Radar Time Series Measurements Collected at Duck, North Carolina – End of Pier (x = 600 meters)

Metadata also available as - [Questions & Answers] - [Parseable text] - [XML]

Metadata:

Identification_Information:
Citation:
Citation_Information:
Originator: Jenna A. Brown
Originator: Bryce J. McClenney
Originator: Steve E. Suttles
Publication_Date: 20260317
Title:
Radar Time Series Measurements Collected at Duck, North Carolina – End of Pier (x = 600 meters)
Edition: 1.0
Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: raster digital data
Larger_Work_Citation:
Citation_Information:
Originator: Jenna A. Brown
Originator: Bryce J. McClenney
Originator: Steve E. Suttles
Publication_Date: 20260311
Title:
Oceanographic Radar Time Series Measurements Collected at Duck, North Carolina
Series_Information:
Series_Name: U.S. Geological Survey data release
Issue_Identification: doi:10.5066/P1NLPWRP
Publication_Information:
Publication_Place: St. Petersburg, Florida
Publisher:
U.S. Geological Survey - St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
Online_Linkage: https://doi.org/10.5066/P1NLPWRP
Description:
Abstract:
An oceanographic radar sensor was deployed on August 18, 2022, at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Field Research Facility (FRF) in Duck, North Carolina, at the end of the FRF research pier. The location in local FRF cross-shore (x) and alongshore (y) coordinates are x = 600 meters (m) and y = 524 m. This dataset provides 1) 5 hertz (Hz) time series data of distance measurements (in meters), relative to the radar sensor, and associated water level elevations (in meters), referenced to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD88), and 2) hourly mean water level elevations (in meters), referenced to NAVD88, and wave parameters. Data collection is ongoing, and more data will be published in future versions of this data release.
Purpose:
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) developed an instrument package, utilizing a commercially available oceanographic radar sensor, to use for measuring storm waves and water levels in the nearshore, capable of being deployed rapidly, and transmitting data in near real-time. Several radar packages were deployed at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Field Research Facility (FRF) in Duck, North Carolina to test the performance and accuracy of the radar sensor. For further information regarding this work, refer to the associated journal article (Brown and others, 2025).
Supplemental_Information:
Following USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center (SPCMSC) data management protocols, these data were assigned a USGS field activity number (FAN), 2022-352-FA. Additional data details are available on the Coastal and Marine Geoscience Data System (CMGDS) at https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fan=2022-352-FA
Time_Period_of_Content:
Time_Period_Information:
Range_of_Dates/Times:
Beginning_Date: 20220818
Ending_Date: 20241231
Currentness_Reference: ground condition
Status:
Progress: In work
Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: As needed
Spatial_Domain:
Bounding_Coordinates:
West_Bounding_Coordinate: -75.745215
East_Bounding_Coordinate: -75.745215
North_Bounding_Coordinate: 36.183688
South_Bounding_Coordinate: 36.183688
Keywords:
Theme:
Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: USGS Metadata Identifier
Theme_Keyword: USGS:332438d0-96c5-4231-9e4e-9d925d0fa512
Theme:
Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: ISO 19115 Topic Category
Theme_Keyword: oceans
Theme_Keyword: geoscientificInformation
Theme:
Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: USGS Thesaurus
Theme_Keyword: ocean sciences
Theme_Keyword: time series datasets
Theme_Keyword: real-time monitoring and reporting
Theme:
Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: Marine Realms Information Bank (MRIB) keywords
Theme_Keyword: physical oceanography
Theme_Keyword: water level measurements
Theme_Keyword: oceanography
Theme:
Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: None
Theme_Keyword: U.S. Geological Survey
Theme_Keyword: USGS
Theme_Keyword: Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program
Theme_Keyword: CMHRP
Theme_Keyword: St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
Theme_Keyword: SPCMSC
Place:
Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: Geographic Names Information System (GNIS)
Place_Keyword: Duck
Place_Keyword: Dare County
Place_Keyword: State of North Carolina
Place_Keyword: Atlantic Ocean
Access_Constraints:
No access constraints. Please see 'Distribution Information' for details.
Use_Constraints:
These data are marked with a Creative Common CC0 1.0 Universal License. These data are in the public domain and do not have any use constraints.
