Seabed still images in JPEG format and image locations collected on Stellwagen Bank during U.S. Geological Survey field activity 2015-017-FA, aboard the R/V Auk, May 18-19, 29, and June 3, 2015

Seabed video imagery was collected using two battery-operated, high-definition (1920 x 1080 pixels) GoPro digital video cameras and a Subsea Video Systems digital camera mounted on the USGS SEABed Observation and Sampling System (SEABOSS). The Subsea camera had a live feed to the surface and was used only to observe obstacles, like gill nets and lobster gear, in order to avoid entanglement. In the case of camera failure, the additional GoPro camera provided backup video. All images collected here were acquired with a GoPro camera. As the SEABOSS drifted over the seabed, the GoPro cameras imaged the seabed at a rate of 60 frames per second from an altitude of ~1 meter. Lighting was provided by one battery-operated Keldan LED video light that provided a light flux of up to 9000 lumens at a correlated color temperature of 5000 kelvins. Two parallel red lasers mounted 20 centimeters apart provided a scale in the video images.
Video imagery includes the launch and recovery of the SEABOSS, transit through the water column, and the drift over the seabed. The duration of individual video files ranges from 3.5 to 14.2 minutes. Video files are archived in .MP4 format and range in size from 0.8 to 3.1 gigabytes.
These video files are not part of this data release. Video files are archived at the USGS Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, 384 Woods Hole Road, Woods Hole, MA 02543.

Video frame-grab images were extracted from high-definition (1920 x 1080 pixels) GoPro digital video using open source VLC Media Player software (version 2.0.0) developed by the VideoLAN project ( http://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html ).
Two video frame-grab images are provided for each station. One image (staXXXX_1) shows a broad view of the landscape as the SEABOSS drifted over the seabed. The second image (staXXXX_2) shows a close-up of the seabed as the SEABOSS was stationary during the collection of the sediment sample. Where visible, the two parallel red lasers mounted 20 cm apart provide a scale.

Using 2015-017-FA_station_data_summary.csv, the approximate time and location of each photo was derived. The location (latitude and longitude), date, and time for each station was extracted from the CSV file. This information was reformatted using an AWK script so that the following columns of information were available: image name (based on the station number), latitude, longitude, GPS time (in the format HH:MM:SS), and GPS date (in the format YYYYMMDD). This information was written to a CSV file - 2015-017-FA_image_locations.csv

A Python script (writeexif_2_readfile_7_25_19.py executed with IDLE version 2.7.14 on a Windows 10 machine) was then run that incorporated the information from 2015-017-FA_image_locations.csv, along with additional information, into the appropriate locations in the EXIF header of each GoPro grab image. Although the two images from each station are not from the exact same place, the same information for that station was populated in each photo. The Python script uses ExifTool ( version 11.54, https://exiftool.org ) to write the information to the image headers of the full-resolution images. The following tags were populated in the JPEG image headers. Information is duplicated in some tags because different software packages access different tags.

GPS tags: The values populated are unique for each station image and based on the information exported from 2015-017-FA_station_data_summary.csv.

GPSLatitudeRef
GPSLatitude
GPSLongitudeRef
GPSLongitude
GPSTimeStamp
GSPDateStamp

JPEG tag: The tag is listed along with the information used to populate it, which is the same for every image.

comment: Image grabs from a GoPro digital video camera mounted on the USGS SEABOSS deployed from the R/V Auk during survey 2015-017-FA ( https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fan=2015-017-FA ).

EXIF tags: The tag is listed along with the information used to populate it, which is the same for every image.

ImageDescription: Image grab of the sea floor on Stellwagen Bank, MA from survey 2015-017-FA
Artist: Page C. Valentine
Copyright: Public Domain - please credit U.S. Geological Survey
UserComment: Image part of USGS data release https://doi.org/10.5066/P9BG490P

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: Stellwagen Bank, Massachusetts, 2015-017-FA, SEABOSS, sea floor, USGS, ground-truth, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9BG490P
CopyrightNotice: Public Domain - please credit U.S. Geological Survey
Caption-Abstract: Image grab of the sea floor on Stellwagen Bank, MA from survey 2015-017-FA

XMP tag: The tag is listed along with the information used to populate it - which is the same for every image.

Caption: Image grab of the sea floor on Stellwagen Bank, MA from survey 2015-017-FA

To extract the information from the image headers using ExifTool, the following command can be used (tested with ExifTool version 11.54 running in Cygwin):

exiftool.exe -csv -f -filename -GPSTimeStamp -GPSDateStamp -GPSLongitude -GPSLatitude -n -Artist -Credit -comment -keywords -Caption -Copyright -CopyrightNotice -Caption-Abstract -ImageDescription -UserComment *.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. Whether you use exiftool or exiftool.exe will depend on the operating system on which the command is being run.

Added keywords section with USGS persistent identifier as theme keyword.