Who distributes the data?
  3. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?
  4. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?
  5. How can I download or order the data?
• Who wrote the metadata?

What does this data set describe?

1. How might this data set be cited?
   Yoklavich, Mary, and Krigsman, Lisa, 2012, Benthic Biological Interpretation for California Seafloor Mapping Project: Data Series DS 781, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA.

   Online Links:

   • https://doi.org/10.3133/ds781

   This is part of the following larger work.
   Golden, Nadine E., 2013, California State Waters Map Series Data Catalog: Data Series DS 781, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA.

   Online Links:

   • https://doi.org/10.3133/ds781

2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

   West_Bounding_Coordinate: -124.530459
   East_Bounding_Coordinate: -118.277097
   North_Bounding_Coordinate: 40.538886
   South_Bounding_Coordinate: 33.280913
   

3. What does it look like?

   https://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/781/video_observations/images/Benthic_Biological_Interpretation.jpg (JPEG)

   Map of benthic observation sites on the California coast.

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

   Beginning_Date: 2007

   Ending_Date: 2012

   Currentness_Reference:

   ground condition

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

   Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: comma-delimited text, and point shapefile
   

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 (6677)
   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?

   Benthic_Biological_Interpretation

   shapefile and comma-delimited text files of benthic observations (Source: NOAA NMFS)

   Cruise Name

   USGS Field Activity Number (aka cruise ID); some cruise IDs are appended by a Tape number (for example Tape1v). (Source: U.S. Geological Survey)

   Value	Definition
   C0212SC	USGS Field Activity C0212SC. More information may be found at https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fan=C0212SC
   C210NC	USGS Field Activity C210NC. More information may be found at https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fan=C210NC
   F307NC	USGS Field Activity F307NC. More information may be found at https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fan=F307NC
   SW109SC	USGS Field Activity SW109SC. More information may be found at https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fan=SW109SC

   Cruise Date

   date video footage was collected in M/D/YYYY format (Source: USGS)

   Range of values
   Minimum:	9/27/2007
   Maximum:	8/20/2012

   Time

   time of day video footage was collected in 24-hour format (HH:MM:SS) (Source: USGS)

   Range of values
   Minimum:	00:00:02
   Maximum:	23:59:33

   Longitude

   longitude, in decimal degrees, where video footage was collected (Source: USGS)

   Range of values
   Minimum:	-124.530459
   Maximum:	-118.277097

   Latitude

   latitude, in decimal degrees, where video footage was collected (Source: USGS)

   Range of values
   Minimum:	33.280913
   Maximum:	40.533386

   LogEntry

   Unique number given by the observer. (Source: producer) Unique number given by the observer during video analysis

   Primary Habitat

   Primary substrate constitutes greater than fifty percent of the seafloor during an observation. The values are based on the Wentworth scale except that granule and pebble sizes have been grouped together into a class called "gravel," and clay and silt sizes have been grouped together into a class called "mud." (Source: USGS)

   Value	Definition
   Rock	Exposed bedrock
   Boulder	25.5 cm or greater
   Cobble	Between 25.5 cm and 6.5 cm
   Gravel	Between 6.5 and .2 cm
   Sand	Between .2 cm and .00625 cm
   Mud	.00625 cm or smaller

   Secondary Habitat

   Secondary substrate constitutes greater than twenty percent of the seafloor during an observation. The values are based on the Wentworth scale except that granule and pebble sizes have been grouped together into a class called "gravel," and clay and silt sizes have been grouped together into a class called "mud." (Source: USGS)

   Value	Definition
   Rock	Exposed bedrock
   Boulder	25.5 cm or greater
   Cobble	Between 25.5 cm and 6.5 cm
   Gravel	Between 6.5 and .2 cm
   Sand	Between .2 cm and .00625 cm
   Mud	.00625 cm or smaller
   Shell	shell or shell fragments

   Slope

   Slope of seafloor observed during analysis, based on Tissot and others (2006). (Source: producer) Observed slope is defined as low, moderate, or high.

   Abiotic complexity

   Abiotic complexity observed during analysis, based on Tissot and others (2006). (Source: producer) Abiotic complexity is defined as low, moderate, or high.

   Biotic coverage

   Biotic coverage observed during analysis, based on Tissot and others (2006). (Source: producer) Biotic coverage is defined as low, moderate, or high.

   Biotic complexity

   Biotic complexity observed during analysis, based on Tissot and others (2006). (Source: producer) Biotic complexity is defined as low, moderate, or high.

