Aerial Imagery of the Massachusetts Cape Cod coast: 2023-11-04

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What does this data set describe?

Title: Aerial Imagery of the Massachusetts Cape Cod coast: 2023-11-04
Abstract:
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Remote Sensing Coastal Change (RSCC) project collects aerial imagery along coastal swaths with optimized endlap/sidelap and precise position information to create high-resolution orthomosaics, three-dimensional (3D) point clouds, and digital elevation/surface models (DEMs/DSMs) using Structure-from-Motion (SfM) photogrammetry methods. These products are valuable for measuring topographic and landscape change, and for understanding coastal vulnerability and response to disturbance events. A nadir (vertical) aerial imagery survey was conducted on Cape Cod, Massachusetts in two sections November 4th, 2023, to document the state of the coast. The first section covers the coast on the Cape Cod Bay from Plymouth to Orleans and the second section covers the coast of the Outer Cape facing the Atlantic Ocean from Provincetown to Monomoy Island. The observations along the coastline cover an approximately 140-kilometer-long by 300 to 700-meter-wide swath of coastline and encompass both highly developed towns as well as natural undeveloped areas, including the federal lands of Cape Cod National Seashore. Low altitude (300 meters above ground level) digital aerial imagery were acquired with a manned, fixed-wing aircraft using the "Precision Airborne Camera (PAC)" System (version 2). The PAC system is operated by C.W. Wright and consists of a mounted fixed-lens digital camera, along with a custom integrated survey-grade Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver. Data were collected in shore-parallel lines, flying at approximately 50 meters per second (m/s) and capturing true color imagery at 1 hertz (Hz), resulting in image footprints with approximately 75-80% endlap, 60-70% sidelap, and a 5.3-centimeter (cm) ground sample distance (GSD). The precise time of each image capture (flash event) was recorded, and the corresponding aircraft position was computed during post-processing of the GNSS data. Precise image positions can then be determined by accounting for the lever arm offsets between the aircraft GNSS antenna and the camera lens, which are provided in the PAC System metadata (Kranenburg and others, 2023, https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/data-services/rscc/PrecisionAirborneCameraSystem). Position data, provided as latitude/longitude/ellipsoid height, is referenced to the North American Datum of 1983 National Spatial Reference System 2011 (NAD83(2011)) coordinate system.
Supplemental_Information:
Each data collection is recorded in the USGS Coastal and Marine Hazards Resources Program (CMHRP) Coastal and Marine Geoscience Data System (CMGDS) field activity database and is assigned a Field Activity Number (FAN). Additional information about the field activity from which these data were derived is available online at: https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fan=2023-027-CNT. Acquisition was timed to coincide with low tide along the beach areas to ensure the maximum shoreline extent was captured. Bounding coordinates for the aerial survey are derived from the overall flight path and are not necessarily representative of the imagery coverage. This data collection is published under the Precision Airborne Camera System data collection platform (DCP) within the RSCC Simple Data Distribution Service. This data service is structured in a folder (directory) hierarchy with subfolders corresponding to individual DCPs or groups of DCPs, which in turn contain folders with products grouped by collection effort. For more information on the RSCC Simple Data Distribution Service, refer to Ritchie and others (2023), https://doi.org/10.5066/P9M3NYWI. For more information about the Precision Airborne Camera System DCP, refer to Kranenburg and others (2023), https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/data-services/rscc/PrecisionAirborneCameraSystem/.
  1. How might this data set be cited?
    Over, Jin-Si R., Kranenburg, Christine J., and Sherwood, Christopher R., 20240602, Aerial Imagery of the Massachusetts Cape Cod coast: 2023-11-04: data service DOI:10.5066/P9M3NYWI, U.S. Geological Survey, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details:
    Suggested Citation: Over, J.R., Kranenburg, C.J, Sherwood, C.R., 2024, Precision Airborne Camera (PAC) System - Aerial Imagery of the Massachusetts Cape Cod coast: 2023-11-04, in Remote Sensing Coastal Change Simple Data Distribution Service: U.S. Geological Survey data service, accessed [MMMM d, YYYY], at https://doi.org/10.5066/P9M3NYWI. [Data directly accessible at https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/data-services/rscc/PrecisionAirborneCameraSystem/MA_CapeCod_20231104/]
    This is part of the following larger work.

