Georeferenced scans of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) topographic sheets (T-Sheets) Collected Along the Fire Island and Great South Bay, New York, Coastline from 1834-1875

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Frequently anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?

Title:
Georeferenced scans of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) topographic sheets (T-Sheets) Collected Along the Fire Island and Great South Bay, New York, Coastline from 1834-1875
Abstract:
Topographic sheets (t-sheets) produced by the National Ocean Service (NOS) during the 1800s provide the position of past shorelines. The shoreline data can be vectorized into a geographic information system (GIS) and compared to modern shoreline data to calculate estimates of long-term shoreline rates of change. Many t-sheets were scanned and digitized by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and are available on the NOAA Shoreline web site (https://shoreline.noaa.gov/data/datasheets/t-sheets.html). However, some t-sheets were not scanned by NOAA and are only available via the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). The data included within this data release were previously unavailable or not published in digital format. These data were produced to provide a more comprehensive record of shoreline position for Fire Island and Great South Bay, New York, to aid geologic and coastal hazards studies. This data release includes previously unavailable georeferenced t-sheets and digital vector shorelines for the Fire Island and Great South Bay, New York, coastline from 1834, 1838, and 1874/1875. The original t-sheets were scanned by the NARA-authorized vendor and sent to the Unites States Geological Survey St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center (USGS SPCMSC) as non-georeferenced digital raster files. Upon arrival at the SPCMSC, USGS staff performed the following procedures: rasters were georeferenced, projected to a modern datum, and shorelines were digitized to create a vector polyline depicting the historical shoreline position. The t-sheets included in this data release are: 1) T-479a, T-479b, T-1 (Parts 2 and 3) (1834); 2) T-58 (Parts 1 and 2) (1838); 3) T-1374a, T-1374b, T-1375a, T-1375b (1874); and 4) T-1402 (1875). All shorelines, including the ocean-facing barrier island shoreline, back-barrier island shoreline, mainland and islands were digitized. Please read the full metadata for details on data collection, dataset variables, and data quality.
Supplemental_Information:
These data represent the shoreline position when the topographic sheets were created and do not necessarily represent present conditions.
  1. How might this data set be cited?
    Terrano, Joseph F., Smith, Kathryn E.L., Bendik, Kirsten J., and Vargas, Joseph M., 20200520, Georeferenced scans of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) topographic sheets (T-Sheets) Collected Along the Fire Island and Great South Bay, New York, Coastline from 1834-1875: U.S. Geological Survey Data Release doi:10.5066/P9LMOCJ0, U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg, FL.

    Online Links:

    This is part of the following larger work.

    Terrano, Joseph F., Smith, Kathryn E.L., Bendik, Kirsten J., and Vargas, Joseph M., 20200520, Historical Shorelines for Fire Island and Great South Bay, New York (1834 to 1875): Georeferenced Topographic sheets and Vector Digital Data: U.S. Geological Survey Data Release doi:10.5066/P9LMOCJ0, U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg, FL.

    Online Links:

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?
    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -73.231216
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -72.522675
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 40.870103
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 40.627128
  3. What does it look like?
  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
    Beginning_Date:
    Ending_Date:
    Currentness_Reference:
    ground condition
  5. What is the general form of this data set?
    Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: Raster Digital Data Set
  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?
    1. How are geographic features stored in the data set?
      This is a Raster data set. It contains the following raster data types:
      • Dimensions 9020 x 9188, type Grid cell
    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 2.1306435e-05. Longitudes are given to the nearest 2.1189548e-05. Latitude and longitude values are specified in Decimal seconds. The horizontal datum used is D_North_American_1983.
      The ellipsoid used is GRS_1980.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6356752.314140356.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.257222101.
  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?
    Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:
    T-sheets were obtained as ungeoreferenced images in the tagged image file format (TIFF), with an 8-bit pixel depth, and a pixel type of unsigned integer.
    Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation: Raster t-sheet images

Who produced the data set?

  1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)
    • Joseph F. Terrano
    • Kathryn E.L. Smith
    • Kirsten J. Bendik
    • Joseph M. Vargas
  2. Who also contributed to the data set?
    Acknowledgment of the U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, as a data source would be appreciated in products developed from these data, and such acknowledgment as is standard for citation and legal practices. Sharing of new data layers developed directly from these data would also be appreciated by the U.S. Geological Survey staff. Users should be aware that comparisons with other datasets for the same area from other time periods may be inaccurate due to inconsistencies resulting from changes in photointerpretation, mapping conventions, and digital processes over time. These data are not legal documents and are not to be used as such.
  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
    U.S. Geological Survey Coastal and Marine Science Center
    Attn: Joseph F. Terrano
    Researcher III
    600 4Th Street South
    St. Petersburg, FL
    USA

    727-502-8047 (voice)
    727-502-8182 (FAX)
    jterrano@contractor.usgs.gov

Why was the data set created?

