U.S. Geological Survey
2019
Geotagged Low-Altitude Aerial Imagery From Unmanned Aerial Systems Flights Over Town Neck Beach, in Sandwich, Massachusetts, on March 16, 2017
1.0
remote-sensing image
data release
DOI:10.5066/F7QC02RM
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Woods Hole, MA
U.S. Geological Survey, Coastal and Marine Geology Program
https://doi.org/10.5066/F7QC02RM
https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/5a871ac1e4b00f54eb3a2d47
C. Sherwood
P. Traykovski
E. Montgomery
J. Borden
S. Brosnahan
B. Irwin
E. Marsjanik
M. Martini
S. Suttles
2019
Geotagged Low-Altitude Aerial Imagery From Unmanned Aerial Systems Flights Over Town Neck Beach, in Sandwich, Massachusetts, With Associated Ground Control Points, and Transects Collected on January 9, January 25, February 14, March 16, April 28, May 4, and September 18, 2017
1.0
digital files
data release
DOI:10.5066/F7QC02RM
Reston, VA
U.S. Geological Survey
Suggested citation: Sherwood, C.R., Traykovski, P.A., Montgomery, E.T., Borden, J., Brosnahan S.M., Irwin, B.J., Marsjanik, E.D., Martini, M.A., and Suttles, S.E., 2019, Geotagged low-altitude aerial imagery from unmanned aerial systems flights over Town Neck Beach in Sandwich, Massachusetts, with associated ground control points and transects, collected on January 9, January 25, February 14, March 16, April 28, May 4, and September 18, 2017: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/F7QC02RM.
https://doi.org/10.5066/F7QC02RM
https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/5a7daca0e4b00f54eb24a4f5
Low-altitude (80-100 meters above ground level) digital images of Town Neck Beach in Sandwich, Massachusetts, were obtained from a camera mounted on a small unmanned aerial system (UAS; also known as a drone). Imagery was collected at close to low tide on to observe changes in beach and dune morphology. The images were geolocated by using the single-frequency geographic positioning system aboard the UAS. Ground control points (GCPs) were established by using temporary targets on the ground, which were located by using a real-time kinematic global navigation satellite system (RTK-GNSS) base station and rovers. The GCPs can be used as constraints during photogrammetric processing. Transect points were collected by using the same RTK-GNSS system; these can be used to evaluate photogrammetric products. This data release includes georeferenced images, image-location files, GCPs, and transect points. Collection of these data was supported by the U.S. Geological Survey Coastal and Marine Geology Program and were conducted under USGS field activity numbers 2017-005-FA, 2017-008-FA, 2017-010-FA, 2017-014-FA, 2017-027-FA, 2017-029-FA, and 2017-050-FA.
This dataset consists of overlapping aerial images obtained on March 16, 2017 that can be used with photogrammetric processing software to create point clouds, digital elevation models, and orthophoto mosaics.
For more information about this field activity, see https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fan=2017-0014-FA. Drone mapping was conducted at Town Neck Beach in Sandwich, Massachusetts beginning in 2015. The digital images, ground control points and transect data from a calendar year are released together. This product contains the data collected in 2017.
20170316
20170316
ground condition
Not planned
-70.4879
-70.4728
41.7712
41.7616
USGS Metadata Identifier
USGS:5a871ac1e4b00f54eb3a2d47
None
U.S. Geological Survey
USGS
Coastal and Marine Geology Program
CMGP
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center
WHCMSC
shoreline
DJI Phantom 4 quadcopter
FC330
shoreline photographs
photographs
photos
JPEG
low-altitude aerial imagery
aerial imagery
UAS
Unmanned aerial system
geotagged photos
field activity number 2017-014-FA
USGS Thesaurus
remote sensing
aerial photography
image collections
Marine Realms Information Bank (MRIB) keywords
aerial and satellite photography
ISO 19115 Topic Category
geoscientificInformation
oceans
location
None
USA
Sandwich
Massachusetts
Town Neck Beach
None
Public domain data from the U.S. Government are freely redistributable with proper metadata and source attribution. Please recognize the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) as the source of this information.
