USGS CoastCam at Tres Palmas, Rincón, Puerto Rico: Timestack Imagery and Coordinate Data

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?
   Harrison, Shawn R., Buckley, Mark L., Johnson, Cordell, Nowacki, Daniel J., Canals, Miguel, Evans, Colin, Logan, Joshua, Storlazzi, Curt D., Birchler, Justin J., Palmsten, Margaret L., Swanson, Eric, and Johnson, Emily L., 20240510, USGS CoastCam at Tres Palmas, Rincón, Puerto Rico: Timestack Imagery and Coordinate Data:.

   This is part of the following larger work.
   Harrison, Shawn R., Buckley, Mark L., Johnson, Cordell, Nowacki, Daniel J., Canals, Miguel, Evans, Colin, Logan, Joshua, Storlazzi, Curt D., Birchler, Justin J., Palmsten, Margaret L., Swanson, Eric, and Johnson, Emily L., 20240510, USGS CoastCam at Tres Palmas, Rincón, Puerto Rico: Timestack Imagery and Coordinate Data: U.S. Geological Survey data release doi:10.5066/P13QYBXP, U.S. Geological Survey - St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, St. Petersburg, Florida.

   Online Links:

   • https://doi.org/10.5066/P13QYBXP

2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

   West_Bounding_Coordinate: -67.263519
   East_Bounding_Coordinate: -67.263263
   North_Bounding_Coordinate: 18.348178
   South_Bounding_Coordinate: 18.347966
   

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

   Beginning_Date: 09-Sep-2019

   Ending_Date: 10-Mar-2020

   Currentness_Reference:

   ground condition

5. What is the general form of this data set?

   Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: raster digital data
   

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, type Grid Cell
   2. What coordinate system is used to represent geographic features?
      

      Grid_Coordinate_System_Name: Universal Transverse Mercator
      Universal_Transverse_Mercator:

      UTM_Zone_Number: 19
      Transverse_Mercator:

      Scale_Factor_at_Central_Meridian: 0.9996
      Longitude_of_Central_Meridian: -69.0
      Latitude_of_Projection_Origin: 0.0
      False_Easting: 500000.0
      False_Northing: 0.0
      

      Planar coordinates are encoded using row and column
      Abscissae (x-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 1
      Ordinates (y-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 1
      Planar coordinates are specified in meters
      The horizontal datum used is NAD83 (National Spatial Reference System 2011) (EPSG:6318).
      The ellipsoid used is GRS 1980 (EPSG:7019).
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378137.0.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.257222101.
      

      Vertical_Coordinate_System_Definition:

      Altitude_System_Definition:

      Altitude_Datum_Name: Puerto Rico Vertical Datum of 2002
      Altitude_Resolution: 0.001
      Altitude_Distance_Units: meters
      Altitude_Encoding_Method: Attribute values
      

7. How does the data set describe geographic features?

   Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:

   The Climate and Forecast (CF)-compliant metadata (version CF-1.6) in the header of each of the netCDF files provides spatial information for projecting the data into a Geographic Information System (GIS). It also provides information about the conventions used for attributes in the dataset. The column and row count are variable between the data files.

   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.

Who produced the data set?

1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)
   • Shawn R. Harrison
   • Mark L. Buckley
   • Cordell Johnson
   • Daniel J. Nowacki
   • Miguel Canals
   • Colin Evans
   • Joshua Logan
   • Curt D. Storlazzi
   • Justin J. Birchler
   • Margaret L. Palmsten
   • Eric Swanson
   • Emily L. Johnson
2. Who also contributed to the data set?
3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
   USGS SPCMSC Data Management Group

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

   600 4th Street South

   St. Petersburg, Florida
   

   USA

   727-502-8000 (voice)

   gs-g-spcmsc_data_inquiries@usgs.gov

Why was the data set created?

How was the data set created?

