Bottom Photographs in JPEG format acquired using a SEABed Observation and Sampling System (SEABOSS) within Barnegat Bay New Jersey by the U.S. Geological Survey in 2012, and 2013

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Frequently anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?

Title:
Bottom Photographs in JPEG format acquired using a SEABed Observation and Sampling System (SEABOSS) within Barnegat Bay New Jersey by the U.S. Geological Survey in 2012, and 2013
Abstract:
Water quality in the Barnegat Bay-Little Egg Harbor estuary along the New Jersey coast is the focus of a multidisciplinary research project begun in 2011 by the U.S. Geological Survey in partnership with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. This narrow estuary is the drainage for the Barnegat Watershed and flushed by just three inlets connecting it to the Atlantic Ocean, is experiencing degraded water quality, algal blooms, loss of seagrass, and increases in oxygen -depletion events, seaweed, stinging nettles, and brown tide. The scale of the estuary and the scope of the problems within it necessitate a multidisciplinary approach that includes characterizing its physical characteristics (for example, depth, magnitude and direction of tidal currents, distribution of seafloor and subseafloor sediment) and modeling how the physical characteristics interact to affect the estuary's water quality. Scientists from USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Program offices in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, and St. Petersburg, Florida, began mapping the seafloor of the Barnegat Bay-Little Egg Harbor estuary in November 2011 and completed in September 2013. With funding from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and logistical support from the USGS New Jersey Water Science Center, they collected data with a suite of geophysical tools, including swath bathymetric sonar for measuring seafloor depth, a sidescan sonar for collecting acoustic-backscatter data (which provides information about seafloor texture and sediment type), subbottom profiler for imaging sediment layers beneath the floor of the estuary, and sediment samples with bottom photographs for ground validation of the acoustic data. More information about the four surveys that were part of this project can be found at the USGS Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center Field Activity web pages: 2011-041-FA: http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/operations/ia/public_ds_info.php?fa=2011-041-FA 2012-003-FA: http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/operations/ia/public_ds_info.php?fa=2012-003-FA 2013-014-FA: http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/operations/ia/public_ds_info.php?fa=2013-014-FA 2013-030-FA: http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/operations/ia/public_ds_info.php?fa=2013-030-FA
  1. How might this data set be cited?
    U.S. Geological Survey, 2015, Bottom Photographs in JPEG format acquired using a SEABed Observation and Sampling System (SEABOSS) within Barnegat Bay New Jersey by the U.S. Geological Survey in 2012, and 2013: Data Series 937, U.S. Geological Survey, Coastal and Marine Geology Program, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Woods Hole, MA.

    Online Links:

    This is part of the following larger work.

    Andrews, Brian D., Miselis, Jennifer L., Danforth, William W., Irwin, Barry J., Worley, Charles R., Bergeron, Emile M., and Blackwood, Dann S., 2015, Marine geophysical data collected in a shallow back-barrier estuary: Barnegat Bay, New Jersey: Data Series 937, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA.

    Online Links:

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?
    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -74.305617
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -74.050009
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 40.059391
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 39.510267
  3. What does it look like?
    barnbaybotphotos.jpg (JPEG)
    Example JPEG image of the seafloor of Barnegat Bay, New Jersey. File is included in the compressed zip file.
  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
    Beginning_Date: 10-Apr-2012
    Ending_Date: 18-Sep-2013
    Currentness_Reference:
    Ground condition of SEABOSS sampling dates at the end of three surveys, 20120410-20120412, 20130328-20130329, 20130918-20130918. No photographs were collected during 2011-041-FA.
  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?
    2. What coordinate system is used to 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? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)
    • U.S. Geological Survey
  2. Who also contributed to the data set?
    Please recognize the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) as the source of this information.
  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
    Brian Andrews
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Geographer
    384 Woods Hole Rd.
    Woods Hole, MA
    USA

    508-548-8700 x2348 (voice)
    508-457-2310 (FAX)
    bandrews@usgs.gov

Why was the data set created?

The purpose of these bottom photographs is to ground-truth, or validate the marine geophysical (acoustic) collected in Barnegat Bay, New Jersey.

How was the data set created?

  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?
    JPEG photographs (source 1 of 1)
    U.S. Geological Survey, Unpublished Material, JPEG Photographs.