Sandra Brosnahan
U.S. Geological Survey
mailing and physical address
U.S. Geological Survey
Woods Hole
MA
02543-1598
508-548-8700 x2265
sbrosnahan@usgs.gov
The camera used on the UAS was a DJI FC330 that acquired photos 4000 x 3000 pixels (12 Megapixels), with file sizes generally between 4.5 and 6.5 MB on disc, depending on image complexity. GPS locations were recorded in the EXIF portion of the images. The GPS used on the UAS has practical accuracies of 3 meters horizontally and 10 m vertically, and the time stamps are accurate to better than 1 millisecond. However, the altitudes recorded in the EXIF portion of the image metadata include uncorrected offsets and may be biased by as much as 250 m. The relative altitudes stored in the XMP portion of the image metadata are accurate to +/- 10 m.
All aerial photographs were acquired with the integrated DJI FC330 camera mounted on a DJI Phantom 4 quadcopter unmanned aerial system (UAS; FAA small UAS registration number FA3PEHY394). Images were collected along pre-planned lines with 50 to 60% cross-track overlap. Flight lines were oriented approximately northwest/southeast, roughly parallel to the shoreline. Flights lasted the duration of the UAS battery life (maximum about 22 minutes) or until the flight was completed or aborted. The flight lines and camera shutter timing were planned to record images with 65 to 70% along-track overlap.
UAS flights were conducted to map the Town Neck Beach shoreline in Sandwich, MA on March 16, 2017. Gaps in sequential photos exist because some photos were deleted because, for example, of overexposure, or to avoid multiple photos of the landing pad per flight as the UAS was taking off and landing. GPS times were not recorded by the DJI firmware, but the local times in the EXIF tag "DateTime" are accurate.
Horizontal positions recorded by the UAS GPS were written directly into the EXIF portion of the images during the flights. Horizontal locations are considered accurate to approximately 3 meters, but may be off by as much as 10 meters.
Vertical positions recorded by the UAS GPS were written directly into the metadata (EXIF and XMP) portions of the images during the flights. The altitude measurements are accurate to approximately +/- 10 m, but uncorrected offsets in the take-off altitude introduced biases of as much as 250 meters in the EXIF tag "Absolute Altitude". The most acccuate altitude information can be read from the "Relative Altitude", which is stored in the XMP portion of the image. These altitudes are accurate to approximately +/- 10 m.
U.S. Geological Survey
Unpublished Material
Geotagged photos collected from a UAS during field activity 2017-014-FA
raster digital data
https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fan=2017-014-FA
disc
20170316
20170316
ground condition
geotagged photos from field activity 2017-014-FA
These JPEG images were collected with an integrated DJI FC330 camera mounted on a DJI Phantom 4 quadcopter unmanned aerial system (UAS). The camera used on the UAS acquired photos at 4000 x 3000 pixels (12 Megapixels). The camera orientaion for most flights was "down", aimed directly below the UAS . The camera angle was changed to 30 degrees above "down" for the last flight. Horizontal positions and elevations were recorded in the UAS onboard navigation and applied to the images during the flight. These JPEG images may be used with photogrammetric software to produce geolocated point clouds, digital elevation models, orthophoto mosaics, and other products.
