Navigation data 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

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Frequently anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?

Title:
Navigation data 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
Abstract:
This field activity is part of the effort to map geologic substrates of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary region off Boston, Massachusetts. The overall goal is to develop high-resolution (1:25,000) interpretive maps, based on multibeam sonar data and seabed sampling, showing surficial geology and seabed sediment dynamics. This cruise was conducted in collaboration with the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, and the data collected will aid research on the ecology of fish and invertebrate species that inhabit the region. The Sanctuary's research vessel, R/V Auk, visited 61 locations on Stellwagen Bank at which a customized Van Veen grab sampler (SEABOSS) equipped with a video camera and a CTD was deployed in drift mode to collect sediment for grain-size analysis, video imagery of the seabed, and measurements of water column properties.
Supplemental_Information:
Additional information regarding the field activity can be obtained from https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fan=2015-017-FA . The grain-size analyses of the sediment samples collected during this field activity is available in a separate publication (Valentine and Cross, 2019; link available from the cross-reference citation).
  1. How might this data set be cited?
    Valentine, Page C., 2020, Navigation data 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: data release DOI:10.5066/P9BG490P, U.S. Geological Survey, Coastal and 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.

    Valentine, Page C., and Cross, VeeAnn A., 2020, Sea-floor sediment samples, seabed imagery, and CTD instrument data collected on Stellwagen Bank in May and June, 2015, U.S. Geological Survey Field Activity 2015-017-FA: data release DOI:10.5066/P9BG490P, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA.

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details:
    Suggested citation: Valentine, P.C., and Cross, V.A., 2020, Sea-floor sediment samples, seabed imagery, and CTD instrument data collected on Stellwagen Bank in May and June, 2015, U.S. Geological Survey Field Activity 2015-017-FA: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9BG490P .
  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?
    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -70.720850
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -70.198730
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 42.421720
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 42.150140
  3. What does it look like?
  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
    Beginning_Date: 18-May-2015
    Ending_Date: 03-Jun-2015
    Currentness_Reference:
    Ground condition when data were collected. The UTC dates of data collection were May 18-19, 29, and June 3, 2015.
  5. What is the general form of this data set?
    Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: tabular digital data
  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.
    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 0.00001. Longitudes are given to the nearest 0.00001. Latitude and longitude values are specified in Decimal degrees. The horizontal datum used is D_WGS_1984.
      The ellipsoid used is WGS_1984.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378137.000000.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.257224.
  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?
    navigation log in Excel spreadsheet and CSV format
    The Excel spreadsheet has a header (in row 1) explaining the columns of information, row 2 has the header names, row 3 has header names that are appropriate for incorporation into a GIS (shorter names, no punctuation, and the header row of the CSV file) and the remaining rows contain the data in 11 columns. The labels below are the CSV row headers with the first part of the attribute definition the longer Excel header in row 2 of the Excel spreadsheet. (Source: U.S. Geological Survey)
    VESSEL
    Vessel name: The name of the ship that the field activity used for the cruise. The R/V Auk is the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary research vessel - a 50-foot catamaran. (Source: U.S. Geological Survey) Text field.
    CRUISE_ID
    WHCMSC field activity number: The field activity number assigned to the cruise by the Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center. The number is in the format YYYY-XXX where YYYY is the year and XXX is the number activity in that year. (Source: U.S. Geological Survey) Text field.
    UTC_DATE
    Date, UTC: The date of data collection for the given row based on UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) time. In the Excel spreadsheet, the date has the format of D-M-YYYY where D is the numeric day of the month, M is the month abbreviation, and YYYY is the year. (Source: U.S. Geological Survey) Text field.
    UTC_JD
    Julian Day, UTC: Julian day of data collection based on UTC time. Julian day is the integer number representing the interval of time in days since January 1 of the year of collection. (Source: U.S. Geological Survey) Text field presented as a number.
    TIMEZONE
    Study area time zone: The time zone in which the study area is located. The time zone of the survey is dependent on the survey date. (Source: U.S. Geological Survey)
    ValueDefinition
    EDTEastern Daylight Time. To derive EDT, subtract 4 hours from the UTC time.
    UTC_TIME
    Time, UTC, HHMMSS or Time, UTC, HH:MM:SS: The time of the navigation fix in the format HHMMSS where HH is hour, MM is minutes, and SS is seconds. The times are UTC. One file (AUK2015017_station_nav_log_18MAY2015_UTC) has the colon separator in the time. (Source: U.S. Geological Survey) Text field presented as a number.
    DDMM_LAT
    Lat N, DDMM.MMMM: The latitude coordinate in the format DDMM.MMMM where DD is degrees and MM.MMMM is decimal minutes. The "N" refers to northern latitude. (Source: U.S. Geological Survey) Text field presented as a number.
    DDMM_LON
    Lon W, DDMM.MMMM: The longitude coordinate in the format DDMM.MMMM where DD is degrees and MM.MMMM is decimal minutes. The "W" refers to western longitude and serves the place of having a negative value. (Source: U.S. Geological Survey) Text field presented as a number.
    LATITUDE
    Lat N, decimal degrees: The latitude coordinate in decimal degrees; positive values indicate northern hemisphere. (Source: U.S. Geological Survey)
    Range of values
    Minimum:42.15014
    Maximum:42.41941
    Units:decimal degrees
    LONGITUDE
    Lon W, decimal degrees: The longitude coordinate in decimal degrees; negative values indicate western hemisphere. (Source: U.S. Geological Survey)
    Range of values
    Minimum:-70.19873
    Maximum:-70.46184
    Units:decimal degrees
    AREA
    Region: The area of the survey. (Source: U.S. Geological Survey)
    ValueDefinition
    SBNMSRegion: Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary
    Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:
    The attribute label is the abbreviated label in row 3 of the Excel file that is more compatible with importing the dataset into a GIS. The first part of the attribute definition is the longer label of the column that is in the second row of the Excel spreadsheet.
    The Excel spreadsheet has the following information in the first row describing the spreadsheet:
    GPS navigation log: Column A, vessel name, AUK, SBNMS research vessel; column B, field activity number; column C, date, UTC; column D, Julian Day, UTC; column E, study area time zone; column F, time, UTC (for Eastern Daylight Time subtract 4 hours); column G, latitude north, degrees and decimal minutes; column H longitude west, degrees and decimal minutes; column I, latitude north, decimal degrees; column J, longitude west, decimal degrees; column K, geographic region [abbreviations: D, degrees; H, hour; M, minute; S, second; EDT, Eastern Daylight Time; lat, latitude; lon, longitude; WHCMSC, USGS Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center; SBNMS, Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary; UTC, coordinated universal (Greenwich Mean Time, ZULU time); GPS, satellite-based Global Positioning System receiver]
    The 11 columns of data are the same as those represented in the entity and attribute detailed description.
    The files with the same prefix name, but the CSV extension are exported from the Excel spreadsheet, minus the first two rows of information.
    The *_raw.csv files are the original $GPGGA strings off the ship. The first row in the *raw.csv file describes the file. For the remaining rows, the format of the columns of information is as follows:
    $GPGGA, UTC time, latitude (DDMM.MMMM), latitude hemisphere, longitude (DDMM.MMMM), longitude hemisphere.
    Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation: U.S. Geological Survey

