Sea Turtle Nesting Decision Points and Cross-Shore Beach Profile Data Collected on August 07, 2018, from Jensen Beach, Florida

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?
   Thompson, David M., and Mickey, Rangley C., 20250121, Sea Turtle Nesting Decision Points and Cross-Shore Beach Profile Data Collected on August 07, 2018, from Jensen Beach, Florida:.

   This is part of the following larger work.
   Thompson, David M., and Mickey, Rangley C., 20250121, Sea Turtle Nesting Decision Points and Beach Profile Data on Florida Beaches: U.S. Geological Survey data release doi:10.5066/P9L8Z7C7, U.S. Geological Survey - St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, St. Petersburg, Florida.

   Online Links:

   • https://doi.org/10.5066/P9L8Z7C7

2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

   West_Bounding_Coordinate: -80.19959859
   East_Bounding_Coordinate: -80.18842285
   North_Bounding_Coordinate: 27.26236819
   South_Bounding_Coordinate: 27.24121887
   

3. What does it look like?
4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?

   Calendar_Date: 07-Aug-2018

   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 (4805)
   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 0.501
      Ordinates (y-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 0.536
      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?

   Jensen_20180807.zip

   Processed beach profile and turtle nesting decision point data collected August 07, 2018, at Jensen Beach, Florida. The profile data (location and elevation) are provided in individual .xyz files and the combined range domains of all the profiles collected this day are detailed below. The nesting decision point data (location and elevation of nest or apex of false crawl) are provided in .csv format. (Source: U.S. Geological Survey)

   x_UTMEasting

   UTM x-coordinate (NAD83, UTM Zone 17N) (Source: U.S. Geological Survey)

   Range of values
   Minimum:	579228.539
   Maximum:	580349.362
   Units:	meters

   y_UTMNorthing

   UTM y-coordinate (NAD83, UTM Zone 17N) (Source: U.S. Geological Survey)

   Range of values
   Minimum:	3013413.115
   Maximum:	3015749.094
   Units:	meters

   z_elevNAVD88

   Orthometric elevation z-coordinate (NAVD88, GEOID12B) (Source: U.S. Geological Survey)

   Range of values
   Minimum:	-0.146
   Maximum:	4.562
   Units:	meters

   crawl_id

   Filename of the beach profile (.xyz) files. This field is only present in the decision points (.csv) file. (Source: U.S. Geological Survey) LOC_YYMMDD_SS_T#: LOC is a three-letter abbreviation of the location (MEL = Melbourne, SHU = South Hutchinson, JEN=Jensen, JUP=Jupiter, and JUN = Juno), YYMMDD is the date, SS is the turtle species (Cc for Caretta caretta, Loggerhead sea turtle; Cm for Chelonia mydas, Green sea turtle; and Dc for Dermochelys coriacea, Leatherback sea turtle), T is the type of crawl (N = Nest and FC = False Crawl), and # is the transect/decision point number mapped on that survey date.

Who produced the data set?

1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)
   • David M. Thompson
   • Rangley C. Mickey
2. Who also contributed to the data set?
   Funding and support for this study were provided by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF). This document was improved by scientific/editorial and metadata reviews from Nancy T. Dewitt and Tess Rivenbark-Terrano of the St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center (SPCMSC).
3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
   U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center

   Attn: David M. Thompson

   600 4th Street South

   Saint Petersburg, FL
   

   UNITED STATES

   727-502-8079 (voice)

   dthompson@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: 07-Aug-2018 (process 1 of 4)

   PLANNING Sea turtle nesting decision points, either nest or apex of false crawl (no nest), were identified and marked by FWC contractors on the morning of the survey. 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: 07-Aug-2018 (process 2 of 4)

   ACQUISITION Transect lines were surveyed on foot by a person equipped with a GNSS receiver and antenna affixed to a SECO© surveying backpack. Transects started at the water’s edge, continued through either the turtle nest or the false crawl apex and into the dune until vegetation stopped the surveyor. The surveyor stopped for approximately 10 seconds (s) at either the nest or the apex of the false crawl, while walking the transect, making it easier to subsequently identify those locations during the DATA PROCESSING step. Kinematic GNSS data were recorded at 10 Hertz (Hz) with an Ashtech ProFlexTM 800 GNSS receiver and an Ashtech GNSS survey antenna. 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: 02-Oct-2018 (process 3 of 4)