    Ritchie, Andrew C., Triezenberg, Peter J., Warrick, Jonathan A., Hatcher, Gerald A., and Buscombe, Daniel D., 20230221, Remote Sensing Coastal Change Simple Data Distribution Service: data service DOI:10.5066/P9M3NYWI, U.S. Geological Survey - Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Santa Cruz, California.

    Online Links:

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?
    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -70.54743627
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -69.92905869
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 42.08227365
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 41.53524273
  3. What does it look like?
  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
    Calendar_Date: 04-Nov-2023
    Currentness_Reference:
    ground condition
  5. What is the general form of this data set?
    Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: remote-sensing image, tabular digital data, vector 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 4912 x 7360, type Pixel
    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 0.000001. Longitudes are given to the nearest 0.000001. Latitude and longitude values are specified in Decimal degrees. The horizontal datum used is North American Datum of 1983 (2011).
      The ellipsoid used is GRS 1980.
      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 Datum 1983 (2011) Ellipsoid
      Altitude_Resolution: 0.001
      Altitude_Distance_Units: meters
      Altitude_Encoding_Method: Attribute values
  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?
    MA_CapeCod_20231104_AircraftPositions.txt, MA_CapeCod_20231104_AircraftPositions.shp, and MA_CapeCod_20231104_AircraftPositions.geojson
    The comma-delimited American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) text file contains the post-processed aircraft navigation GNSS data (position of the GNSS antenna at the moment of each image capture). (Source: USGS)
    SourceFile
    File names of individual aerial images; see the Lineage section and IMAGE RENAMING Process_Description for file naming convention details. (Source: USGS)
    Range of values
    Minimum:2023-1104-133422-DSC07258-N7251F.jpg
    Maximum:2023-1104-173940-DSC04498-N7251F.jpg
    GPSLatitude
    Latitude of aircraft GNSS antenna position at the moment of each image capture, in decimal degrees (NAD83(2011)). (Source: USGS)
    Range of values
    Minimum:41.53524273
    Maximum:42.08227365
    Units:meters
    GPSLongitude
    Longitude of aircraft GNSS antenna position at the moment of each image capture, in decimal degrees (NAD83(2011)). (Source: USGS)
    Range of values
    Minimum:-70.54743627
    Maximum:-69.92905869
    Units:meters
    GPSAltitude
    Altitude of aircraft GNSS antenna position at the moment of each image capture, in meters above the NAD83(2011) ellipsoid. (Source: USGS)
    Range of values
    Minimum:213.262
    Maximum:300.464
    Units:meters
    URL
    Weblink to the individual image on the Simple Data Service. This is only available in the shapefile and geojson file. (Source: USGS) weblink url is a combination of the simple data service directory for the data collection platform and indiviudal image names for the specific collection.
    Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:
    Individual aerial images are available in JPEG format. See the 'IMAGERY RENAMING' Process_Step for more information on file naming conventions.
    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)
    • Jin-Si R. Over
    • Christine J. Kranenburg
    • Christopher R. Sherwood
  2. Who also contributed to the data set?
    Data collection was funded by the U.S. Geological Survey. The authors would like to thank pilot Wayne Wright of C.W. Wright Consulting (https://lidar.net) for data acquisition and systems expertise.
  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
    Christopher R Sherwood
    U.S. Geological Survey, Northeast Region
    Research Oceanographer
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA
    US

    508-457-2269 (voice)
    508-457-2310 (FAX)
    csherwood@usgs.gov

Why was the data set created?

