Surveyed Positions of Ground Control Points Associated With Images Collected During Unmanned Aerial Systems Flights Over Town Neck Beach, in Sandwich, Massachusetts on January 22, January 25, February 11, March 30, and September 21, 2016

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Frequently anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?

Title:
Surveyed Positions of Ground Control Points Associated With Images Collected During Unmanned Aerial Systems Flights Over Town Neck Beach, in Sandwich, Massachusetts on January 22, January 25, February 11, March 30, and September 21, 2016
Abstract:
Low-altitude (30-120 meters above ground level) digital images of Town Neck Beach in Sandwich, Massachusetts, were obtained with a series of cameras mounted on small unmanned aerial systems (UAS, also known as a drone). Imagery was collected at close to low tide on five days 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/Marine Hazards and Resources Program and conducted under U.S. Geological Survey field activity numbers 2016-013-FA, 2016-043-FA, 2016-053-FA, 2016-054-FA and 2016-055-FA.
Supplemental_Information:
For more information about the field activity, see https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fan=2016-053-FA, https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fan=2016-0054-FA, https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fan=2016-055-FA, https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fan=2016-013-FA, https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fan=2016-043-FA.
Drone mapping was conducted at Town Neck Beach in Sandwich, Massachusetts between 2015 and October 2017. The digital images, Ground Control Points and transect data from a calendar year are released together. This product contains the data collected in 2016.
  1. How might this data set be cited?
    U.S. Geological Survey, 2019, Surveyed Positions of Ground Control Points Associated With Images Collected During Unmanned Aerial Systems Flights Over Town Neck Beach, in Sandwich, Massachusetts on January 22, January 25, February 11, March 30, and September 21, 2016: data release DOI:10.5066/P9CJOMBM, U.S. Geological Survey, Coastal/Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Woods Hole, MA.

    Online Links:

    This is part of the following larger work.

    Montgomery, E., Sherwood, C., Traykovski, P., Irwin, B., Borden, J., Martini, M., and Miner, S., 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 by the U.S. Geological Survey on January 22, January 25, February 11, March 30, and September 21, 2016.: data release DOI:10.5066/P9CJOMBM, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA.

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details:
    Montgomery E.T., Sherwood, C.R., Traykovski, P.A., Irwin, B.J., Borden, J., Martini, M.A., and Miner, S., 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 by the U.S. Geological Survey on January 22, January 25, February 11, March 30, and September 21, 2016: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9CJOMBMX
  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?
    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -70.4869
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -70.4756
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 41.77
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 41.7635
  3. What does it look like?
  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
    Calendar_Date: 22-Jan-2016
    Currentness_Reference:
    ground condition temporary markers
  5. What is the general form of this data set?
    Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: digital text files
  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):
      • Point
    2. What coordinate system is used to represent geographic features?
      The map projection used is Universal Transverse Mercator.
      Projection parameters:
      Scale_Factor_at_Central_Meridian: 0.999600
      Longitude_of_Central_Meridian: -69.00000
      Latitude_of_Projection_Origin: 0.000
      False_Easting: 500000.0000
      False_Northing: 0.0000
      Planar coordinates are encoded using coordinate pair
      Abscissae (x-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 0.0001
      Ordinates (y-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 0.0001
      Planar coordinates are specified in meters
      The horizontal datum used is North American Datum of 1983.
      The ellipsoid used is Geodetic Reference System 80.
      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: North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD88)
      Altitude_Resolution: 0.0001
      Altitude_Distance_Units: meters
      Altitude_Encoding_Method:
      Explicit elevation coordinate included with horizontal coordinates
  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?
    2016SandwichTNB_GCPs.zip
    The files contain target positions surveyed at Town Neck Beach, Sandwich, MA to provide ground control points to constrain the photogrammetric products. (Source: U.S. Geological Survey)
    Label
    Target/GCP identifier (Source: rover operator) character set
    X/Easting (m NAD83(2011) Zone 19N)
    Easting in meters referenced to NAD83(2011) UTM Zone 19 North. (Source: SP80 GNSS receiver)
    Range of values
    Minimum:376000
    Maximum:380000
    Units:meters
    Resolution:1.0E-4
    Y/Northing (m NAD83(2011) Zone 19N)
    Northing in meters referenced to NAD83(2011) UTM Zone 19 North. (Source: SP80 GNSS receiver)
    Range of values
    Minimum:4620000
    Maximum:4630000
    Units:meters
    Resolution:1.0E-4
    Z/Elevation (m, NAVD88)
    Elevation referenced to North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD88). (Source: SP80 GNSS receiver)
    Range of values
    Minimum:-1
    Maximum:7
    Units:meters
    Resolution:1.0E-3
    Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:
    Five text files are in the .zip; each contains the locations and elevations of the GCPs for each field activity. Each file contains one header line, followed by lines with 4 columns of comma-separated values. The header line describes the column contents as follows: #Label, X/Easting (m NAD83(2011) Zone 19N), Y/Northing (m NAD83(2011) Zone 19N), Z/Elevation (m, NAVD88). Subsequent lines contain the labels and coordinates for each GCP deployed on that day. The labels identify which type of target was used, where Txx (or txx) indicates the 4-ft square PVC plastic targets, Pxx (or pxx) indicates the 2-ft square plywood targets, fxx indicates small (approximately 1-ft square) fibreglass boards with circular targets, and BAGxx indicates black plastic trash bags used only on January 25, where xx is the target number. Each file has a different number of data records after the header: 2016-01-22_SandwichTNB_GCPs.txt has 32, 2016-01-25_SandwichTNB_GCPs.txt has 19, 2016-02-11_SandwichTNB_GCPs.txt has 20, 2016-03-30_SandwichTNB_GCPs.txt has 34, 2016-09-21_SandwichTNB_GCPs.txt has 27.
    Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation:
    USGS Field Activities 2016-053-FA, 2016-054-FA, 2016-055-FA, 2016-013-FA, and 2016-043-FA