Who produced the data set?

  1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)
    • Page C. Valentine
  2. Who also contributed to the data set?
  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Attn: Page C. Valentine
    Research Geologist
    384 Woods Hole Rd.
    Woods Hole, MA
    USA

    (508) 548-8700 x2239 (voice)
    (508) 457-2310 (FAX)
    pvalentine@usgs.gov

Why was the data set created?

These navigation data are provided in three different formats: CSV files which are an archive of the navigation data files acquired during the survey in the original collected format, as well as reformatted CSV and XLSX formats. The reformatted files add additional information, and most significantly provide the navigation in decimal degrees.

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: 2015 (process 1 of 4)
    Raw CSV files: AUK2015017_XXXX_UTC_nav_raw.csv
    The files *_raw.csv are the $GPGGA strings of the raw navigation recorded on the ship each day. The first row in each file describes the file.
    For the remaining rows, the format of the columns of information is as follows:
    $GPGGA, UTC time, latitude (DDMM.MMMM), latitude hemisphere, longitude (DDMM.MMMM), longitude hemisphere. The UTC time is not formatted consistently. In AUK2015017_18may2015_UTC_nav_raw.csv the UTC time is HH:MM:SS, in AUK2015017_29may2015_UTC_nav_raw.csv and AUK2015017_03jun2015_UTC_nav_raw.csv the colon separator is not included.These files come directly from the ship, so the inconsistent formatting is du to their handling of the files. Person who carried out this activity:
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Attn: Page C. Valentine
    Research Geologist
    384 Woods Hole Rd.
    Woods Hole, MA
    USA

    (508) 548-8700 x2239 (voice)
    (508) 457-2310 (FAX)
    pvalentine@usgs.gov
    Date: 2015 (process 2 of 4)
    Reformatted XLSX files: AUK2015017_station_nav_log_XXXX_UTC.xlsx
    The $GPGGA strings have the latitude and longitude in the degrees decimal minutes format DDMM.MMMM with the hemisphere indicated (N for North and W for West). These data were brought into an Excel spreadsheet and converted to decimal degrees using the following formula examples:
    latitude: (4211.9672-4200)/60+(42) to give 42.19945 decimal degrees
    longitude: ((7043.2105-7000)/60 + 70​) * -1 to give -70.72018 decimal degrees with negative for western hemisphere
    Additional fields of information were added to the spreadsheet and are defined in the entity and attribute section, as well as within the header information in each spreadsheet. The first row is an explanation header, the second row contains descriptive column headers, and the third row contains brief column headers that are compatible with importing the data into a GIS.
    The reformatted version of the navigation excludes the transit navigation between the port and the study area.The inconsistency in the formatting of the UTC time is carried over from the original raw data files. Person who carried out this activity:
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Attn: Page C. Valentine
    Research Geologist
    384 Woods Hole Rd.
    Woods Hole, MA
    USA