Shoreline data are considered a crucial element in performing change analysis for erosion and accretion studies and for tracking shoreline movement over time. T-sheets were georeferenced and digitized to document the short- and long-term changes of select study areas along the Fire Island, New York, coastline. Digitized shorelines from the t-sheets provide an accurate and measurable change in shape, area, and shoreline movement over short- and long- term periods.

How was the data set created?

  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?
    Zimmerman and Benson, 2013 (source 1 of 1)
    Zimmermann, M. and Benson, J.L., 2013, Smooth sheets: How to work with them in a GIS to derive bathymetry, features and substrates: United States Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Springfield, Virginia.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: Digital Resources
    Source_Contribution: Descriptive procedure for georeferencing t-sheets
  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?
    Date: 2020 (process 1 of 2)
    T-sheet maps created for the Fire Island, New York, coastline from 1834 to 1875 were located by the United States National Archives (NARA) staff. An authorized vendor was then contracted to scan the requested topographic sheets: T-479a, T-479b, T-1 (Parts 2 and 3), T-58 (Parts 1 and 2), T-1374a, T-1374b, T-1375a, T-1375b, and T-1402. The t-sheets were then projected into the North American Datum of 1927 (NAD27) for georeferencing within ArcGIS 10.6.1. To georectify the t-sheets, the t-sheets were added to ArcMap 10.6.1 and the "Georeferencing" toolbar was opened. After locating a NAD27 graticule on the t-sheet, a mark was placed in the selected location and the coordinates in degrees, minutes, seconds (DMS) format were entered. The t-sheet was then auto-corrected to the entered coordinate. This process was repeated for all remaining NAD27 graticules on each t-sheet. The t-sheets were checked to ensure shoreline positions matched from t-sheet to t-sheet. T-sheets were then projected into the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD83) using the "project raster" tool in ArcGIS. Person who carried out this activity:
    U.S. Geological Survey St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
    Attn: Joseph F. Terrano
    Researcher III
    600 4th Street South
    St. Petersburg, FL
    U.S.

    (727) 502-8047 (voice)
    jterrano@contractor.usgs.gov
    Date: 13-Oct-2020 (process 2 of 2)
    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?

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?
    A formal accuracy assessment of the horizontal positional information in the dataset has not been conducted.
  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
    A formal accuracy assessment of the vertical positional information in the dataset has either not been conducted or is not applicable.
  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
    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.
  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?
    Georeferenced t-sheets were checked to ensure they were in the correct location, using more recently published t-sheets and modern imagery. The t-sheets were also checked to ensure the shorelines matched up from one t-sheet to the next. As a final quality control, reference points were checked to ensure they overlapped from one t-sheet to the next and were adjusted accordingly, if necessary.

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:
The U.S. Geological Survey requests to be acknowledged as originator of the data in future products or derivative research.
  1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)
    U.S. Geological Survey Coastal and Marine Science Center
    Attn: Joseph F. Terrano
    Researcher III
    600 4Th Street South
    St. Petersburg, FL
    USA

    727-502-8047 (voice)
    727-502-8182 (FAX)
    jterrano@contractor.usgs.gov
  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?
  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?
    This digital publication was prepared by an agency of the United States Government. Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system at the U.S. Geological Survey, no warranty expressed or implied is made regarding the display or utility of the data on any other system, nor shall the act of distribution imply any such warranty. The U.S. Geological Survey shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of the data described and (or) contained herein. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof.
  4. How can I download or order the data?

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 13-Oct-2020
Metadata author:
Joseph F. Terrano
U.S. Geological Survey Coastal and Marine Science Center
Researcher III
600 4Th Street South
St. Petersburg, FL
USA

727-502-8047 (voice)
727-502-8182 (FAX)
jterrano@contractor.usgs.gov
Metadata standard:
Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)
This page is <https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/catalog/spcmsc/Fire_Island_t-sheet_metadata.faq.html>
Generated by mp version 2.9.50 on Tue Sep 21 18:18:49 2021