Beach Profile Data Collected from Madeira Beach, Florida (February 1, 2024)

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Frequently anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?

Title:
Beach Profile Data Collected from Madeira Beach, Florida (February 1, 2024)
Abstract:
This dataset, prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center (SPCMSC), provides beach profile data collected at Madeira Beach, Florida. Data were collected in 2024 on foot by a person equipped with a Global Positioning System (GPS) antenna affixed to a backpack outfitted for surveying location and elevation data (XYZ) along pre-determined transects. The horizontal position data are given in the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) projected coordinate system, Zone 17 North (17N), referenced to the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83); the elevation data are referenced to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88), GEOID12B.
  1. How might this data set be cited?
    Birchler, Justin J., Woodruff, Johnathan L., Brown, Jenna A., and Thompson, David M., 20250730, Beach Profile Data Collected from Madeira Beach, Florida (February 1, 2024):.

    This is part of the following larger work.

    Brown, Jenna A., Birchler, Justin J., Thompson, David M., Long, Joseph W., and Seymour, Alexander C., 20180314, Beach Profile Data Collected From Madeira Beach, Florida: U.S. Geological Survey data release doi:10.5066/F7T43S94, U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg, Florida.

    Online Links:

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?
    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -82.7996677450795
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -82.7949696725917
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 27.7986464444971
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 27.7948837730467
  3. What does it look like?
  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
    Calendar_Date: 01-Feb-2024
    Currentness_Reference:
    ground condition
  5. What is the general form of this data set?
    Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: tabular digital data
  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 (20956)
    2. What coordinate system is used to represent geographic features?
      Grid_Coordinate_System_Name: Universal Transverse Mercator
      Universal_Transverse_Mercator:
      UTM_Zone_Number: 17
      Transverse_Mercator:
      Scale_Factor_at_Central_Meridian: 0.9996
      Longitude_of_Central_Meridian: -81.0
      Latitude_of_Projection_Origin: 0.0
      False_Easting: 500000.0
      False_Northing: 0.0
      Planar coordinates are encoded using coordinate pair
      Abscissae (x-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 0.018
      Ordinates (y-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 0.203
      Planar coordinates are specified in meters
      The horizontal datum used is North American Datum 1983.
      The ellipsoid used is Geodetic Reference System 80.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378137.000000.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.257222101.
      Vertical_Coordinate_System_Definition:
      Altitude_System_Definition:
      Altitude_Datum_Name: North American Vertical Datum 1988
      Altitude_Resolution: 0.0001
      Altitude_Distance_Units: meters
      Altitude_Encoding_Method: Attribute values
  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?
    20240201_MadeiraBeachFL_XYZ.zip
    Processed beach profile data collected February 01, 2024, from Madeira Beach, Florida. The location and elevation data are provided in tabular format (.xyz). (Source: U.S. Geological Survey)
    Easting
    UTM x-axis coordinate (NAD 83, UTM Zone 17N) (Source: U.S. Geological Survey)
    Range of values
    Minimum:322707.154
    Maximum:323165.152
    Units:meters
    Northing
    UTM y-axis coordinate (NAD 83, UTM Zone 17N) (Source: U.S. Geological Survey)
    Range of values
    Minimum:3075773.390
    Maximum:3076196.002
    Units:meters
    Elevation
    Orthometric elevation z-coordinate (NAVD 88) (Source: U.S. Geological Survey)
    Range of values
    Minimum:-0.649
    Maximum:2.756
    Units:meters

Who produced the data set?

  1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)
    • Justin J. Birchler
    • Johnathan L. Woodruff
    • Jenna A. Brown
    • David M. Thompson
  2. Who also contributed to the data set?
  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
    U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
    Attn: Jenna A. Brown
    600 4th Street South
    Saint Petersburg, FL
    United States

    727-502-8000 (voice)
    jenniferbrown@usgs.gov

Why was the data set created?

The purpose of this dataset is to provide geospatial and topographic profile data, in support of a coastal video monitoring station at Madeira Beach, Florida. Following SPCMSC data management protocols, this survey was assigned a USGS field activity number (FAN), 2024-304-FA. Additional survey and data details are available at https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/services/activity.php?fan=2024-304-FA.