   Presence or absence of biota

   Columns 13 to 76 indicate whether the biota are present (1) or absent (0) during the video footage observation period. (Source: producer)

   Value

   Definition

   List of benthic biota Algae Agg anemone Sol anemone Tube anemone Bat star Bivalve Branchiopod Blood star Brittle in Brittle on Bryozoan Branching bryozoan Crab Cancer crab Hermit crab Crinoid Cup coral Drift weed Chond Egg Case Mollusc Egg Case Squid Eggs Eelpout Encrusting Fish Flatfish Fleshy sea pen Frilly cucumber Gastropod Goby Gorgonian Greenling Grey Puffball Hydrocoral Hydroid Kelp Lingcod Mediaster Metridium Octopus Orange Puffball Pin Cushion Pink Pisaster Prostrate Gorg Rainbow Star Rockfish Sand Star Sculpin Sea Cucumber Sea Hare Sea Pen Sea Slug Sea Star Sea Whip Shrimp Skate 3D Sponge Basket Star Leather Star Seabastomus Sun Star Tubeworm Tunicate Urchin Zoanthid

   presence (1) or absence (0) of the biota

   Entity_and_Attribute_Overview: The first line of the csv file is a header line.
   Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation: U.S. Geological Survey
   

Who produced the data set?

1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)
   • Mary Yoklavich
   • Lisa Krigsman
2. Who also contributed to the data set?
3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
   U.S. Geological Survey, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center

   Attn: PCMSC Science Data Coordinator

   2885 Mission Street

   Santa Cruz, CA
   

   831-427-4747 (voice)

   pcmsc_data@usgs.gov

Why was the data set created?

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: 2012 (process 1 of 1)

   Visual surveys of the seafloor were conducted during 2007-2012 using a towed camera sled to groundtruth maps produced during the CA Seafloor Mapping Project. The camera sled (approximately 1 m x 1 m x 2 m in size) was equipped with an altimeter and a pair of scaling lasers set 15 cm apart. The sled had multiple digital video cameras and a digital still camera. The camera sled was towed above the seafloor at a speed of approximately one knot along transects roughly one nautical mile in length. A biologist (Lisa Krigsman) annotated video footage at sea from some (but not all) of these ocean cruises, assisting the staff from USGS to ground-truth seafloor maps along the California coast.
   The remainder of the video analysis was performed in the laboratory. Observations were made during 10-second intervals at the top of every minute. During the video review process, benthic macro-organisms were identified to the lowest possible taxa. Components of benthic habitats, including primary (greater than 50 percent coverage within the viewed area during the 10-second sample) and secondary (greater than 20 percent coverage) substratum types (for example, rock, sand, etc., based on Tissot and others, 2006), biotic coverage, and biotic-complexity (organisms with complex structure, height greater than a meter, or in high numbers), also were evaluated and recorded in each 10-second interval. Data acquired directly from the cruises were used to populate the fields for abiotic complexity based on small-scale variations in height of the seafloor surface and abiotic slope (measured as low, medium, or high degree of complexity). Still photographs taken along each camera sled line also were used to help identify the benthic macro-organisms.
   Observations were recorded into a spreadsheet using the video program MediaMapper (Red Hen Systems, Inc.), and held in digital data files. Data were recorded on cruise name, time, latitude, longitude, and camera-line number, in addition to the variables mentioned above (such as primary and secondary habitat, abiotic slope, abiotic complexity, biotic coverage, biotic complexity, and associated benthic macro-organisms).
   Reference Cited:
   Tissot, B.N., Yoklavich, M.M., Love, M.S., York, K., and Amend, M., 2006, Benthic invertebrates that form habitat on deep banks off southern California, with special reference to deep sea coral: Fishery Bulletin, v. 104, p. 167–181.

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?
   this information was not included in the original metadata information from the authors
2. How accurate are the geographic locations?
   this information was not included in the original metadata information from the authors
3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
   not applicable for this dataset as no vertical data are included
4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
   this information was not included in the original metadata information from the authors
5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?
   this information was not included in the original metadata information from the authors

How can someone get a copy of the data set?

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? shapefile and comma-delimited file
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?
   • Availability in digital form:

     Data format:	shapefile and comma-delimited file in format comma-delimited text, shapefile (version ArcGIS 10.1.2) Size: 1.4
     Network links:	https://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/781/video_observations/data/Benthic_Biological_Interpretation.zip https://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/781/video_observations/data_catalog_video_observations.html https://doi.org/10.3133/ds781

   • Cost to order the data: None.

5. What hardware or software do I need in order to use the data set?
   These data can be viewed with any text-reader software.

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:

Last modified: 24-Mar-2023

Metadata author:

U.S. Geological Survey, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center

Attn: PCMSC Science Data Coordinator

2885 Mission Street

Santa Cruz, CA

831-427-4747 (voice)

pcmsc_data@usgs.gov

Metadata standard:

Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)