Single-Beam derived bathymetric contours of Florida Bay, Florida (1995-1999) in ESRI shapefile format

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Frequently anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?

Title:
Single-Beam derived bathymetric contours of Florida Bay, Florida (1995-1999) in ESRI shapefile format
Abstract:
Land development and alterations of the ecosystem in South Florida have decreased freshwater and increased nutrient flows into Florida Bay. As a result, there has been a decrease in the water quality of the bay; the decline in water quality has prompted sea grass die-offs and has led to reduced fish populations. Restoration of water quality in Florida Bay will depend partly upon using numerical-circulation and sediment-transport models to establish water-quality targets and to assess progress toward reaching restoration targets. Application of these models is complicated, however, because of complex sea-floor topography (basin-mudbank morphology). The only complete topography data set of the Bay is 100 years old. Consequently, an accurate and modern sea-floor or bathymetry map of the Bay was critical for numerical modeling research. A modern bathymetry data set will also permit a comparison to historical data in order to help access sedimentation rates within the Bay.
The U.S. Geological Survey USGS conducted a mapping project from 1995 to 1999 in the Florida Bay to collect new bathymetric data for the entire bay. This study produced a detailed bathymetric data set of Florida Bay in order to help assess sedimentation rates and provide numerical modelers with an accurate bathymetry map.
This report serves as an archive of processed single-beam bathymetry data that were collected in Florida Bay, Florida over multiple cruises between 1995 and 1999. Geographic information system data products include a XYZ data, bathymetric contours, and USGS quadrangle maps. Additional files include formal Federal Geographic Data Committee metadata.
  1. How might this data set be cited?
    Hansen, Mark, 2015, Single-Beam derived bathymetric contours of Florida Bay, Florida (1995-1999) in ESRI shapefile format: Archive of Bathymetry Data Collected in South Florida from 1995 to 2015 U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 1031, U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg, Florida.

    Online Links:

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?
    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -81.1296
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -80.3775
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 25.2437
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 24.7424
  3. What does it look like?
  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
    Beginning_Date: 1995
    Ending_Date: 1999
    Currentness_Reference:
    ground condition
  5. What is the general form of this data set?
    Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: bathymetric contours
  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):
      • Ring composed of arcs (1673)
    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 0.0000001. Longitudes are given to the nearest 0.0000001. Latitude and longitude values are specified in decimal degrees. The horizontal datum used is WGS84-G1150.
      The ellipsoid used is WGS84.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378137.0.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.257223563.
      Vertical_Coordinate_System_Definition:
      Depth_System_Definition:
      Depth_Datum_Name: NAVD88
      Depth_Resolution: 0.01
      Depth_Distance_Units: meters
      Depth_Encoding_Method: Explicit depth coordinate included with horizontal coordinates
  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?
    DS1031-FlBay_UTM17_NAVD88-G99.contours.shp
    Post-processed, bathymetric contours of Florida Bay, Florida. (Source: USGS)
    FID
    Internal feature number (Source: ESRI) Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated
    Shape
    Feature geometry (Source: ESRI) Polyline
    Length
    Length of feature (Source: ESRI)
    Range of values
    Minimum:0
    Maximum:100000.0
    Units:meters
    Resolution:0.001
    Contour
    NAVD88 elevation contour (Source: USGS)
    Range of values
    Minimum:-2
    Maximum:-10
    Units:meters
    Resolution:1

Who produced the data set?

  1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)
    • Mark Hansen
  2. Who also contributed to the data set?
    South Florida Ecosystem Program is one of several study areas within the U.S. Geological Survey Ecosystem Program. Nancy T. DeWitt performed a significant portion of bathymetric survey data collection and processing. BJ Reynolds and Lance Thornton provided data collection support.
  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
    Mark Hansen
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Oceanographer
    600 Fourth Street South
    St. Petersburg, FL
    USA

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

Why was the data set created?

Detailed, high-resolution maps of Florida Bay mudbank elevations are needed to understand sediment dynamics and provide input into water quality and circulation models. The bathymetry of Florida Bay had not been systematically mapped in nearly 100 years, and some shallow areas of the bay have never been mapped. An accurate, modern bathymetric survey provides a baseline for assessing future sedimentation rates in the Bay, and a foundation for developing a sediment budget. Due to the complexity of the Bay and age of existing data, a current bathymetric grid (digitally derived from the survey) is critical for numerical models.
Numerical circulation and sediment transport models being developed for the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Program are being used to address water quality issues in Florida Bay. Application of these models is complicated due to the complex sea-floor topography (basin/mudbank morphology) of the Bay. The only complete topography data set of the Bay is 100 years old. Consequently, an accurate, modern sea-floor bathymetry map of the Bay is critical for numerical modeling research. A modern bathymetry data set will also permit a comparison to historical data in order to help access sedimentation rates within the Bay.