   GNSS DATA POST-PROCESSING Raw kinematic GNSS data recorded on the surveying receiver were post-processed using GrafNav (NovAtel’s Waypoint GNSS Post Processing Software) version 8.7 to achieve the maximum horizontal position and elevation data accuracies. The kinematic GNSS data recorded by the surveying receiver were processed in NAD83 geographic coordinates to concurrent static GNSS data recorded by a local base station of known position (NAD83). The base station used was the FPRN, (https://www.fdot.gov/Geospatial/fprn.shtm) site at Stewart, Florida (site name = STEW). The final, differentially corrected, precise GNSS positions were exported from GrafNav in American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) text format as projected horizontal coordinates in NAD83, UTM Zone 17N, and vertical coordinates in NAVD88, GEOID12B. These post-processing steps are similar to those reported in Henderson and others (2016), the difference being that this survey utilized FPRN-CORS reference station data while Henderson and others (2016) established and collected data from their own reference station. 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: 22-Jul-2020 (process 4 of 4)

   DATA PROCESSING Beach profile horizontal position and elevation data for each transect and nesting decision point location (nest or apex of false crawl) were extracted from the post-processed GNSS data using the MathWorks MATLAB R2020a computing environment. First, the elevation data were adjusted by subtracting the elevation of the GNSS antenna above the ground. This measurement is taken while the backpack is attached to the surveyor and measured from the antenna reference point (ARP) to the ground (1.83 meters (m)). The elevation data were then smoothed in the cross-shore direction using a moving 0.5 m wide Hanning filter (Plant and others, 2002) to reduce vertical noise resulting from the walking motion of the surveyor. Next, the data were quality-controlled to remove invalid data points by eliminating points identified as having poor GNSS data quality by GrafNav, visually inspecting horizontal position plots and discarding points not on the cross-shore beach profile lines, and visually inspecting elevation plots and discarding erroneous GNSS data (for example, large spikes in the elevation data). The 0.5 m wide Hanning filter and quality control steps were chosen to be consistent with previous data releases of this type (e.g. Brown and others, 2018). In some cases, there was not enough usable data to define a profile or the decision point so those transect/decision point data were excluded. Lastly, the data were interpolated onto an evenly spaced 0.10 m cross-shore transect. 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 (NAVD88, GEOID12B). The data processing methods described here closely follow those developed by Brown and others (2018). The naming convention of the transects and nesting decision points is as follows: LOC_YYMMDD_SS_T#, where LOC is a three letter abbreviation of the location (MEL = Melbourne, SHU = South Hutchinson, JEN = Jensen, JUP = Jupiter, and JUN = Juno), YYMMDD is the date, SS is the turtle species (Cc for Caretta caretta, Loggerhead sea turtle; Cm for Chelonia mydas, Green sea turtle; and Dc for Dermochelys coriacea, Leatherback sea turtle), T is the type of crawl (N = Nest and FC = False Crawl), and # is the transect/decision point number mapped on that survey date. The decision point locations were written to a comma-separated values (.csv) file containing the same naming convention as the profiles and the x, y, and z coordinates. 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

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., 20160927, Hurricane Sandy beach response and recovery at Fire Island, New York: Shoreline and beach profile data, October 2012 to October 2014: U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 931, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia.

   Online Links:

   • https://doi.org/10.3133/ds931

   Brown, Jennifer 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 Coastal and Marine Science Center, St. Petersburg, Florida.

   Online Links:

   • https://doi.org/10.5066/F7T43S94

   Plant, Nathaniel G., Holland, Todd K., and Puleo, Jack A., 20021120, Analysis of the scale of errors in nearshore bathymetric data: Marine Geology Volume 191, Issues 1-2, Elsevier B.V., Amsterdam, Netherlands.

   Online Links:

   • https://doi.org/10.1016/S0025-3227(02)00497-8

   Other_Citation_Details: Pages 71-86
   

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 transects and turtle crawl paths overlapped. The turtle crawl paths are not included in this data release.
2. How accurate are the geographic locations?
   The horizontal accuracy of the post-processed kinematic GNSS data is +/- 2 centimeters (cm), based on the accuracy of the Florida Permanent Reference Network (FPRN) Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS) used to post-process the data.
3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
   The vertical accuracy of the post-processed kinematic GNSS data is +/- 3 cm, based on the accuracy of the FPRN CORS used to post-process the data.
4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
   This survey included nine transects through turtle nesting decision points. 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 transects nearby.

How can someone get a copy of the data set?

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? JEN_180807_Cc_FC1.xyz, JEN_180807_Cc_FC2.xyz, JEN_180807_Cc_FC3.xyz, JEN_180807_Cc_FC4.xyz, JEN_180807_Cc_FC5.xyz, JEN_180807_Cc_FC6.xyz, JEN_180807_Cc_FC7.xyz, JEN_180807_Cc_FC8.xyz, JEN_180807_Cc_N9.xyz, and Jensen_20180807_decisionPoints.csv
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?
   • Availability in digital form:

     Data format:	columnar text, comma-delimited text
     Network links:	https://coastal.er.usgs.gov/data-release/doi-P9L8Z7C7/data/Jensen_20180807.zip

   • Cost to order the data: None

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:

Last modified: 17-Jan-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

727-502-8000 (voice)

gs-g-spcmsc_data_inquiries@usgs.gov

Metadata standard:

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