These 10,426 aerial images were collected along Cape Cod, Massachusetts, with sufficient resolution and endlap/sidelap to produce SfM photogrammetry products to capture the state of the coast after the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season.

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: 04-Nov-2023 (process 1 of 9)
    IMAGE & POSITION ACQUISITION -- C. W. Wright Consulting used the Precision Airborne Camera (PAC) system, equipped with a Sony A7R 36 Megapixel digital camera aboard a Piper P28A aircraft to conduct a nadir (vertical) aerial imagery survey of Cape Cod, Massachusetts on November 4th, 2023, to document conditions after the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season. Data were collected to facilitate SfM processing (Westoby and others, 2012) in shore-parallel lines, flying at approximately 50 meters per second (m/s) and capturing true color imagery at 1 Hz, resulting in image footprints with approximately 75-80% endlap, 60-70% sidelap, and 5.3-cm GSD. Raw (ARW) images, raw dual-frequency carrier phase GNSS data, and photo event time data were delivered to the USGS Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center (WHCMSC).
    Date: 04-Nov-2023 (process 2 of 9)
    IMAGE RENAMING -- Images received from the vendor (in raw image file format, ARW) were renamed using IrfanView software to conform to the following naming convention: yyyy-mmdd-hhmmss-DSCnnnnn-N7251F.ARW, where yyyy_mmdd represents the year (yyyy), month (mm) and day (dd) of capture; hhmmss is the time of capture as hours (hh), minutes (mm), seconds(ss) in Universal Coordinated Time (UTC); DSCnnnnn represents a sequential image identifier (ID) generated by the camera; and N7251F is the tail number of the aircraft used for acquisition. The following pattern string is used in the batch renaming tool to rename the images from their raw name format (DSCnnnnn) to the naming convention defined above: $E36868(%Y-%m%d-%H%M%S)-$N-N7251F. Person who carried out this activity:
    Christine J. Kranenburg
    U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
    Cartographer
    600 4th Street South
    St. Petersburg, FL
    USA

    727-502-8000 (voice)
    ckranenburg@usgs.gov
    Date: 19-Nov-2023 (process 3 of 9)
    IMAGE CONVERSION -- Renamed images were batch-converted to a format compatible with photogrammetry processing software using Adobe Photoshop Camera Raw and applying the Camera Neutral Profile (Joint Photographic Experts Group format, JPEG). Software versions, conversion date, and other parameters are recorded in individual imagery header metadata. Person who carried out this activity:
    Jin-Si R Over
    U.S. Geological Survey, NORTHEAST REGION
    Geographer
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA
    US

    508-457-2269 (voice)
    508-457-2310 (FAX)
    jover@usgs.gov
    Date: 21-Nov-2023 (process 4 of 9)
    IMAGE QA/QC -- Original and converted images were counted, and the beginning and end of the survey are reviewed to cull extraneous images (such as camera testing or inadvertently triggered images). If corrupted converted images were found, imagery is re-converted until a collection of valid images remains. Note that in some cases, water-only images may be retained if there were visible or potentially visible bathymetric features, aquatic vegetation, and/or objects in the scene that may be useful for future data applications. Person who carried out this activity:
    Jin-Si R Over
    U.S. Geological Survey, NORTHEAST REGION
    Geographer
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA
    US