How was the data set created?

  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?
    USGS USGS Open-File Report OFR 00-347 (source 1 of 1)
    Hansen, Mark DeWitt, Nancy T., 2000, 1890 and 1990 Bathymetry of Florida Bay.

    Type_of_Source_Media: report
    Source_Contribution: Original processed single-beam bathymetric data
  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?
    Date: 1999 (process 1 of 5)
    Data Acquisition - The sea-floor of Florida Bay was mapped by using an outboard motor boat, equipped with a high-precision Global Positioning Systems (GPS) coupled with a high-precision depth sounder. To accomplish this task, the SANDS (System for Accurate Nearshore Depth Surveying) system was developed by Mark Hansen (SPCMSC) and Jeff List (WHSC) of the U.S. Geological Survey. SANDS consists of two components, hardware and processing software.
    Data was collected on a USGS 7.5-minute quadrangle-by-quadrangle basis, proceeding westward from Blackwater Sound. The track-line spacing varied depending upon the relief of the sea floor; that is, closer spacing adjacent to mud-banks and wider spacing in the basins. Track-lines were surveyed in a north-south orientation, and crossings (intersecting track-lines) were surveyed in an east-west orientation. Crossing lines are critical because they serve as a check on the internal accuracy of the data.]
    Reference GPS reference stations were operated on an USGS benchmark benchmark, typically located within approximately 15 km of the farthest single-beam track line. Reference and rover GPS receivers recorded the 12-channel full-carrier-phase positioning signals (L1/L2) from satellites via ASHTECH choke-ring antennas. The reference and rover receivers record their positions concurrently at 1-second(s) recording intervals throughout the survey.
    Boat motion was recorded at 50-millisecond (ms) intervals using a TSS Dynamic Motion Sensor 05 (TSS DMS-05). Bathymetric soundings were recorded at 10-ms intervals using an Marimatech EC-100 survey grade echo-sounder. The single-beam data were acquired using the hydrographic software HYPACK version 5. All data strings from the instruments were streamed in real time and recorded through HYPACK software. Person who carried out this activity:
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Attn: Mark Hansen
    Oceanographer
    600 4th Street South
    St. Petersburg, FL
    USA

    (727) 502-8000 (voice)
    mhansen@usgs.gov
    Data sources produced in this process:
    • Raw sensor data files in ASCII text format and GPS Carrier-phase data in binary format.
    Date: 1999 (process 2 of 5)
    Differentially Corrected Navigation Processing- The coordinate values of the reference GPS base stations obtained from OPUS were provided in the ITRF00 coordinate system. All survey data for the project was referenced to WGS84. Consequently, reference station coordinates were transformed to WGS84 coordinates using the NOAA/NGS software HTDP v1.3. The respective reference (base) station coordinates utilized as reference positions were imported into PNAV v2.0 software by ASHTECH, Inc. Differentially corrected rover trajectories were computed by merging the master and rover the GPS data. During processing, steps were taken to ensure that the trajectories between the base and rover were clean, resulting in fixed positions. By analyzing the graphs, trajectory maps, and processing logs that GrafNav produces for each GPS session, GPS data from satellites flagged by the program as having poor health or satellite time segments that had cycle slips could be excluded, or the satellite elevation mask angle could be adjusted to improve the position solutions. The final differentially corrected precise DGPS positions were computed for each rover GPS session and exported in ASCII text format. Person who carried out this activity:
    Mark Hansen
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Oceanographer
    600 Fourth St. South
    St. Petersburg, FL