Point_of_Contact:
Contact_Information:
Contact_Organization_Primary:
Contact_Organization:
U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
Contact_Person: USGS SPCMSC Data Management
Contact_Address:
Address_Type: mailing and physical
Address: 600 4th St S
City: St Petersburg
State_or_Province: FL
Postal_Code: 33701
Contact_Voice_Telephone: 727-502-8000
Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: gs-g-spcmsc_data_inquiries@usgs.gov
Native_Data_Set_Environment:
Environment as of Metadata Creation: Microsoft Windows 11 Enterprise Version 23H2; Python (version 3.12.8).
Cross_Reference:
Citation_Information:
Originator: Brown, J.A.
Originator: McClenney, B.
Originator: Dickhudt, P.
Publication_Date: 20260305
Title:
Measuring storm waves and water levels from a fixed structure with a rapidly deployable oceanographic radar
Series_Information:
Series_Name: Coastal Research Library
Issue_Identification: Volume 41
Publication_Information:
Publication_Place: Switzerland
Publisher: Springer, Cham
Other_Citation_Details: Pages 696–702
Online_Linkage: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-15473-6_106
Cross_Reference:
Citation_Information:
Originator: Nowacki, D.J.
Originator: Suttles, S.E.
Originator: Bales, R.D.
Originator: De Meo, O.A.
Publication_Date: 20241202
Title: Oceanographic Time Series Data Processing Library
Series_Information:
Series_Name: U.S. Geological Survey software release
Issue_Identification: doi:10.5066/P13IQYFW
Publication_Information:
Publication_Place: Santa Cruz, CA
Publisher:
U.S. Geological Survey - Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
Online_Linkage: https://doi.org/10.5066/P13IQYFW
Data_Quality_Information:
Attribute_Accuracy:
Attribute_Accuracy_Report:
The Geolux® oceanographic radar sensor (Geolux® LX-80-15 10 Hz) has a stated measurement accuracy of 2 millimeters (mm).
Logical_Consistency_Report:
Data was compared with nearby long-term monitoring observations to validate the measurements. For further information, refer to the associated journal article (Brown and others, 2025).
Completeness_Report:
Dataset is considered complete for the information presented, as described in the abstract. Users are advised to read the rest of the metadata record carefully for additional details. Data quality assurance and control was performed by removing erroneous values (when distance = 15 and/or water level = 7999) and linearly interpolating over small (less than 60 seconds) time gaps; longer time gaps are due to insufficient power when the solar panel was dirty or sensor maintenance.
Positional_Accuracy:
Horizontal_Positional_Accuracy:
Horizontal_Positional_Accuracy_Report:
Site location was determined based on the local USACE FRF coordinate system and using USACE survey maps to determine the world coordinates in the World Geodetic System of 1984 (WGS84) coordinate system.
Vertical_Positional_Accuracy:
Vertical_Positional_Accuracy_Report:
The elevation of the radar sensor, referenced to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD88), was surveyed with differential leveling based from a known benchmark (NGS Designation: 865 1370 K Tidal) and had a closure of 0.002 feet (less than 1 millimeter).
Lineage:
Process_Step:
Process_Description:
DEPLOYMENT - An instrument package was developed by the USGS consisting of a commercially available, non-contact oceanographic radar sensor, a data logger, a cellular modem, and an external battery housed inside a water-tight box, with a cellular antenna and solar panel affixed on the outside of the lid. Multiple radar instrument packages were built, with one each being deployed at three locations along the USACE FRF research pier including at the seaward ocean-facing end (x=600m) from August 18, 2022, to present, and at the middle (x=300m) and near the beginning (x=200m) from January 18, 2024, to April 23, 2024. Each box was attached to the FRF pier railing using specially fabricated stainless-steel L-shaped mounting arms that can be installed quickly and do not require drilling into the structure. Each radar was deployed such that the sensor extends over the water surface with no obstructions below (e.g., pier deck, piling, rocks) and with the box secured and as level as possible. The elevation of each sensor was surveyed to a known datum (NAVD88) using differential leveling.
Process_Date: 20220818
Process_Contact:
Contact_Information:
Contact_Person_Primary:
Contact_Person: Bryce J. McClenney
Contact_Position: Hydrologic Technician
Contact_Address:
Address_Type: mailing and physical
Address: 3916 Sunset Ridge Rd
City: Raleigh
State_or_Province: NC
Postal_Code: 27607
Country: USA
Contact_Voice_Telephone: 919-571-4082
Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: bjmcclen@usgs.gov
Process_Step:
Process_Description:
DATA COLLECTION - The non-contact oceanographic radar sensor (Geolux® LX-80-15 10 Hz) directly measured the elevation of the sea surface using a frequency-modulated electromagnetic (radio) wave to detect the distance from the sensor to the water surface and relating that to the surveyed elevation of the radar sensor. The radar sampled continuously at 10 Hz, and a data logger was used to save down-sampled 5 Hz time series data, which was transmitted in near real-time over a cellular network connection.