    Type_of_Source_Media: memory card
    Source_Contribution:
    The SEABed Observation and Sampling System (SEABOSS) was designed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for rapid and effective collection of seabed images and sediment samples in coastal regions. The observations from video and still cameras and the sediment data are used to explore the nature of the seafloor and, in conjunction with high-resolution geophysical data, to make interpretive maps of sedimentary environments and validate the acoustic remote sensing data. The SEABOSS is a simple system that can be deployed from both small and large surface vessels and operates in water depths up to 200m. It incorporates two video cameras, a still camera, a depth sensor, and a modified Van Veen sediment sampler. The elements of this particular SEABOSS system are held within a stainless steel framework that measures 1.1 x 1.1 meters and weighs 167 kilograms overall. The digital camera, a Canon PowerShot G12, is mounted in a machined Delrin housing with a flat port and is set for 3648 x 2736 pixel images at the "fine" setting for compression. This allows the camera to be used for over 200 images with a 1 GB Compact Flash card without downloading. The system also has a PHOTOSEA strobe. Two lasers are set 20 cm apart (both as they are mounted on the SEABOSS frame and as seen in photographs and video on the seabed) for scale measurements. The red laser dots can usually be seen in the photo depending on the bottom type and the distance to the sea floor. A third laser is positioned at an angle so that when it intersects the other lasers, the SEABOSS is at the optimum height (approximately 75 cm) off the bottom for a still photograph. The camera is set to a manual focus and set to a default focus distance once the camera is powered up. The default focus distance is slightly less than the optimum height above the seafloor to account for optical distortion under water. All of the system's elements are powered from the surface vessel through a conducting cable. The winch operator views a video monitor so that the system can be maintained at an appropriate height above the bottom and obstacles can be avoided. Scientists also view video monitors and decide when to sample and take still photographs. Video displays include station number, water depth (from the depth sensor), and date, time, and geographic position (provided by a shipboard navigation system). The SEABOSS was deployed from a davit on the starboard side of the R/V Rafael. The vessel occupied one of the target stations and deployed the SEABOSS. The winch operator lowered the sampler until the seafloor was observed in the real-time bottom video. On most stations, the vessel and sampler drifted with wind and current for approximately 3-5 minutes. The SEABOSS operator monitored the real-time bottom video and acquired still bottom photographs at points of interest by remotely triggering the camera shutter. The number of photographs per station varied from 3-10 depending on the complexity of the bottom. The third laser on the system was set to an angle such that the optimum photograph height was 75 cm. The default focus on the camera was set to 50 cm. The imaged area is most often within 0.5 to 1.25 meters from left to right. Other camera settings are as follows: aperture is set at f/8; shutter speed is 1/250 second.
  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?
    Date: Sep-2013 (process 1 of 6)
    Step 1: COLLECT PHOTOGRAPHS One-hundred and eighty six target stations were occupied in Barnegat Bay with the mini SEABOSS equipped with a Van Veen grab sampler, a digital still camera, and a video camera. JPEG photographs were acquired at user-define locations while drifting with wind and tide at each station. Person who carried out this activity:
    Brian Andrews
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Geographer
    384 Woods Hole Rd.
    Woods Hole, MA
    USA

    508-548-8700 x2348 (voice)
    508-457-2310 (FAX)
    bandrews@usgs.gov
    Data sources used in this process:
    • JPEG Photographs
    Date: 06-Jan-2015 (process 2 of 6)
    The shapefile containing the photo locations was exported to a comma-delimited text file based on each individual cruise. This was done in ArcMap 9.3.1 using XTools Pro 7.1. First the photos for a particular survey were selected, then XTools was used to export the following attributes: Latitude, Longitude, PhotoName, Time, Date_. The text editor VI v 7.3 was used to reformat the output so that DATE_ was in the format YYYYMMDD and the header line was removed. A Python version 2.7.3 script (andrews_write_exif.py) was then run that incorporated the information in the export text file, along with additional information supplied in a GUI of the script, into the appropriate locations in the EXIF header of each full-resolution JPEG image. The PYTHON script uses ExifTool (version 9.4.6.0) to write the information to the image headers. The full-resolution images will eventually be incorporated into the WHCMSC photo database and the EXIF header information is a requirement for the database.
    The following tags were populated in the JPEG image headers. Information is duplicated in some tags. This was done because different software packages access different tags. The example below has the information for field activity 2012-003-FA. For the other two field activities, the appropriate field activity number was substituted.
    GPS tags: The values populated are unique for each image and based on the information exported from the photo locations shapefile.
    GPSLatitudeRef
    GPSLatitude
    GPSLongitudeRef
    GPSLongitude
    GPSTimeStamp
    GSPDateStamp
    JPEG tags: The tag is listed along with the information used to populate it - which is the same for every image of a given field activity. 
    Comment: Photo from down-looking camera on the USGS SEABOSS deployed from the R/V Rafael 
during survey 2012-003-FA (http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/operations/ia/public_ds_info.php?fa=2012-003-FA) 
Released as part of publication DOI:10.3133/ds937
    EXIF tags: The tag is listed along with the information used to populate it - which is the same for every image. 
    ImageDescription: Photograph of the sea floor in Barnegat Bay, New Jersey from survey 2012-003-FA. 
 released as part of publication DOI:10.3133/ds937
    Artist: Brian Andrews
    Copyright: Public Domain - please credit U.S. Geological Survey
    IPTC tags: The tag is listed along with the information used to populate it - which is the same for every image.
    Credit: U.S. Geological Survey
    Contact: WHSC_data_contact@usgs.gov >Keywords: Barnegat Bay, New Jersey, 2012-003-FA, SEABOSS, sea floor, USGS
    CopyrightNotice: Public Domain - please credit U.S. Geological Survey 
    Caption-Abstract: Photograph of the sea floor in Barnegat Bay, New Jersey from survey 2012-003-FA.
released as part of publication DOI:10.3133/ds937
    XMP tags: The tag is listed along with the information used to populate it - which is the same for every image. 
     Caption: Photograph of the sea floor in Barnegat Bay, New Jersey from survey 2012-003-FA. 
 released as part of publication DOI:10.3133/ds937
    To extract the information from the image headers using ExifTool, the following command can be used (tested with ExifTool version 9.4.6.0): exiftool.exe -csv -f -filename -GPSTimeStamp -GPSDateStamp -GPSLongitude -GPSLatitude -n -Artist -Credit -comment -keywords -Caption -Copyright -CopyrightNotice -Caption-Abstract -ImageDescription imgtest/*.jpg > out.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. The folder "imgtest" would be replaced with the folder name containing the images. Person who carried out this activity:
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Attn: VeeAnn A. Cross
    Marine Geologist
    384 Woods Hole Rd.
    Woods Hole, MA