1. From what previous works were the data drawn?

   TresPalmasPR_c2_20190719_IO, TresPalmasPR_c2_20190721_EO, TresPalmasPR_XYZ_20190721 (source 1 of 1)

   Harrison, Shawn R., Buckley, Mark L., Johnson, Cordell, Nowacki, Daniel J., Canals, Miguel, Evans, Colin, Logan, Joshua, Storlazzi, Curt D., Birchler, Justin J., Palmsten, Margaret L., Swanson, Eric, and Johnson, Emily L., 20240510, USGS CoastCam at Tres Palmas, Rincón, Puerto Rico: Calibration and GNSS Topography Survey Data: U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg, FL.

   Online Links:

   • https://doi.org/10.5066/P142AXUJ

   Type_of_Source_Media: JPEG, YAML, comma-delimited-text
   Source_Contribution:

   Images to solve camera intrinsic and extrinsic orientation along with solved parameters during imagery and timestack data collection at Rincón, PR. Global navigation satellite system (GNSS) survey data collected within the field-of-view of the camera used to generate a topo-bathymetric surface.

2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?

   Date: 19-Jul-2019 (process 1 of 4)

   Before mounting the CoastCam (c2) at the beach, the camera (FLIR BFLY-PGE-50S5C-C) was used to take intrinsic camera calibration images. Please refer to the TresPalmasPR_c2_20190719_IO zip file and the TresPalmasPR_c2_calibration_metadata record included in Harrison and others (2024) for access to the intrinsic camera calibration data and more information on the calibration process. After calibration was complete, the camera was mounted on a pole. The computer and camera were powered by a solar panel and battery. Data was transferred via cellular. Person who carried out this activity:
   

   Joshua Logan

   U.S. Geological Survey, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center

   2885 Mission Street

   Santa Cruz, CA
   

   USA

   831-460-7519 (voice)

   jlogan@usgs.gov

   Data sources used in this process:

   • TresPalmasPR_c2_20190719_IO

   Date: 2020 (process 2 of 4)

   The camera was programmed to collect three-band (RGB) images at 2 Hertz (Hz) for a total of approximately 10 minutes, every hour during daylight hours. The images included in this data release were collected from September 9, 2019, to March 10, 2020. Gaps exist in the dataset because not every image collected by the camera is being used in the dataset. Additionally, some images may have been obscured by water droplets, insects, birds, salt, sand and dirt, poor visibility from adverse weather conditions, or sun glare, and thus may not reflect the true state of the beach and ocean. Each hour the camera was activated, a timestack image product was produced by sampling intensity values at a single transect of pixels, defined by (U,V) pixel coordinates. The (U,V) sampling locations were determined by identifying a cross-shore transect of locations in local horizontal (X,Y) coordinate system, which aligned with the local shoreline orientation. The elevation of samples was chosen as Z = 0 m, which is an elevation assumed to be near the water line. The vertical reference frame was PRVD02 coordinate system. XYZ-sampling locations were projected into (U,V) image coordinates following established methods (Palmsten and Brodie, 2022; Bruder and Brodie, 2020) and using intrinsic (TresPalmasPR_c2_20190719_IO) and extrinsic (TresPalmasPR_c2_20190721_EO) camera calibration information from Harrison and others (2024). Person who carried out this activity:
   

   Justin J. Birchler

   U.S. Geological Survey

   600 4th Street South

   St. Petersburg, FL
   

   US

   727-502-8019 (voice)

   jbirchler@usgs.gov

   Data sources used in this process:

   • TresPalmasPR_c2_20190719_IO, TresPalmasPR_c2_20190721_EO

   Date: 2024 (process 3 of 4)