Process_Date: 202412
Process_Contact:
Contact_Information:
Contact_Person_Primary:
Contact_Person: Bryce J. McClenney
Contact_Position: Hydrologic Technician
Contact_Address:
Address_Type: mailing and physical
Address: 3916 Sunset Ridge Rd
City: Raleigh
State_or_Province: NC
Postal_Code: 27607
Country: USA
Contact_Voice_Telephone: 919-571-4082
Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: bjmcclen@usgs.gov
Process_Step:
Process_Description:
DATA PROCESSING - The 5 Hz time series data were minimally quality-controlled, with erroneous spikes (when distance = 15 and/or water level = 7999, which are the instrument default values for bad data) replaced with the fill value (not-a-number) and gaps in the water level time series of less than 60 seconds filled with linear interpolation; longer time gaps are due to insufficient power when the solar panel was dirty or sensor maintenance. Then the data were processed to compute mean water levels and wave conditions and converted into network common data form (netCDF, .nc) files with stglib python libraries (Nowacki and others, 2024), a package of code to process data consistent with procedures of the USGS Coastal/Marine Hazards and Resources Program. More information about stglib can be found here: https://stglib.readthedocs.io/en/latest/. Attributes describing the variables and conforming to CF (Climate and Forecast) Metadata Convention (version 1.8) were added to each file by stglib. Times are in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and water levels are in meters, referenced to NAVD88. NetCDF filenames include location (FRFx600 to represent the local FRF cross-shore coordinate of x=600m), deployment date (YYYYMM), an abbreviation of the instrument type ("glx" for Geolux® radar), and a designation for the file type, which is either "cont" for continuous time series data, or "spec" for wave spectra and statistics.
Process_Date: 20250131
Source_Produced_Citation_Abbreviation: *.nc
Process_Contact:
Contact_Information:
Contact_Person_Primary:
Contact_Person: Jenna A. Brown
Contact_Position: Physical Scientist
Contact_Address:
Address_Type: mailing and physical
Address: 700 W Research Blvd
City: Fayetteville
State_or_Province: AR
Postal_Code: 72701
Country: USA
Contact_Voice_Telephone: 479-442-4888
Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: jenniferbrown@usgs.gov
Spatial_Data_Organization_Information:
Direct_Spatial_Reference_Method: Raster
Spatial_Reference_Information:
Horizontal_Coordinate_System_Definition:
Geographic:
Latitude_Resolution: 0.00001
Longitude_Resolution: 0.00001
Geographic_Coordinate_Units: Decimal degrees
Geodetic_Model:
Horizontal_Datum_Name: WGS 84
Ellipsoid_Name: WGS 84
Semi-major_Axis: 6378137.000000
Denominator_of_Flattening_Ratio: 298.257224
Vertical_Coordinate_System_Definition:
Altitude_System_Definition:
Altitude_Datum_Name: North American Vertical Datum 1988
Altitude_Resolution: 0.1
Altitude_Distance_Units: meters
Altitude_Encoding_Method:
Explicit elevation coordinate included with horizontal coordinates
Entity_and_Attribute_Information:
Overview_Description:
Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:
The Climate and Forecast (CF)-compliant metadata (version CF-1.8) in the header of the netCDF files provide information about the conventions used for attributes in the dataset. Times are in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). NetCDF filenames include location (FRFx600 to represent the local FRF cross-shore coordinate of x=600m), deployment date (YYYYMM), an abbreviation of the instrument type ("glx" for Geolux® radar), and a designation for the file type, which is either "cont" for continuous time series data, or "spec" for wave spectra and statistics.
Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation:
The entity and attribute information were generated by the individual and/or agency identified as the originator of the dataset. Please review the rest of the metadata record for additional details and information.