Who produced the data set?

  1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)
    • U.S. Geological Survey
  2. Who also contributed to the data set?
  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
    Christopher Sherwood
    U.S. Geological Survey
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA

    508-548-8700 x2269 (voice)
    csherwood@usgs.gov

Why was the data set created?

This dataset consists of locations of targets deployed and surveyed on January 22, January 25, February 11, March 30, and September 21, 2016 that can be used as ground control points (GCPs) to constrain photogrammetric processing of imagery collected on the same days.

How was the data set created?

  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?
    GPS ground control point locations from USGS field activities 2016-053-FA, 2016-054-FA, 2016-055-FA, 2016-013-FA, and 2016-043-FA (source 1 of 1)
    U.S. Geological Survey, Unpublished Material, GPS ground control point data collected by the U.S. Geological Survey during field activities 2016-053-FA, 2016-054-FA, 2016-055-FA, 2016-013-FA, and 2016-043-FA..

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: .csv file
    Source_Contribution:
    The ground control points (GCPs) may be used to constrain the photogrametric products produced from aerial images taken on the same day at Town Neck Beach, Sandwich, MA.
  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?
    Date: 21-Sep-2016 (process 1 of 3)
    All targets and transect locations were measured with an RTK-GNSS system by the USGS field crew at Town Neck Beach, Sandwich, MA during daylight around the time of low tide. Four kinds of targets were used: commercial targets (4 ft x 4 ft x 4-mil thick PVC plastic sheets with black and white diamond patterns and grommets in corners (Berntsen International, Inc. product number AT48IC-STK), plywood targets (2 ft x 2 ft x 1/2-inch thick plywood boards painted with black and white squares), fibreglass targets (1-ft square boards with circular laminated Agisoft Photoscan targets), and black plastic garbage bags. The PVC targets were designated "Txx" or "txx", the plywood targets were designated "Pxx" or "pxx", the fibreglass targets were designated "fxx", and the garbage bags were designated "BAGxx", where xx is the target number. The survey point on the PVC and plywood targets is the central intersection of the black and white panels. The survey point on the fibreglass targets is the small (1-cm diameter) white dot in the center of the black circle, and the survey point on the garbage bags is the dimple in the central mound of sand placed on the target. The dimple is the impression made by the foot of the survey staff. See Horizontal_and vertical Positional_Accuracy_Report for a complete description of the survey methods. Process date is the same as collection date, which for the five events is January 22, January 25, February 11, March 30 and September 21, 2016. The process date indicated is the last of those events. Person who carried out this activity:
    Sandy Brosnahan
    U.S. Geological Survey
    physical scientist
    384 Woods Hole Rd.
    Woods Hole, MA