   The timestack images were converted to netCDF timestacks and processed to add additional information using the netCDF4 Python library version 1.6.2. The times of the collection, sampled at 2 Hz, were stored as a one-dimensional (1D) array, where each index of the array contained a time represented as epoch time, seconds elapsed since 00:00:00 UTC on January 1, 1970. The sampling locations, saved as local XYZ values, were stored as a two-dimensional array. Because pixels were stored assuming an elevation of Z = 0 m and the true beach surface may vary, an additional processing step was needed to project the sampling locations onto a topo-bathymetric surface representative of the beach at the time of the image data collection following previously described methods (Palmsten and Brodie, 2023; Holland and others, 1997). The topo-bathymetric surface was developed from GNSS survey data (TresPalmasPR_XYZ_20190721) collected within the field-of-view of the camera (Harrison and others, 2024). The point data was interpolated onto a grid using the method described by Plant and others (2002) with smoothing length scales of 1.5 m in the cross-shore direction and 3 m in the alongshore direction. The local (X,Y) coordinates were rotated and translated into UTM coordinates using information describing the local origin and rotation angle for the site. The (X,Y) coordinates were also translated from UTM to WGS84 latitude and longitude coordinates using the UTM Python library version 0.7.0. One netCDF (.nc) file was created for each timestack image using the netCDF Python library. The data included in each netCDF file includes the timestack image; the UV image coordinates, the XY coordinates in UTM; the XY local coordinates; the latitude and longitude coordinates; the Z-elevation coordinates projected onto the beach surface; and an array of the epoch times as previously described. Additional metadata was included in the netCDF files as global and variable attributes using the Climate and Forecast (CF)-compliant metadata convention (version CF-1.6). These attributes describe the data collection, as well as how the different coordinate systems are used within the data. Person who carried out this activity:
   

   Mark L. Buckley

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

   Research Oceanographer

   600 4th Street South

   St. Petersburg, FL
   

   USA

   727-502-8024 (voice)

   mbuckley@usgs.gov

   Data sources used in this process:

   • TresPalmasPR_XYZ_20190721

   Data sources produced in this process:

   • netCDF timestacks

   Date: 2024 (process 4 of 4)

   A total of 331 netCDF timestack files (*.nc) are included in this release and can be viewed and downloaded on the data release webpage. The netCDF files were renamed using the following convention, with ten period-separated elements: 1) the epoch time--seconds elapsed since 00:00:00 UTC on January 1 1970--the timestack was collected 2) The day of the week the timestack was collected, abbreviated to three letters 3) The month the timestack was collected, abbreviated to three letters 4) The date when the timestack was collected in the format dd_hh_mm_ss where 'dd' is the day of the month, 'hh' is the hour in 24-hour format, 'mm' is the minute, and 'ss' is the second 5) The timezone for date previously described 6) The year the timestack was collected 7) The site nickname where the timestack was collected 8) The camera the timestack was collected from, where 'cx' represents the timestack image 9) the name of the transect sampled to create the timestack 10) the file extension, .nc. An example of a filename formatted in this way would be 1568026800.Mon.Sep.09_11_00_00.GMT.2019.trespalm.cx.runup04.nc. Person who carried out this activity:
   

   USGS SPCMSC Data Management Group

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

   600 4th Street South

   St. Petersburg, FL
   

   USA

   727-502-8000 (voice)

   gs-g-spcmsc_data_inquiries@usgs.gov

   Data sources used in this process:

   • netCDF timestacks

   Data sources produced in this process:

   • *.nc

3. What similar or related data should the user be aware of?
   Bruder, Brittany L., and Brodie, Katherine L., 20200909, CIRN Quantitative Coastal Imaging Toolbox: SoftwareX Volume 12, 100582, Elsevier, Online.

   Online Links:

   • https://doi.org/10.1016/j.softx.2020.100582

   Holland, K. Todd, Holman, Robert A., Lippmann, Thomas C., Stanley, John, and Plant, Nathaniel, 19970101, Practical Use of Video Imagery in Nearshore Oceanographic Field Studies: IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering Volume 22, Issue 1, IEEE, Online.

   Online Links:

   • https://doi.org/10.1109/48.557542

   Holman, Robert A., and Stanley, John, 20070416, The History and Technical Capabilities of Argus: Coastal Engineering Volume 54, Issues 6–7, Elsevier, Online.

   Online Links:

   • https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coastaleng.2007.01.003

   Palmsten, Margaret L., and Brodie, Katherine L., 20220118, The Coastal Imaging Research Network (CIRN): Remote Sensing Volume 14, Issues 3, MDPI, Online.

   Online Links:

   • https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14030453

   Plant, Nathaniel G., Holland, K.Todd, and Puleo, Jack A., 20021005, Analysis of the Scale of Errors in Nearshore Bathymetric Data: Marine Geology Volume 191, Issues 1–2, Elsevier, Online.