Distribution_Information:
Distributor:
Contact_Information:
Contact_Organization_Primary:
Contact_Organization:
U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
Contact_Person: USGS SPCMSC Data Management
Contact_Address:
Address_Type: mailing and physical
Address: 600 4th St S
City: St. Petersburg
State_or_Province: FL
Postal_Code: 33701
Contact_Voice_Telephone: 727-502-8000
Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: gs-g-spcmsc_data_inquiries@usgs.gov
Resource_Description:
FRFx600_202208glx_cont.nc, FRFx600_202208glx_spec.nc, FRFx600_202209glx_cont.nc, FRFx600_202209glx_spec.nc, FRFx600_202210glx_cont.nc, FRFx600_202210glx_spec.nc, FRFx600_202211glx_cont.nc, FRFx600_202211glx_spec.nc, FRFx600_202212glx_cont.nc, FRFx600_202212glx_spec.nc, FRFx600_202301glx_cont.nc, FRFx600_202301glx_spec.nc, FRFx600_202302glx_cont.nc, FRFx600_202302glx_spec.nc, FRFx600_202303glx_cont.nc, FRFx600_202303glx_spec.nc, FRFx600_202304glx_cont.nc, FRFx600_202304glx_spec.nc, FRFx600_202305glx_cont.nc, FRFx600_202305glx_spec.nc, FRFx600_202306glx_cont.nc, FRFx600_202306glx_spec.nc, FRFx600_202307glx_cont.nc, FRFx600_202307glx_spec.nc, FRFx600_202308glx_cont.nc, FRFx600_202308glx_spec.nc, FRFx600_202309glx_cont.nc, FRFx600_202309glx_spec.nc, FRFx600_202310glx_cont.nc, FRFx600_202310glx_spec.nc, FRFx600_202311glx_cont.nc, FRFx600_202311glx_spec.nc, FRFx600_202312glx_cont.nc, FRFx600_202312glx_spec.nc, FRFx600_202401glx_cont.nc, FRFx600_202401glx_spec.nc, FRFx600_202402glx_cont.nc, FRFx600_202402glx_spec.nc, FRFx600_202403glx_cont.nc, FRFx600_202403glx_spec.nc, FRFx600_202404glx_cont.nc, FRFx600_202404glx_spec.nc, FRFx600_202405glx_cont.nc, FRFx600_202405glx_spec.nc, FRFx600_202406glx_cont.nc, FRFx600_202406glx_spec.nc, FRFx600_202407glx_cont.nc, FRFx600_202407glx_spec.nc, FRFx600_202408glx_cont.nc, FRFx600_202408glx_spec.nc, FRFx600_202409glx_cont.nc, FRFx600_202409glx_spec.nc, FRFx600_202410glx_cont.nc, FRFx600_202410glx_spec.nc, FRFx600_202411glx_cont.nc, FRFx600_202411glx_spec.nc, FRFx600_202412glx_cont.nc, FRFx600_202412glx_spec.nc, FRFx600_2022.zip, FRFx600_2023.zip, FRFx600_2024.zip
Distribution_Liability:
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. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
Standard_Order_Process:
Digital_Form:
Digital_Transfer_Information:
Format_Name: NetCDF
Format_Version_Number: netCDF-4, CF-1.8
Format_Information_Content:
Time-series data in netCDF format following Climate and Forecast (CF) Metadata Conventions (version 1.8).
File_Decompression_Technique:
Uncompressed individual files per month and compressed files per year provided.
Transfer_Size: 3656
Digital_Transfer_Option:
Online_Option:
Computer_Contact_Information:
Network_Address:
Network_Resource_Name: https://doi.org/10.5066/P1NLPWRP
Access_Instructions:
This is the link to the data release webpage where the netCDF files can be downloaded individually (per month), or as a zip file (per year). Datasets are grouped per distance in the cross-shore direction (x = 200, 300, or 600 meters) along the FRF pier.
Fees: None
Technical_Prerequisites:
These data can be viewed with any software capable of reading netCDF files.
Metadata_Reference_Information:
Metadata_Date: 20260317
Metadata_Contact:
Contact_Information:
Contact_Organization_Primary:
Contact_Organization:
U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
Contact_Person: USGS SPCMSC Data Management
Contact_Address:
Address_Type: mailing and physical
Address: 600 4th St S
City: St. Petersburg
State_or_Province: FL
Postal_Code: 33701
Contact_Voice_Telephone: 727-502-8000
Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: gs-g-spcmsc_data_inquiries@usgs.gov
Metadata_Standard_Name: Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata
Metadata_Standard_Version: FGDC-STD-001-1998
This page is <https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/catalog/spcmsc/FRFx600_glx_metadata.html>
Generated by mp version 2.9.51 on Thu Mar 19 10:04:47 2026