    508-457-2269 (voice)
    508-457-2310 (FAX)
    jover@usgs.gov
    Date: 19-Nov-2023 (process 5 of 9)
    AIRCRAFT NAVIGATION PROCESSING -- Raw GNSS data received by the antenna mounted atop the aircraft were recorded at 1 Hz by a dual-frequency survey-grade GNSS receiver, which was post-processed and differentially corrected with 6 continuously operating reference stations (CORS) using NovAtel's GrafNav software to produce 1-Hz aircraft trajectories. The aircraft trajectories, in combination with precisely recorded image capture (flash event) times, are used to generate aircraft GNSS antenna positions at the moment of each image capture (MA_CapeCod_20231104_AircraftPositions.txt). The positions in the aircraft navigation file represent the position of the aircraft GNSS antenna, not the position of the camera or features photographed. To determine actual image positions, photogrammetric software such as Agisoft Metashape can be used to apply the lever arm offsets (in the camera frame of reference) from the GNSS antenna reference point to the camera lens, which are 0.1 m, -0.15 m, and 1.25 m, in the x, y, and z directions respectively, see Over and others (2021) for more details. Person who carried out this activity:
    Christine J. Kranenburg
    U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
    Cartographer
    600 4th Street South
    St. Petersburg, FL
    USA

    727-502-8000 (voice)
    ckranenburg@usgs.gov
    Date: 29-Nov-2023 (process 6 of 9)
    IMAGERY HEADERS -- Georeferencing, copyright, and other relevant information was added to the imagery header of each image using Phil Harvey's ExifTool. To extract the information from the image headers using ExifTool, the following command can be used (tested with ExifTool): exiftool -n -csv *.jpg > allheaders.csv The -csv flag writes the information out in a comma-delimited format. The -n option formats the latitude and longitude as signed decimal degrees. Exif information can also be viewed using free software such as XnView. Person who carried out this activity:
    Jin-Si R Over
    U.S. Geological Survey, NORTHEAST REGION
    Geographer
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA
    US

    508-457-2269 (voice)
    508-457-2310 (FAX)
    jover@usgs.gov
    Date: 22-Sep-2023 (process 7 of 9)
    SHP and GEOJSON CREATION -- A point-based shapefile is provided (MA_CapeCod_20231104_AircraftPositions.shp) in order to provide a visual map of the survey extent throughout the survey domain, aid in completing the geospatial information in the collection-level metadata, and to facilitate selective or bulk image downloading. See a program such as wget (https://www.gnu.org/software/wget/manual/wget.html) for options and information. The shapefile is created in ArcPro using the using the XY Table to Point tool where GPSLongitude, GPSLatitude, and GPSAltitude coordinates from the MA_CapeCod_20231104_AircraftPositions.txt file. Only the first 10 characters appear in the headers. The URL of each image on the data service is added as an attribute. Example for downloading a subsection of the data set using wget is as follows. Open the shapefile in a GIS program and select the points (the images) by location or attribute, copy and save the selected URLs to a text file with each line as a separate URL, and use the command: wget -i url_textfile.txt Additional wget commands are detailed in Section F of the data service readme (https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/data-services/rscc/readme.txt) Geojson file is created in ArcPro from the shapefile using the "Features to JSON" tool. Person who carried out this activity:
    Jin-Si R Over
    U.S. Geological Survey, NORTHEAST REGION
    Geographer
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA
    US

    508-457-2269 (voice)
    508-457-2310 (FAX)
    jover@usgs.gov
    Date: 02-Mar-2024 (process 8 of 9)
    KMZ CREATION -- In order to provide a visual map of the survey extent with example thumbnail images throughout the survey domain, and to aid in completing the geospatial information in the collection-level metadata, a clickable Keyhole Markup Language Zipped file (.kmz) is created for each collection using ExifTool and a format file (https://exiftool.org/geotag.html#Inverse). Person who carried out this activity:
    Christine J. Kranenburg
    U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
    Cartographer
    600 4th Street South
    St. Petersburg, FL
    USA

    727-502-8000 (voice)
    ckranenburg@usgs.gov
    Date: 06-Jun-2025 (process 9 of 9)
    Updated the metadata so the first link is the DOI link (20250606) 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?
    Kranenburg, Christine J., Brown, Jenna A., Ritchie, Andrew C., Over, Jin-Si R., Sherwood, Christopher R., and Warrick, Jonathan A., 20231006, Precision Airborne Camera (PAC) System - Field data from periodic and event-response surveys of the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf Coasts: data service DOI:10.5066/P9M3NYWI, U.S. Geological Survey - St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, St. Petersburg, Florida.