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: 09-May-2017 (process 1 of 4)
    PLANNING Transects were created using the MathWorks® MATLAB R2016a computing environment. Cross-shore transects were planned perpendicular to the beach by utilizing a measured 2010 lidar shoreline (Doran and others, 2017) to find an average shoreline angle. The transects were generated at locations of groins (cross-shore perpendicular structures that are connected to land and extend into the ocean) and at 3 alongshore locations, equally spaced, between adjacent groins in the area of interest, by utilizing imagery from Google Earth to determine the location of the groins. This resulted in 25 cross-shore transects (lines 35 to 59) spaced approximately 23 meters (m) apart and spanning approximately 555 m in the alongshore direction. An additional cross-shore transect was planned in the middle of the study area (line 60). Five alongshore transects (lines 1 to 5), spanning the length of the study area, were cast approximately 10 m apart in the cross-shore, spanning from the dune toe to the shoreline. Transect line planning was done in a similar way to Henderson and others (2015), the difference being the software used to create the transect lines and spacing of transect lines. Person who carried out this activity:
    U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
    Attn: David M. Thompson
    Physical Scientist
    600 4th Street South
    Saint Petersburg, FL

    727-502-8079 (voice)
    dthompson@usgs.gov
    Date: 01-Feb-2024 (process 2 of 4)
    ACQUISITION Transect lines were surveyed, on foot, by a person equipped with a GPS receiver and a GPS antenna affixed to a SECO© surveying backpack, which was connected to a Windows laptop PC running HYPACK® 2022 survey acquisition software. Kinematic GPS data were recorded at 5 hertz (Hz) with an Ashtech™ ProFlex™ 500/800 Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver and an Ashtech™ GNSS geodetic survey antenna. The time associated with the beginning and end of surveying each transect line was recorded on the laptop in HYPACK® by the surveyor. These data acquisition steps are similar to those reported for the 'Wheel-Mounted GPS' system in Nelson and others (2017), the difference being the GNSS recording interval, GNSS survey equipment model, and that this survey used a backpack-mounted antenna to measure pre-defined transect lines. For this survey, 26 cross-shore transects (lines 35 to 60) and 5 alongshore transects (lines 1 to 5) were collected. Person who carried out this activity:
    U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
    Attn: Justin J. Birchler
    Physical Scientist
    600 4th Street South
    Saint Petersburg, FL

    727-502-8019 (voice)
    jbirchler@usgs.gov
    Date: 29-Mar-2024 (process 3 of 4)
    GPS POST-PROCESSING Raw GPS kinematic data recorded on the surveying receiver was post-processed using GNSS post-processing software GrafNav (Waypoint Product Group) version 8.9. The kinematic GPS data recorded by the surveying receiver were processed in NAD 83 geographic coordinates to concurrent static GPS data recorded by a local base station of known position (NAD 83). The base station used was an Ashtech™ ProFlex™ 500/800 GNSS receiver and Ashtech™ GNSS geodetic survey antenna established on the roof of the USGS SPCMSC, also known as ABBY, whose position was determined as the time-weighted average of coordinate values obtained from the National Geodetic Survey's (NGS) Online Positioning User Service (OPUS, https://geodesy.noaa.gov/OPUS/). The final, differentially-corrected, precise GPS positions were exported from GrafNav in American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) text format, with projected horizontal coordinates in NAD 83, UTM Zone 17N, and vertical coordinates in NAVD 88, GEOID12B. These post-processing steps are similar to those reported in Henderson and others (2015) and Nelson and others (2017). Person who carried out this activity:
    U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
    Attn: Justin J. Birchler
    Physical Scientist
    600 4th Street South
    Saint Petersburg, FL

    727-502-8019 (voice)
    jbirchler@usgs.gov
    Date: 29-Mar-2024 (process 4 of 4)
    DATA PROCESSING Beach profile horizontal position and elevation data for each individual transect were extracted from the post-processed GPS data based on the surveying times recorded with HYPACK® using the MathWorks® MATLAB R2023a computing environment. The data were smoothed in the cross-shore direction to reduce the noisiness of the data, similar to the smoothing method done by Stockdon and others (2009). The noisiness is due to the high temporal sampling frequency and the walking motion of the human surveyor. The choice of a moving 1-m wide Hanning filter (Blackman and Tukey, 1959) was sufficient to reduce noise along the profile while preserving the elevation of the profile. The data were quality-controlled in MATLAB to remove invalid data points by eliminating points with poor GPS data quality, visually inspecting plots of horizontal positions and discarding points not on the cross-shore beach profile lines (e.g., points just prior to and just after a transect), and visually inspecting plots of elevation and discarding points with erroneous GPS data (e.g., spikes in the GPS data). Lastly, the elevation data were adjusted by subtracting the elevation of the GPS antenna above the ground, when attached to the surveying backpack, during the survey (1.77 m). The final beach profile data were written to individual text files (.xyz) in tabular format, with columns representing: 1) Easting (NAD83, UTM Zone 17N), 2) Northing (NAD83, UTM Zone 17N), and 3) Orthometric Elevation (NAVD 88, GEOID12B). Person who carried out this activity:
    U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
    Attn: Justin J. Birchler
    Physical Scientist
    600 4th Street South
    Saint Petersburg, FL