    (508) 548-8700 x2239 (voice)
    (508) 457-2310 (FAX)
    pvalentine@usgs.gov
    Date: 2019 (process 3 of 4)
    The XLSX spreadsheet was opened in Microsoft Excel (2016). The first row (the explanation header) and the second row (descriptive column headers) were deleted and the third row (brief column headers that are compatible with importing the data into a GIS) was retained. Then the spreadsheet was exported as an MS-DOS CSV file with the same prefix filename as the Excel file. Person who carried out this activity:
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Attn: Page C. Valentine
    Research Geologist
    384 Woods Hole Rd.
    Woods Hole, MA
    USA

    (508) 548-8700 x2239 (voice)
    (508) 457-2310 (FAX)
    pvalentine@usgs.gov
    Date: 08-Sep-2020 (process 4 of 4)
    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?
    Valentine, Page C., and Cross, VeeAnn A., 2019, Location and analyses of sediment samples collected on Stellwagen Bank off Boston, Massachusetts from November 5, 2013 to April 30, 2019 on U.S. Geological Survey field activities: data release DOI:10.5066/P9FWFLPD, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA.

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details:
    This publication includes the sediment sample analyses information associated with this field activity and 19 other field activities.

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 location information for stations was acquired from a satellite navigation receiver (Furuno satellite compass SC-30 GPS receiver) with a horizontal accuracy of 10 m. Navigation data were recorded at two-second intervals on May 29 and June 3, 2015. Navigation data were recorded at 11-second intervals or better on May 18-19, 2015 due to a problem with the GPS receiver. The navigation antenna is located 5.3 m forward of the SEABOSS deployment location. This offset was not accounted for in the navigation acquisition (navigation fixes represent antenna location).
  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
    The raw navigation files (with the $GPGGA string) represent all the navigation acquired on the cruise. These files are the original files handed over to the scientist from the ship personnel. The reformatted navigation files do not include the transit navigation between the port and the study area. No other navigation fixes were removed, so the data may include bad navigation fixes, missing fixes, and duplicates.
  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?
    The navigation was downloaded at the end of the cruise and is available in $GPGGA format given to the scientist by the ship, as well as reformatted files for easier use. GPGGA is a National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA) sentence for Global Positioning System fix data that includes time, position and fix related data for a GPS receiver. The reformatted version of the navigation excludes the transit navigation between the port and the study area. The original GPGGA navigation filenames are in the format AUK2015017_XXXX_UTC_nav_raw.csv where XXXX is the day of navigation in local time (for example 18may2015). The filenames of the reformatted navigation are in the format AUK2015017_station_nav_log_XXXX_UTC where AUK2015017 is the cruise ID, and XXXX is the day of navigation in local time (for example 18MAY2015); the filename suffix is either XLSX or CSV. The navigation collected on May 18 in local time (UTC-04:00) includes data from May 18-19 in UTC; the navigation data collected on the other survey days have the same date in both local time and UTC.

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)
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Attn: Page C. Valentine
    Research Geologist
    384 Woods Hole Rd.
    Woods Hole, MA
    USA

    (508) 548-8700 x2239 (voice)
    (508) 457-2310 (FAX)
    pvalentine@usgs.gov
  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set? 2015-017-FA_nav.zip contains the navigation acquired on the cruise. The following files are the original GPGGA navigation: AUK2015017_18may2015_UTC_nav_raw.csv, AUK2015017_29may2015_UTC_nav_raw.csv, and AUK2015017_03jun2015_UTC_nav_raw.csv. The reformatted navigation are available in XLSX format and CSV. The reformatted files are as follows: AUK2015017_station_nav_log_18MAY2015_UTC.xlsx, AUK2015017_station_nav_log_18MAY2015_UTC.csv; AUK2015017_station_nav_log_29MAY2015_UTC.xlsx, AUK2015017_station_nav_log_29MAY2015_UTC.csv; and AUK2015017_station_nav_log_03JUN2015_UTC.xlsx, AUK2015017_station_nav_log_03JUN2015_UTC.csv. In addition to the navigation files, the ZIP file contains the FGDC CSDGM metadata in TXT, XML, and HTML formats.
  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?
    Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system at the U.S. Geological Survey (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. 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 ZIP file contains data in XLSX and CSV formats. The user must have software capable of uncompressing the ZIP file and reading the data formats.

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 18-Mar-2024
Metadata author:
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)
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 USGS. (updated on 20240318)
Metadata standard:
FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)
This page is <https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/catalog/whcmsc/field_activities/2015_017_fa/2015-017-FA_nav_meta.faq.html>
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