A DJI Phantom 4 quadcopter UAS was flown by Peter Traykowski to acquire these images. They were geotagged in flight by the UAS. It used local time, so an adjustment to GMT was made (see first parameter of step 1 below). They were also processed to add USGS required information to the EXIF headers and renamed to unique file names. These steps are described here:
1. ExifTool (https://www.sno.phy.queensu.ca/~phil/exiftool/, version 10.64) was used to add required attribution tags to all thephotos. The command used to update and add the tags for all the photos was: exiftool -AllDates+=4 -CopyrightNotice="Public Domain - please credit U.S. Geological Survey " -ImageDescription="Photographs of Town Neck Beach, Sandwich, Massachusetts, USA from survey 2017-014-FA " -Caption-Abstract="Town Neck Beach, Sandwich, Massachusetts, USA from survey 2017-014-FA " -Caption="Town Neck Beach, Sandwich, Massachusetts, USA from survey 2017-014-FA " -sep ", " -keywords="Town Neck Beach, Sandwich, Massachusetts, 2017-014-FA, UAS, aerial imagery, USGS " -comment="Photo from down-looking UAS camera during survey 2017-014-FA." -Credit="U.S. Geological Survey" -Contact="WHSC_data_contact@usgs.gov " -Artist="Peter Traykovski" *.JPG
2. All the JPEG images were renamed with Namexif (version 1.7, http://www.digicamsoft.com/softnamexif.html) to ensure unique filenames and compliance with USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Program's best practices for image naming convention. Images were renamed with a survey ID prefix followed by a local USGS UID, which corresponds to a distinct UAS project; a camera ID that distinguishes among the cameras by make, model, and camera number; the image acquisition date and coordinated universal time (UTC) in ISO8601 format; and a suffix with the original image name. For example, image name '2017027FA_U029DJP4_20170428T092440Z_DJI_0678.JPG', 2017027FA is the survey ID, U029 is the internal identifier code, DJP4 is the internal camera ID, 20170428 is the UTC date in format YYYYMMDD. A 'T' is used to separate UTC date from UTC time, in format HHMMSS followed by a Z, and DJI_0678.JPG is the original raw photo name appended to the end of the new filename.
20171031
Ellyn Montgomery
U.S. Geological Survey
Oceanographer
mailing and physical address
U.S. Geological Survey
384 Woods Hole Rd.
Woods Hole
MA
02543-1598
508-548-8700 x2356
508-457-2310
emontgomery@usgs.gov
Added keywords section with USGS persistent identifier as theme keyword.
20200807
U.S. Geological Survey
VeeAnn A. Cross
Marine Geologist
Mailing and Physical
384 Woods Hole Road
Woods Hole
MA
02543-1598
508-548-8700 x2251
508-457-2310
vatnipp@usgs.gov
Raster
Pixel
3000
4000
0.000001
0.000001
Decimal degrees
D_WGS_1984
WGS_1984
6378137.0
298.257224
IGS08 (EPOCH:2017.8707)
0.01
meters
Attribute values
There are no additional attributes besides the tags described in data quality section associated with these images.
USGS Field Activity 2017-014-FA
U.S. Geological Survey - ScienceBase
mailing and physical address
Denver Federal Center, Building 810, Mail Stop 302
Denver
CO
80225
1-888- 275-8747
sciencebase@usgs.gov
This data release includes raw data in the form of geotagged aerial images in JPEG format. All 476 aerial images are distributed in a zip file named 2017014FA_U024_Sandwich.zip.
Neither the U.S. Government, the Department of the Interior, nor the USGS, nor any of their employees, contractors, or subcontractors, make any warranty, express or implied, nor assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, nor represent that its use would not infringe on privately owned rights. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility
is assumed by the U.S. Geological Survey in the use of these data or related materials. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
JPEG
Zipped files contain geotagged aerial images collected by the U.S. Geological Survey - Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center along Sandwich Town Neck Beach, MA.
Use WinZip, 7zip, Peazip or pkUnzip
2503.281
https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/5a871ac1e4b00f54eb3a2d47
https://doi.org/10.5066/F7QC02RM
The large file handler located on the data page is recommended for downloading the images. The first link in the list above is to the data page and the second link is to the publication landing page.
none
Use of this file requires software capable of opening JPEG images and, if desired, capable or reading the associated EXIF information.
20220707
Ellyn Montgomery
U.S. Geological Survey
Oceanographer
mailing and physical
U.S. Geological Survey
384 Woods Hole Rd.
Woods Hole
MA
02543-1598
508-548-8700 x2356
508-457-2310
whsc_data_contact@usgs.gov
The metadata contact email address is a generic address in the event the metadata contact is no longer with the USGS or the email is otherwise invalid.
Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata
FGDC-STD-001-1998
local time
None
None