    727-502-8019 (voice)
    jbirchler@usgs.gov
  3. What similar or related data should the user be aware of?
    Henderson (Hehre), Rachel E., Hapke, Cheryl J., Brenner, Owen T., and Reynolds, B.J., 20150430, Hurricane Sandy Shoreline Response and Recovery at Fire Island, New York: Shoreline and Beach Profile Data, October 2012 to October 2014: U.S. Geological Survey Data Series doi:10.3133/ds931, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia.

    Online Links:

    Nelson, Timothy R., Miselis, Jennifer L., Hapke, Cheryl J., Brenner, Owen T., Henderson, Rachel E., Reynolds, Billy J., and Wilson, Kathleen E., 20170324, Bathymetry Data Collected in October 2014 from Fire Island, New York—The Wilderness Breach, Shoreface, and Bay: U.S. Geological Survey Data Series doi:10.3133/ds1034, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia.

    Online Links:

    Doran, Kara S., Long, Joseph W., Birchler, Justin J., Brenner, Owen T., Hardy, Matthew W., Morgan, Karen L.M., Stockdon, Hilary F., and Torres, Miguel L., 20170805, Lidar-derived beach morphology (dune crest, dune toe, and shoreline) for U.S. sandy coastlines (ver. 6.0, March 2024): U.S. Geological Survey data release doi:10.5066/F7GF0S0Z, U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg, Florida.

    Online Links:

    Stockdon, Hilary F., Doran, Kara S., and Sallenger, Asbury H., 20091001, Extraction of Lidar-Based Dune-Crest Elevations for Use in Examining the Vulnerability of Beaches to Inundation During Hurricanes: Journal of Coastal Research Volume 10053 (2009), 59-65.

    Online Links:

    Blackman, Ralph B., and Tukey, John W., 1959, The Measurement of Power Spectra, from the Point of View of Communications Engineering: Dover Publications, Inc, New York.

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

  1. How well have the observations been checked?
    Cross-shore profiles were quality checked for accuracy by comparing elevations where cross-shore and alongshore transects overlapped.
  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?
    The horizontal accuracy of the post-processed kinematic GPS data is +/- 2 centimeters (cm), based on the accuracy of the base station used to post-process the data; see the Data_Quality_Information and Process_Step sections for more information.
  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
    The vertical accuracy of the post-processed kinematic GPS data is +/- 3 centimeters (cm), based on the accuracy of the base station used to post-process the data; see the Data_Quality_Information and Process_Step sections for more information.
  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
    A total of 31 transects (26 cross-shore, 5 alongshore) were planned for the survey, and all transects were collected. This dataset is considered complete for the information presented, as described in the abstract section. Users are advised to read the rest of the metadata record carefully for additional details.
  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?
    Cross-shore profiles were quality checked for consistency by comparing elevations to previous or subsequent surveys of the same transects.

How can someone get a copy of the data set?

Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?
Access_Constraints No access constraints. Please see 'Distribution Information' for details.
Use_Constraints These data are marked with a Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal License. These data are in the public domain and do not have any use constraints. Users are advised to read the dataset's metadata thoroughly to understand appropriate use and data limitations.
  1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)
    U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
    Attn: USGS SPCMSC Data Management
    600 4th Street South
    Saint Petersburg, FL
    United States

    727-502-8000 (voice)
    gs-g-spcmsc_data_inquiries@usgs.gov
  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set? line*.xyz
  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 for other purposes, nor on all computer systems, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty. Any use of trade, firm, or product 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?

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 30-Jul-2025
Metadata author:
U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
Attn: USGS SPCMSC Data Management
600 4th Street South
Saint Petersburg, FL
United States

727-502-8000 (voice)
gs-g-spcmsc_data_inquiries@usgs.gov
Metadata standard:
Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)
This page is <https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/catalog/spcmsc/20240201_MadeiraBeachFL_XYZ_metadata.faq.html>
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