    727-502-8000 (voice)
    727-502-8032 (FAX)
    mhansen@usgs.gov
    Data sources produced in this process:
    • Boat trajectory data files in ASCII text format.
    Date: 1999 (process 3 of 5)
    Single-beam Bathymetry Processing- All data were processed using SANDS version 1.2. The primary purpose of SANDS is to time synchronize processed trajectories, soundings, and heave/pitch/roll, then merges all data strings. SANDS applies latency errors, applies geometric corrections for antenna staff pitch and roll, applies geometric corrections for antenna transducer pitch and roll (beam correction), time synchronizes the GPS trajectory and HYPACK files for each GPS epoch, and converts WGS84 latitude/longitude coordinates to North American Datum of 1983 NAD83/GRS80 UTM coordinates (m), and applies a geoid separation based upon NOAA/NGS the Geoid99 model. Latitude/longitude conversion to UTM coordinates was accomplished using NOAA/NGS UTM v2.0 software. Intermediate output files are comma delimited text files containing: time of day (seconds of day), UTM X coordinate (m), UTM Y coordinate (m), ellipsoid height, orthometric height, smoothed raw depths, PNAV RMS value, and HYPACK line number. A header line indicates the attributes entry for each column. Person who carried out this activity:
    Mark Hansen
    U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) - St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
    Oceanographer
    600 4th Street South
    St. Petersburg, FL
    USA

    727-502-8000 (voice)
    727-502-8032 (FAX)
    mhansen@usgs.gov
    Data sources produced in this process:
    • Final processed bathymetry data files in ASCII text format.
    Date: 1999 (process 4 of 5)
    The sounding data was entered into a gridding and contouring software packages CPS3 (Radian). Contours were generated using an inverse distance weighting and grid step-down operation. Contours vectors were output then entered into Adobe Illustrator (Adobe) that utilized a plug-in tool Map Publisher. Contours were then overlaid on USGS rectified aerial photograph digital orthometric quarter quadrangle (DOQQ). Using the Illustrator pencil tool, the contours were manually edited based upon operator local knowledge and bathymetric contouring expertise. Person who carried out this activity:
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Attn: Mark Hansen
    Oceanographer
    600 4th Street South
    St. Petersburg, FL
    USA

    (727) 502-8000 (voice)
    mhansen@usgs.gov
    Date: 13-Oct-2020 (process 5 of 5)
    Added keywords section with USGS persistent identifier as theme keyword. 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?
    Hansen, Mark DeWitt, Nancy T., 2000, 1890 and 1990 Bathymetry of Florida Bay: USGS Open-File Report OFR 00-347, U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg, FL.

    Online Links:

