Massachusetts Mean (interpolated) Beach Slope Point Data

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Frequently anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?

Title: Massachusetts Mean (interpolated) Beach Slope Point Data
Abstract:
The National Assessment of Coastal Change Hazards project derives beach morphology features from lidar elevation data for the purpose of understanding and predicting storm impacts to our nation's coastlines. This dataset defines mean beach slopes for Massachusetts for data collected at various times between 2000 and 2013.
Supplemental_Information:
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) Saint Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center (SPCMSC) - St. Petersburg, Fla., assigns a unique identifier (called a Field Activity Number, or FAN) to each cruise or field activity. The following FANs are associated with this activity: 00LTS04, 05CNT06, 10CNT05, 11CNT05, 13CNT05.The FAN naming convention is as follows: 00LTS04 tells us the data were collected in 2000 for the Lidar Topographic Survey (LTS) study, and the data were collected during the fourth field activity for that study in that calendar year.
  1. How might this data set be cited?
    Doran, Kara S., Birchler, Justin J., Long, Joseph W., and Weber, Kathryn M., 20161004, Massachusetts Mean (interpolated) Beach Slope Point Data: U.S. Geological Survey Data Release doi:10.5066/F7B8568F, U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg, FL.

    Online Links:

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?
    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -70.9903
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -69.9288
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 42.8613
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 41.5401
  3. What does it look like?
  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
    Beginning_Date: 01-Oct-2000
    Ending_Date: 21-Apr-2014
    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):
      • Entity Point (1698)
    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 0.0197843295. Longitudes are given to the nearest 0.0229959585. Latitude and longitude values are specified in Decimal Degrees. The horizontal datum used is D WGS 1984.
      The ellipsoid used is WGS 1984.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378137.0.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.257223563.
  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?
    MA_Mean_Slopes.txt
    Lidar-derived beach slopes. Measured as the endpoint slope between the locations of dune toe and Mean High Water elevation. Values of -999 represent "no data" values. (Source: USGS)
    Longitude
    Longitude of interpolated shoreline position in decimal degrees. (Source: USGS)
    Range of values
    Minimum:-70.9903
    Maximum:-69.9288
    Units:Decimal Degrees
    Latitude
    Latitude of interpolated shoreline position in decimal degrees. (Source: USGS)
    Range of values
    Minimum:41.5401
    Maximum:42.8613
    Units:Decimal Degrees
    slope
    Mean of beach slopes. (Source: USGS)
    Range of values
    Minimum:0.0112
    Maximum:0.3767
    Units:Radians
    mean_res_err
    Mean residual error. (Source: USGS)
    Range of values
    Minimum:0.000703
    Maximum:0.1691
    Units:Radians
    95_confidence
    95 percent confidence interval, equal to 2 x (mean_res_err). (Source: USGS)
    Range of values
    Minimum:0.0014
    Maximum:0.3381
    Units:Radians

Who produced the data set?

  1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)
    • Kara S. Doran
    • Justin J. Birchler
    • Joseph W. Long
    • Kathryn M. Weber
  2. Who also contributed to the data set?
  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Attn: Kara S. Doran
    600 4th Street South
    Saint Petersburg, FL
    UNITED STATES

    727-502-8117 (voice)
    727-502-8001 (FAX)
    kdoran@usgs.gov

Why was the data set created?

To provide mean slope data between the endpoint locations of the Mean High Water and seaward-most dune toe elevations, interpolated to a 200 meter (m) alongshore resolution using a 400-m wide Hanning window. This dataset, MA_Mean_Slopes.txt, and others associated with this project can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.5066/F7B8568F.

How was the data set created?

  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?
    00LTS04 (source 1 of 5)
    Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), Office for Coastal Management (OCM), United States Geological Survey (USGS), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), 20000101, 2000 Fall East Coast NOAA/USGS/NASA Airborne LiDAR Assessment of Coastal Erosion (ALACE) Project for the US Coastline.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: Online digital data
    Source_Contribution:
    Lidar-derived elevation data collected by this source was used to estimate dune morphology variables.
    05CNT06 (source 2 of 5)
    JALBTCX (Joint Airborne Lidar Bathymetry Technical Center of eXpertise), 2009, 2005 - 2007 US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Topo/Bathy Lidar: Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: Online digital data
    Source_Contribution:
    Lidar-derived elevation data collected by this source was used to estimate dune morphology variables.
    10CNT05 (source 3 of 5)
    Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), Office for Coastal Management (OCM), and JALBTCX (Joint Airborne Lidar Bathymetry Technical Center of eXpertise), Unpublished material, 2010 US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Joint Airborne Lidar Bathymetry Technical Center of eXpertise (JALBTCX) Topobathy Lidar: Northeast (MA, ME, NH, RI).