   Online Links:

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

How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?

1. How well have the observations been checked?
   The video camera collected 5-megapixel images, with file sizes generally between 0.08 and 0.65 megabytes (MB) on disc. Images may be obscured by water droplets, insects, birds, salt, sand and dirt, poor visibility from adverse weather conditions or sun glare, and thus may not reflect the true state of the beach and ocean.
2. How accurate are the geographic locations?
   The post-processed kinematic (PPK) data collected in field activity 2019-675-FA were used to validate the extrinsic camera calibration using corrections referenced to a temporary base station located approximately 250 meters from the study area. The reference position of the base station was established using the mean position of four static occupations (each lasting between three and five hours, conducted during two days of surveying) derived using Precise Point Positioning (PPP). The standard deviation of the horizontal coordinates derived for the base station was 0.025 meters. The mean reported horizontal precision of the rover measurements was 0.008 meters (with a standard deviation of 0.004 meters). The magnitude of additional errors resulting from uncertainty in the base station reference position, errors in tripod centering, and antenna height measurement errors are unknown. The precise locations of the targets are used in the CIRN Quantitative Coastal Imaging Toolbox steps B and C (Bruder and Brodie, 2020). Horizontal coordinates are referenced to the North American Datum of 1983 (National Spatial Reference System 2011) Universal Transverse Mercator Zone 19 North (NAD83(2011)/UTM Zone 19N) coordinate system, with a resolution of 0.001 meters.
3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
   The PPK data collected in field activity 2019-675-FA were used to validate the extrinsic camera calibration using corrections referenced to a temporary base station located approximately 250 meters from the study area. The reference position of the base station was established using the mean position of four static occupations (each lasting between three and five hours, conducted during two days of surveying) derived using Precise Point Positioning (PPP). The standard deviation of the vertical coordinates derived for the base station was 0.023 meters. The mean reported horizontal precision of the rover measurements was 0.018 meters (with a standard deviation of 0.010 meters). The magnitude of additional errors resulting from uncertainty in the base station reference position, errors in tripod centering, and antenna height measurement errors are unknown. The precise locations of the targets are used in the CIRN Quantitative Coastal Imaging Toolbox steps B and C (Bruder and Brodie, 2020). Vertical positions are referenced to the Puerto Rico Vertical Datum of 2002 (PRVD02; EPSG:1123), derived using GEOID12B with a resolution of 0.001 meters.
4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
   The imagery represents a fixed location at Rincón, PR. Images may not be available every hour of operation due to camera malfunction. Images may be obscured by water droplets, insects, birds, salt, sand and dirt, poor visibility from adverse weather conditions or sun glare, and thus may not reflect the true state of the beach and ocean. This product 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?
   The camera system installed (FLIR BFLY-PGE-50S5C-C) was programmed to collect three-band images every hour during daylight hours and take video for approximately 10 minutes. A timestack image for the 10-minute period was created by sampling a single transect on the beach.

How can someone get a copy of the data set?

1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)
   
   USGS SPCMSC Data Management Group

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

   600 4th Street South

   St. Petersburg, Florida
   

   USA

   727-502-8000 (voice)

   gs-g-spcmsc_data_inquiries@usgs.gov
2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set? *.nc
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:

     The data download file is compressed and must be unzipped using software such as WinZip, 7zip, Peazip or pkUnzip before use. in format NetCDF (version 4.3) *.nc is a netCDF file that contains timsetack imagery; elevations, in meters; and, coordinate information, in Easting and Northing, longitude and latitude degrees, and local grid coordinates, measured in meters. The netCDF files can be downloaded in the zip files listed in the Network_Resource_Name link below.

     Network links:

     https://coastal.er.usgs.gov/data-release/P13QYBXP/data/TresPalmas_c2_timestacks.zip

   • Cost to order the data: None

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:

Last modified: 10-May-2024

Metadata author:

USGS SPCMSC Data Management Group

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

600 4th Street South

Saint Petersburg, FL

USA

727-502-8000 (voice)

gs-g-spcmsc_data_inquiries@usgs.gov

Metadata standard:

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