North Carolina Synthetic Elevation Checkpoints, Complex Version

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Metadata:

Identification_Information
Data_Quality_Information
Spatial_Data_Organization_Information
Spatial_Reference_Information
Entity_and_Attribute_Information
Distribution_Information
Metadata_Reference_Information

Identification_Information:

Citation:

Citation_Information:

Originator: Alexander C. Seymour
Originator: Kara S. Doran
Publication_Date: 20250509
Title: North Carolina Synthetic Elevation Checkpoints, Complex Version
Edition: 1.0
Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector and tabular digital data
Larger_Work_Citation:

Citation_Information:

Originator: Alexander C. Seymour
Originator: Kara S. Doran
Publication_Date: 20250509
Title: Synthetic Elevation Checkpoints, North Carolina
Series_Information:

Series_Name: U.S. Geological Survey data release
Issue_Identification: doi:10.5066/P1HZA84J

Publication_Information:

Publication_Place: St. Petersburg, FL
Publisher:

U.S. Geological Survey - St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center

Online_Linkage: https://doi.org/10.5066/P1HZA84J

Description:

Abstract:

The geospatial datasets describe positions, elevations, and uncertainties for synthetic elevation checkpoints generated across the developed coastline of North Carolina. Two datasets are provided as point shapefiles and American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) tables, and each contains synthetic checkpoints generated using a time series (1996-2018) of digital elevation models (DEMs), a road vector network, and a classified landcover dataset. The first 'simple' dataset contains ~10,000 checkpoints and the second 'complex' dataset contains ~7,000 checkpoints. The latter dataset was derived using more demanding processing settings and as a result, checkpoints are more accurate, but fewer in number. These datasets can be used to validate remotely sensed topographic surveys such as lidar and photogrammetry-derived DEMs and digital surface models (DSMs). The methods used to generate these data followed the process outlined in "Automated Generation of a Synthetic Elevation Checkpoint Network across the North Carolina Coastline, USA" by Seymour and others (2025).

Purpose:

To provide reference elevations to validate and characterize the accuracy of new and historical remotely-sensed topographic surveys.

Time_Period_of_Content:

Time_Period_Information:

Range_of_Dates/Times:

Beginning_Date: 19961009
Ending_Date: 20181002

Currentness_Reference: ground condition

Status:

Progress: Complete
Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: None planned

Spatial_Domain:

Bounding_Coordinates:

West_Bounding_Coordinate: -78.516538
East_Bounding_Coordinate: -75.462562
North_Bounding_Coordinate: 36.540132
South_Bounding_Coordinate: 33.847425

Keywords:

Theme:

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: USGS Metadata Identifier
Theme_Keyword: USGS:a05dc2e1-8480-437b-98e7-8b22a3037be5

Theme:

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: ISO 19115 Topic Category
Theme_Keyword: geoscientificInformation
Theme_Keyword: oceans
Theme_Keyword: environment
Theme_Keyword: structure

Theme:

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: USGS Thesaurus
Theme_Keyword: hazards
Theme_Keyword: marine geology
Theme_Keyword: ocean sciences
Theme_Keyword: coastal processes
Theme_Keyword: erosion
Theme_Keyword: floods
Theme_Keyword: geospatial datasets
Theme_Keyword: time series datasets
Theme_Keyword: time series analysis
Theme_Keyword: remote sensing
Theme_Keyword: lidar
Theme_Keyword: aerial photography
Theme_Keyword: structure from motion
Theme_Keyword: digital elevation models
Theme_Keyword: earth sciences

Theme:

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: None
Theme_Keyword: U.S. Geological Survey
Theme_Keyword: USGS
Theme_Keyword: St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
Theme_Keyword: SPCMSC
Theme_Keyword: Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program
Theme_Keyword: CMHRP

Place:

Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: Geographic Names Information System (GNIS)
Place_Keyword: State of North Carolina

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. Users are advised to read the dataset's metadata thoroughly to understand appropriate use and data limitations.

Point_of_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization: U.S. Geological Survey
Contact_Person: Kara S. Doran

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: mailing and physical
Address: 600 4th Street South
City: Saint Petersburg
State_or_Province: FL
Postal_Code: 33701
Country: United States

Contact_Voice_Telephone: 727-502-8117
Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 727-502-8001
Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: kdoran@usgs.gov

Native_Data_Set_Environment:

Windows 10 Enterprise 21H2 (Build 19044.1826); Esri ArcGIS Pro 3.0.3; Microsoft Excel Version 2402

Cross_Reference:

Citation_Information:

Originator: Alexander C. Seymour
Originator: Christine Kranenburg
Originator: Kara S. Doran
Publication_Date: 20250507
Title:

Automated Generation of a Synthetic Elevation Checkpoint Network across the North Carolina Coastline

Series_Information:

Series_Name: SSRN
Issue_Identification: preprint

Publication_Information:

Publication_Place: Online
Publisher: Elsevier

Online_Linkage: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5242093

Data_Quality_Information:

Logical_Consistency_Report:

Uncertainty estimates were produced for all checkpoint elevations. Complex and simple points may have the same CheckpointID, but the elevation and uncertainty estimates differ.