    508-548-8700 x2251 (voice)
    508-457-2310 (FAX)
    vatnipp@usgs.gov
    Date: 06-Jul-2016 (process 3 of 6)
    Changed incorrect data download links in the Online_linkage and Network_Resource_Name sections. Person who carried out this activity:
    Brian Andrews
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Geographer
    384 Woods Hole Rd.
    Woods Hole, MA
    USA

    508-548-8700 x2348 (voice)
    508-457-2310 (FAX)
    bandrews@usgs.gov
    Date: 20-Jul-2018 (process 4 of 6)
    USGS Thesaurus keywords added to the keyword section. 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: 15-Nov-2019 (process 5 of 6)
    Crossref DOI link was added as the first link in the metadata. 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: 08-Sep-2020 (process 6 of 6)
    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?
    Blackwood, D., and Parolski, K., 2001, Seabed observation and sampling system: Sea Technology v. 42, no 2, p. 39-43.

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?
    The JPEG photographs alone do not represent spatial data, however the shapefile "BarnBayBotPhotos" (http://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/0937/downloads/shapefile/BarnBayBotPhotos.zip)provides the geographic location of each photographs using the navigation data from each survey. The recorded position of each photo is actually the position of the GPS antenna on R/V Rafael, not the camera mounted on the SEABOSS. The SEABOSS was deployed approximately 1 meter astern of the GPS antenna off the starboard side of the R/V Rafael. No layback or offset was applied to the recorded position. In addition to the +/-1 meter offset the SEABOSS may additionally drift away from the survey vessel when deployed to the seafloor. Based on the various sources for horizontal offsets and the shallow depths of deployment, a conservative estimate the horizontal accuracy of the bottom photograph locations is 5 meters.
  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
    This data set includes 594 of bottom photographs collected during three separate SEABOSS surveys in Barnegat Bay, New Jersey (2012-003-FA, 2013-013-FA, and 2013-030-FA). Photographs of poor quality or otherwise unusable are not included.
  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?
    Gaps exist in sequential photograph numbers because photographs taken on deck, accidently triggered, or of poor quality were deleted.

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: none
  1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)
    Brian Andrews
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Geographer
    384 Woods Hole Rd.
    Woods Hole, MA
    USA

    508-548-8700 x2348 (voice)
    bandrews@usgs.gov
  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set? 2012_003_FA_BP.zip, 2013_014_FA_BP.zip, and 2013_030_FA_BP.zip: contain bottom photographs in JPEG format collected during each of the three field activities where the SEABOSS was deployed along with associated metadata
  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 USGS 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.
  4. How can I download or order the data?
  5. What hardware or software do I need in order to use the data set?
    The user must have an image viewer capable of view JPEG images.

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 08-Sep-2020
Metadata author:
Brian Andrews
U.S. Geological Survey
Geographer
384 Woods Hole Rd.
Woods Hole, MA
USA

508-548-8700 x2348 (voice)
508-457-2310 (FAX)
bandrews@usgs.gov
Metadata standard:
FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)
This page is <https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/catalog/whcmsc/data_series/DS-937/BarnBayBotPhotos.faq.html>
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