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: Online digital data
    Source_Contribution:
    Lidar-derived elevation data collected by this source was used to estimate dune morphology variables.
    11CNT05 (source 4 of 5)
    Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), Office for Coastal Management (OCM), United States Geological Survey (USGS), Maine's Office of GIS (MEGIS), and Photo Science Inc. (PSI), 201308, 2011 U.S. Geological Survey Topographic LiDAR: LiDAR for the North East.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: Online digital data
    Source_Contribution:
    Lidar-derived elevation data collected by this source was used to estimate dune morphology variables.
    13CNT05 (source 5 of 5)
    Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), Office for Coastal Management (OCM), United States Geological Survey (USGS), and Woolpert, 20150708, 2013-2014 U.S. Geological Survey CMGP LiDAR: Post Sandy.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: Online digital data
    Source_Contribution:
    Lidar-derived elevation data collected by this source was used to estimate dune morphology variables.
  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?
    Date: 2016 (process 1 of 3)
    For dune morphology data: Elevation data from lidar surveys were interpolated in MATLAB R2014b to a gridded domain that was rotated parallel to the shoreline and had a resolution of 10 m in the alongshore direction and 2.5 m in the cross-shore direction. The interpolation method applies spatial filtering with a Hanning window that is twice as wide as the grid resolution. Dune morphology data are extracted from the elevation grid in MATLAB. Beach slopes were extracted from endpoint locations of the Mean High Water and dune toe elevations. The beach slopes were temporally averaged then interpolated to 200 m alongshore resolution by filtering with a 400 m wide Hanning window. More details on the methodology can be found in the USGS Open-File Report, "A method for determining average beach slope and beach slope variability for U.S. sandy coastlines", available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2015/1053
    Date: 24-Jan-2017 (process 2 of 3)
    Keywords section of metadata optimized for discovery in USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Data Catalog. Person who carried out this activity:
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Attn: Alan O. Allwardt
    Contractor -- Information Specialist
    2885 Mission Street
    Santa Cruz, CA

    831-460-7551 (voice)
    831-427-4748 (FAX)
    aallwardt@usgs.gov
    Date: 13-Oct-2020 (process 3 of 3)
    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?
  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?
    Horizontal accuracy was not estimated.
  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
    Vertical accuracy for beach and dune morphology (dune crest and toe elevation) data is dependent on the positional accuracy of the lidar data. Estimated vertical accuracy of lidar surveys is +/- 15 centimeters (cm). However, vertical accuracies may vary based on the type of terrain (for example, inaccuracies may increase as slope increases or with the presence of extremely dense vegetation) and the accuracy of the GPS and aircraft-attitude measurements.
  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
    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?
    Data gaps exist where there are no sandy shorelines (such as over inlets, marshes, or rocky coasts). For each 400- meter (m) window width, data will be given a null value if greater than 50% of points are missing. For inlets narrower than the 400-m window, only slopes associated with the data on either side of the inlet were computed. No additional checks for consistency were performed on this data.

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:
Public domain data from the U.S. Government are freely redistributable with proper metadata and source attribution. The USGS 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)
    USGS
    Attn: Kara S. Doran
    600 4th Street South
    Saint Petersburg, FL

    727-502-8117 (voice)
    727-502-8001 (FAX)
    kdoran@usgs.gov
  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set? MA_Mean_slopes.txt
  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:
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
Attn: Kara S. Doran
600 4th Street South
Saint Petersburg, FL
UNITED STATES

727-502-8117 (voice)
727-502-8001 (FAX)
kdoran@usgs.gov
Metadata standard:
Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)
This page is <https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/catalog/spcmsc/MA_Mean_Slopes_metadata.faq.html>
Generated by mp version 2.9.50 on Tue Sep 21 18:18:51 2021