Completeness_Report:

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.

Positional_Accuracy:

Horizontal_Positional_Accuracy:

Horizontal_Positional_Accuracy_Report:

Horizontal accuracies were not calculated and are not applicable for these data. Horizontal positions are referenced to the North American Datum of 1983 National Spatial Reference System (2011) (NAD 1983 [2011]) coordinate system.

Vertical_Positional_Accuracy:

Vertical_Positional_Accuracy_Report:

Uncertainties for checkpoint elevations are described by 95% confidence intervals. Confidence intervals are standard diagnostic metrics produced by generalized linear regressions. For more information on how these regressions were calculated, see Seymour and others (2025). Vertical positions are referenced to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (Geoid 12B).

Lineage:

Process_Step:

Process_Description:

Synthetic elevation checkpoints were generated by processing a time series of DEMs, a road vector network, and a classified landcover raster in ArcGIS Pro. Synthetic checkpoints were filtered by a number of quality thresholds and metrics including confidence interval, the presence of elevation trends over time, and a minimum number of contributing surveys. The 'complex' checkpoint version used a more demanding set of quality thresholds and metrics that result in a fewer number of higher accuracy checkpoints than the 'simple' version. The specific details, methods, and parameters used to generate the synthetic elevation checkpoints in this data release can be found in Seymour and others (2025). The 'complex' synthetic checkpoint ASCII table was generated by inputting the point feature class into the 'Feature Class to ASCII' ArcGIS Pro geoprocessing tool. Synthetic checkpoints should not be used to assess the accuracy of elevation datasets that were used to generate the synthetic checkpoints because the independence assumption is violated. See Table 1 and section 2.3 in Seymour and others (2025) for the list of published elevation models that were used to generate the synthetic checkpoints. When validating a digital surface model such as those produced by structure from motion photogrammetry, review section 3.3 and 4.1 of Seymour and others (2025) for considerations on how to best apply synthetic checkpoints.

Process_Date: 20220823
Source_Produced_Citation_Abbreviation: NC_Synthetic_Checkpoints_GDB.gdb
Source_Produced_Citation_Abbreviation: Synthetic_Complex_NC
Source_Produced_Citation_Abbreviation: Synthetic_Complex_NC_ASCII_Geographic.csv
Process_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Person_Primary:

Contact_Person: Alexander C. Seymour
Contact_Organization: U.S. Geological Survey

Contact_Position: Physical Scientist
Contact_Address:

Address_Type: mailing and physical
Address: 600 4th Street South
City: Saint Petersburg
State_or_Province: FL
Postal_Code: 33701
Country: United States

Contact_Voice_Telephone: 727-502-8122
Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 727-502-8001
Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: aseymour@usgs.gov

Spatial_Data_Organization_Information:

Direct_Spatial_Reference_Method: Point
Point_and_Vector_Object_Information:

SDTS_Terms_Description:

SDTS_Point_and_Vector_Object_Type: Point
Point_and_Vector_Object_Count: 6,853

Spatial_Reference_Information:

Horizontal_Coordinate_System_Definition:

Geographic:

Latitude_Resolution: 0.000000001
Longitude_Resolution: 0.000000001
Geographic_Coordinate_Units: Decimal degrees

Geodetic_Model:

Horizontal_Datum_Name: NAD 1983 (2011)
Ellipsoid_Name: D NAD 1983 2011
Semi-major_Axis: 6378137.0
Denominator_of_Flattening_Ratio: 298.257222101

Vertical_Coordinate_System_Definition:

Altitude_System_Definition:

Altitude_Datum_Name: North American Vertical Datum 1988
Altitude_Resolution: 0.001
Altitude_Distance_Units: meters
Altitude_Encoding_Method: Attribute values

Entity_and_Attribute_Information:

Detailed_Description:

Entity_Type:

Entity_Type_Label:

NC_Synthetic_Checkpoints_GDB.gdb, Synthetic_Complex_NC, Synthetic_Complex_NC_ASCII_Geographic.csv

Entity_Type_Definition:

File geodatabase feature class (.gdb) and comma-separated values file (.csv) of the synthetic elevation checkpoints for North Carolina.

Entity_Type_Definition_Source: USGS

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: OBJECTID
Attribute_Definition:

Internal feature number. This attribute is only present in the feature class dataset.

Attribute_Definition_Source: Esri
Attribute_Domain_Values:

Unrepresentable_Domain:

Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Shape
Attribute_Definition:

Feature geometry. This attribute is only present in the feature class dataset.

Attribute_Definition_Source: Esri
Attribute_Domain_Values:

Unrepresentable_Domain: Point

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: CheckpointID
Attribute_Definition:

An ID for each synthetic elevation checkpoint. The CheckpointID attribute/field is not consecutive because the initial series of checkpoints were winnowed during confidence filtering processes (see Seymour and others, 2025 for details). Some 'simple' and 'complex' checkpoints occur at the same location and thus have the same CheckpointID.