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

  1. How well have the observations been checked?
    The accuracy of the data is determined during data collection. This dataset is derived from a multiple research cruises using identical equipment, set-ups, and staff; therefore, it is internally consistent. Methods are employed to maintain data collection consistency aboard the platform. During mobilization, each piece of equipment is isolated to obtain internal and external offset measurements with respect to the survey platform. All the critical measurements are recorded manually and digitally entered into their respective programs. Offsets between the single-beam transducers and the Ashtech antenna reference point (ARP) were measured and accounted for in post-processing. Bar checks were performed as calibration efforts and accounted for any drift in the Marimatech Echosounder. Differential Geographic Positioning System (DGPS) coordinates were obtained using post-processing software packages developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)/National Geodetic Survey (NGS) Online Positioning User Service (OPUS), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Online Positioning User Service (GIPSY), and Scripps Orbit and Permanent Array Center Online Positioning User Service (SCOUT). Boat trajectories were computed with PNAV v2.0 software by ASHTECH, Inc. These bathymetric data have not been independently verified for accuracy.
  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?
    The GPS antenna and receiver acquisition configuration used at the reference station was duplicated on the survey vessel (rover). The base receiver and the rover receiver record their positions concurrently at 1Hz recording intervals throughout the survey. All processed measurements are referenced to the base station coordinates.
    GPS base or differential reference stations were operated within approximately 15 to 20 km of the survey area. Ten new temporary ground-control points or benchmarks (surveyed to within 1 cm to 2 cm accuracy) were established throughout the study area for use as reference receiver sites using standard benchmarks procedures. The new benchmarks were surveyed using Ashtech Z-12, 12 channel dual-frequency GPS receivers. Full-phase carrier data were recorded on each occupied benchmark in Ashtech proprietary BIN format with daily occupations ranging from 6 to 12 hours. BIN files were then converted to RINEX-2 format for position processing.
    All static base station GPS sessions were submitted for processing to the online OPUS, GIPSY, and SCOUT system software. The computed base location results were entered into a spreadsheet to compute one final positional coordinate and error analysis for that base location. The final positional coordinate (latitude, longitude, and ellipsoid height) is the weighted average of all GPS sessions. For each GPS session, the weighted average was calculated from the total session time in seconds; therefore, longer GPS occupation times held more value than shorter occupation times. Results were computed relative to ITRF00 coordinate system. The established geodetic reference frame for the project was WGS84. Therefore, final reference coordinates used to process the rover data were transformed from ITRF00 to WGS84 using National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/National Geodetic Survey(NOAA/NGS) HTDP software v2.1.
    OPUS, GIPSY, and SCOUT results provide an error measurement for each daily solution. Applying these error measurements, the horizontal accuracy of the base station is estimated to be 0.04 (m) root mean squared (RMS).
    The kinematic (rover) trajectories were processed using PNAV v2.0, by ASHTECH, Inc. A horizontal error measurement, RMS is computed for each epoch. The horizontal trajectory errors for varied between 0 and 0.08(m).
    The combined horizontal error from base station coordinate solutions and rover trajectories range from 0 and 0.12 (m), with the average approximately 0.06 (m).
  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
    The GPS antenna and receiver acquisition configuration used at the reference station was duplicated on the survey vessel (rover). The base receiver and the rover receiver record their positions concurrently at 1Hz recording intervals throughout the survey. All processed measurements are referenced to the base station coordinates.
    GPS base or differential reference stations were operated within approximately 15 to 20 km of the survey area. Ten new temporary ground-control points or benchmarks (surveyed to within 1 cm to 2 cm accuracy) were established throughout the study area for use as reference receiver sites using standard benchmarks procedures. The new benchmarks were surveyed using Ashtech Z-12, 12 channel dual-frequency GPS receivers. Full-phase carrier data were recorded on each occupied benchmark in Ashtech proprietary BIN format with daily occupations ranging from 6 to 12 hours. BIN files were then converted to RINEX-2 format for position processing.
    All static base station GPS sessions were submitted for processing to the online OPUS, GIPSY, and SCOUT system software. The computed base location results were entered into a spreadsheet to compute one final positional coordinate and error analysis for that base location. The final positional coordinate (latitude, longitude, and ellipsoid height) is the weighted average of all GPS sessions. For each GPS session, the weighted average was calculated from the total session time in seconds; therefore, longer GPS occupation times held more value than shorter occupation times. Results were computed relative to ITRF00 coordinate system. The established geodetic reference frame for the project was WGS84. Therefore, final reference coordinates used to process the rover data were transformed from ITRF00 to WGS84 using National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/National Geodetic Survey(NOAA/NGS) HTDP software v2.1.
    OPUS, GIPSY, and SCOUT results provide an error measurement for each daily solution. Applying these error measurements, the vertical accuracy of the base station is estimated to be 0.04 (m) root mean squared (RMS).
    The kinematic (rover) trajectories were processed using PNAV v2.0, by ASHTECH, Inc. A vertical error measurement, RMS is computed for each epoch. The vertical trajectory errors for varied between 0 and 0.08(m).
    The combined vertical error from base station coordinate solutions and rover trajectories range from 0 and 0.14 (m), with the average approximately 0.08 (m).
  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
    These are complete post-processed x,y,z bathymetric data points from acoustic single-beam system collected between 1995 to 1999 in Florida Bay, Florida.
  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?
    This dataset was acquired on multiple research cruises in/between 1995 and 1999 with identical hardware and software systems.

How can someone get a copy of the data set?

Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?
Access_Constraints:
The U.S. Geological Survey requests that it be referenced as the originator of this dataset in any future products or research derived from these data.
Use_Constraints: These data should not be used for navigational purposes.
  1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)
    Mark E. Hansen
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Oceanographer
    600 Fourth St. South
    St. Petersburg, FL

    (727) 502-8000 (voice)
    (727) 502-8032 (FAX)
    mhansen@usgs.gov
  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set? Bathymetric contours derived from single-beam sounding data.
  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?
    The data have no explicit or implied guarantees. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system at 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. The USGS or the U.S. Government shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of the data described and/or contained herein.
  4. How can I download or order the data?

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 13-Oct-2020
Metadata author:
U.S. Geological Survey
Attn: Mark Hansen
Oceanographer
600 4th Street South
St. Petersburg, FL
USA

(727) 502-8000 (voice)
mhansen@usgs.gov
Metadata standard:
FGDC Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)
This page is <https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/catalog/spcmsc/DS1031-FLBay_WGS84_NAVD88-G99_metadata.contours.faq.html>
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