Surficial sediment distribution interpretation of the sidescan sonar mosaic of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) survey H11043 off Branford, Connecticut

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Frequently anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?

Title:
Surficial sediment distribution interpretation of the sidescan sonar mosaic of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) survey H11043 off Branford, Connecticut
Abstract:
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, has produced detailed geologic maps of the sea floor in Long Island Sound, a major East Coast estuary surrounded by the most densely populated region of the United States. These studies have built upon cooperative research with the State of Connecticut that was initiated in 1982. The current phase of this research program is directed toward studies of sea-floor sediment distribution, processes that control sediment distribution, nearshore environmental concerns, and the relation of benthic community structures to the sea-floor geology. Anthropogenic wastes, toxic chemicals, and changes in land-use patterns resulting from residential, commercial, and recreational development have stressed the environment of the Sound, causing degradation and potential loss of benthic habitats (Koppelman and others, 1976; Long Island Sound Study, 1994). Detailed maps of the sea floor are needed to help evaluate the extent of adverse impacts and to help manage resources wisely in the future. Therefore, in a continuing effort to better understand Long Island Sound, we have constructed and interpreted sidescan sonar mosaics (complete-coverage acoustic images of the sea floor) within specific areas of special interest (Poppe and Polloni, 1998; fig. 1). The mosaic presented herein covers a 41.1 km square area of the sea floor in north-central Long Island Sound off Branford, Connecticut. The mosaics and their interpretations serve many purposes, including: (1) defining the geological variability of the sea floor, which is one of the primary controls of benthic habitat diversity; (2) improving our understanding of the processes that control the distribution and transport of bottom sediments and the distribution of benthic habitats and associated infaunal community structures; and (3) providing a detailed framework for future research, monitoring, and management activities. The sidescan sonar mosaics also serve as base maps for subsequent sedimentological, geochemical, and biological observations, because precise information on environmental setting is important for selection of sampling sites and for accurate interpretation of point measurements.
  1. How might this data set be cited?
    Poppe, Lawrence J., 2004, Surficial sediment distribution interpretation of the sidescan sonar mosaic of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) survey H11043 off Branford, Connecticut: Open-File Report 2004-1003, 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.

    Poppe, L.J., Paskevich, V.F., Moser, M.S., DiGiacomo-Cohen, M.L., and Christman, E.B., 2004, Sidescan Sonar Imagery and Surficial Geologic Interpretation of the Sea Floor off Branford, Connecticut: Open-File Report 2004-1003, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA.

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details: 1 CD-ROM
  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?
    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -72.869918
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -72.776520
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 41.236011
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 41.151390
  3. What does it look like?
    http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2004/1003/data/interp/sedimentinterp/texture.gif (GIF)
    Overview showing the coverage and extent of the sediment texture interpretation data layer for the H11043 NOAA sidescan sonar mosaic.
  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
    Calendar_Date: 2004
    Currentness_Reference:
    publication date
  5. What is the general form of this data set?
    Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector digital data
  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?
    1. How are geographic features stored in the data set?
      This is a Vector data set. It contains the following vector data types (SDTS terminology):
      • G-polygon (92)
    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 0.000001. Longitudes are given to the nearest 0.000001. 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?
    texture
    Information unavailable from original metadata. (Source: Information unavailable from original metadata.)
    FID
    Internal feature number. (Source: ESRI) Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.
    Shape
    Feature geometry. (Source: ESRI) Coordinates defining the features.
    ID
    Generated number (Source: ArcView)
    Range of values
    Minimum:0
    Maximum:0
    SEDCLASS
    Textural classification according to Shepard (1954) (Source: Scientist)
    ValueDefinition
    GravelSediment grain size greater than 2 mm
    Gravelly sedimentSediment greater than 10 percent gravel
    SandSediment mostly greater than 0.062 mm, but less than 2 mm
    Silty SandSand with significant (greater than 20 percent) silt
    Sand Silt ClaySediment with significant sand, silt, and clay
    Clayey siltSilt with significant clay

Who produced the data set?

  1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)
    • Lawrence J. Poppe
  2. Who also contributed to the data set?
    Lawrence J. Poppe, U.S. Geological Survey, must be referenced as the originator of the dataset in any future products or research derived from these data.
  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Attn: Lawrence J. Poppe
    Geologist
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA
    USA

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

Why was the data set created?

To release the interpretation of the surficial sediment distribution of the sidescan sonar data acquired by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) survey H11043. This GIS data layer is a component of the Branford Survey, Long Island Sound GIS.

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: 31-Oct-2003 (process 1 of 5)
    The surficial sediment distribution across the mosaic was interpreted and polygons for each type of feature were produced in ArcView as shapefiles. The shapefiles were then combined using GeoProcessing Wizard. Person who carried out this activity:
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Attn: Lawrence J. Poppe
    Geologist
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA
    USA

    (508) 548-8700 x2314 (voice)
    (508) 457-2310 (FAX)
    lpoppe@usgs.gov
    Data sources used in this process:
    • lisseddata.shp
    • h11043_geo.tif
    Data sources produced in this process:
    • texture.shp
    • texture.dbf
    • texture.avl
    • texture.shx
    Date: 07-Mar-2016 (process 2 of 5)
    Edits to the metadata were made to fix any errors that MP v 2.9.32 flagged. This is necessary to enable the metadata to be successfully harvested for various data catalogs. In some cases, this meant adding text "Information unavailable" or "Information unavailable from original metadata" for those required fields that were left blank. Other minor edits were probably performed (title, publisher, publication place, etc.). Source citation only had type of source media, so the element ws removed. Latitude and longitude resolution needed to be edited. Minor fixes to the attribute format for some attributes was needed. The metadata date (but not the metadata creator) was edited to reflect the date of these changes. The metadata available from a harvester may supersede metadata bundled within a download file. Compare the metadata dates to determine which metadata file is most recent. 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: 20-Jul-2018 (process 3 of 5)
    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: 18-Nov-2019 (process 4 of 5)
    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 5 of 5)
    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?
  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?
    Interpretations based on tonal changes in the mosaic whose navigation was by differential GPS; positional accuracy to less than 10 .
  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
    Interpretations of the sediment distribution across the sidescan sonar mosaic were completed using tonal changes and all available textural data.
  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?
    All polygons were constructed in a consistent manner. No additional checks for topological consistency were performed on this data.

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 are freely redistributable with proper metadata and source attribution. Please recognize the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) as the originator of this dataset.
  1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)
    Lawrence J. Poppe
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Geologist
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA
    USA

    508-454-8700 x2314 (voice)
    (508) 457-2310 (FAX)
    lpoppe@usgs.gov
  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set? Downloadable Data
  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?
    Although these data have been used by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), no warranty expressed or implied is made by the U.S. Geological Survey as to the accuracy of the data. 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?
    These data are available in Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) shapefile format. The user must have ArcGIS or ArcView 3.0 or greater software to read and process the data file. In lieu of ArcView or ArcGIS, the user may utilize another GIS application package capable of importing the data. A free data viewer, ArcExplorer, capable of displaying the data is available from ESRI at www.esri.com.

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 16-Nov-2021
Metadata author:
U.S. Geological Survey
Attn: Lawrence J. Poppe
Geologist
U.S. Geological Survey
Woods Hole, MA
USA

(508) 548-8700 x2314 (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:
FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)
This page is <https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/catalog/whcmsc/open_file_report/ofr2004-1003/h11043_texture.shp.faq.html>
Generated by mp version 2.9.50 on Tue Nov 16 10:06:29 2021