    Online Links:

    Westoby, Matthew J., Brasington, James, Glasser, Neil F., Hambrey, Michael J., and Reynolds, John M., 20121215, 'Structure-from-Motion' photogrammetry: A low-cost, effective tool for geoscience applications: Geomorphology vol. 179, Elsevier, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details: pages 300-314
    Over, Jin-Si R., Ritchie, Andrew C., Kranenburg, Christine J., Brown, Jenna A., Buscombe, Daniel D., Noble, Tom, Sherwood, Christopher R., Warrick, Jonathan A., and Wernette, Phillipe A., 2021, Processing coastal imagery with Agisoft Metashape Professional Edition, version 1.6 - Structure from motion workflow documentation: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2021-1039, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA.

    Online Links:

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

  1. How well have the observations been checked?
    The accuracy of the position data is based on the accuracy and precision of the GNSS equipment and camera timing, number and length of baselines and atmospheric conditions. Note that the positions in the imagery headers are aircraft GNSS antenna positions and are limited to six decimal places, whereas the positions in the external navigation file are accurate to ten decimal places and are therefore highly recommended for use in SfM processing to produce the highest quality derived products. No effort is made to optimize exposure through post-processing. These data represent raw imagery, as collected, and subsequently used in SfM photogrammetric processing workflows.
  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?
    Horizontal positions provided are in the aircraft navigation file (MA_CapeCod_20231104_AircraftPositions.txt) and have an estimated 2-sigma horizontal accuracy of 10 cm. The accuracy of the positions in the imagery headers were reduced due to field size limitations for storing latitude/longitude.
  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
    Vertical positions are provided in the aircraft navigation file (MA_CapeCod_20231104_AircraftPositions.txt) and have an estimated 2-sigma vertical accuracy of 15 cm.
  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. Users are advised to read the entire metadata record carefully and to examine the imagery header metadata for additional details. Some images may lack position information in their imagery headers resulting from a momentary disruption in GNSS signals but in most cases, interpolated positions based on GNSS timestamps were applied to these images. The beginning and end of the survey were reviewed to cull extraneous images such as camera testing or inadvertently triggered image.
  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?
    All data fall within expected ranges. RGB (red, green, blue) values are 8-bits per band, generally not saturated or underexposed. In a few cases of high or low light conditions, some imagery may be over or underexposed. GNSS values are checked for consistency and outliers. Bad data are discarded, and missing data are interpolated.

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 USGS-authored or produced data and information are in the public domain from the U.S. Government and are freely redistributable with proper metadata and source attribution. Please recognize and acknowledge the U.S. Geological Survey as the originator of the dataset and in products derived from these data.
  1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)
    U.S. Geological Survey - CMGDS
    2885 Mission Street
    Santa Cruz, CA
    United States

    1-831-427-4747 (voice)
    pcmsc_data@usgs.gov
  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set? yyyy-mmdd-hhmmss-DSCnnnnn-N7251F.jpg, MA_CapeCod_20231104_AircraftPositions.txt, MA_CapeCod_20231104_AircraftPositions.shp, A_CapeCod_20231104_AircraftPositions.geojson, and MA_CapeCod_20231104.kmz
  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?
    This publication was prepared by an agency of the United States Government. Although these data were 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: 06-Jun-2025
Metadata author:
Jin-Si R Over
U.S. Geological Survey, NORTHEAST REGION
Geographer
384 Woods Hole Road
Woods Hole, MA
US

508-457-2269 (voice)
508-457-2310 (FAX)
whsc_data_contact@usgs.gov
Contact_Instructions:
The metadata contact email address is a generic address in the event the person is no longer with the USGS
Metadata standard:
Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)
This page is <https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/catalog/whcmsc/RSCC/MA_CapeCod_20231104_metadata.faq.html>
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