    508-548-8700 x2269 (voice)
    508-457-2310 (FAX)
    csherwood@usgs.gov
    Date: 12-Jun-2020 (process 2 of 3)
    The distribution link to download the data file directly was improperly formatted and edited so the download would work. 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
    Date: 07-Aug-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?
    Spectra Precision SP80 global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receivers were used to locate the targets used as ground control points and to collect transect coordinates. One was configured as a base station and established at a fixed, known location, and broadcast differential corrections to rovers in real time. On various days, one or two SP80 receivers and/or a Spectra Precision model ProMark 800 GNSS receiver functioned as rovers that received corrections from the base and were used to locate targets that served as ground control points and measure transect points. The base location was determined via localization with a rover positioned on a local reference point designated BMOPUS. The overall horizontal accuracy of the target locations, based on the accuracy of the reference point and repeat measurements of targets and other known locations was 1.5 cm and the vertical accuracy was 0.5 cm. Conversions from satellite coordinates to NAD83(2011) UTM zone 19N (EPSG::6348) and NAVD88 were made by Carlson SurvCE software in the data collector.
  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?
    Horizontal positions were determined with GNSS rovers receiving real-time differential corrections from a GNSS base station established over a benchmark on the corner of a concrete pad under the trash bins at the east end of the Town Neck Beach parking lot, Sandwich, MA. The base station was a Spectra model SP80 GNSS receiver with UHF radio and external antenna mounted on a separate tripod. The antenna height was 2.25 m. The coordinates of the reference point (designated BMOPUS) were determined from precise orbit On-line Positioning User Service (OPUS) solutions using GPS data collected during five 2- to 7-hour occupations between November 2015 and December 2016. The final values are the averages of the five positions, and the uncertainty is the quadrature sum of the range (minimum to maximum values) among the five measurements and the range for individual measurements, as reported by OPUS. The coordinates (uncertainty) in NAD83(2011) (Epoch:2010.0000) UTM Zone 19, elevation NAVD88 (geoid 12B) for the reference point BMOPUS are: Northing (m) 4624914.408 (0.0067) meters, Easting 376707.744 (0.0175) meters, Orthometric elevation 2.692(0.0398) meters. The coordinates of the targets were measured with rovers with an estimated precision of +/- 3 cm (horizontal) and +/-1.6 cm (vertical). Combined with the uncertainty of the reference point, the overall estimated accuracy of target locations used for GCPs is +/- 3.5 cm (horizontal) and +/-4.3 cm (vertical).
  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
    Vertical positions were determined with GNSS rovers receiving real-time differential corrections from a GNSS base station established over a temporary benchmark on a concrete pad under the trash bins at the east end of the Town Neck beach parking lot, Sandwich MA. (See Horizontal_Positional_Accuracy_Report for a complete description of the survey methods).
  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
    The data is complete for each field activity. Positions of all of the temporary targets that serve as ground control points deployed each day are listed in the text files.
  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?
    There is one text file per survey day; each lists the positions of each temporary target with horizontal coordinates in NAD83(2011) UTM Zone 19 North (meters), and vertical coordinates in NAVD88 GEOID 12b (meters). Four types of targets were used, and are distinguished by labels in the first column of the data file: Txx (or txx) indicates the PVC targets, Pxx (or pxx) indicates the plywood targets, fxx indicates fibreglass targests, and BAGxx indicates garbage bags, where xx is the target number.

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. Please recognize the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) as the source of this information.
  1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)
    U.S. Geological Survey - ScienceBase
    Denver Federal Center, Building 810, Mail Stop 302
    Denver, CO

    1-888-275-8747 (voice)
    sciencebase@usgs.gov
  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set? This data release includes position and elevation data from surveys of the Ground control points (GCPs) collected on each day of operations. Surveyed GCPs are provided in 5 text files distributed in a zip file named 2016SandwichTNB_GCPs.zip.
  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?
    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. Although these data and associated metadata have been reviewed for accuracy and completeness and approved for release by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and have been processed successfully on a computer system at the USGS, no warranty expressed or implied is made regarding the display or utility of the data for other purposes, nor on all computer systems, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty. The USGS or the U.S. Government shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of the data described and/or contained herein. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
  4. How can I download or order the data?

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 07-Jul-2022
Metadata author:
Ellyn Montgomery
U.S. Geological Survey
Oceanographer
384 Woods Hole Rd.
Woods Hole, MA

508-548-8700 x2356 (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 metadata contact is no longer with the USGS or the email is otherwise invalid.
Metadata standard:
Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)
This page is <https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/catalog/whcmsc/SB_data_release/DR_P9CJOMBM/2016SandwichTNB_GCPs_meta.faq.html>
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