Image showing bathymetry data for the coastal region of Rincon, Puerto Rico (rincon_lidar.tif)

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Frequently anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?

Title:
Image showing bathymetry data for the coastal region of Rincon, Puerto Rico (rincon_lidar.tif)
Abstract:
These data were collected by the SHOALS (Scanning Hydrographic Operational Airborne Lidar Survey) system which consists of an airborne laser transmitter/receiver capable of measuring 400 soundings per second. The system operates from a deHavilland DHC-6 Twin Otter flying at altitudes between 200 and 400 meters with a ground speed of about 100 knots. The SHOALS system also includes a ground-based data processing system for calculating acurate horizontal position and water depth. Lidar is an acronym for LIght Detection And Ranging. The system operates by emitting a pulse of light that travels from an airborne platform to the water surface where a small portion of the laser energy is backscattered to the airborne receiver. The remaining energy at the water's surface propogates through the water column and reflects off the sea bottom and back to the airborne detector. The time difference between the surface return and the bottom return corresponds to water depth. The maximum depth the system is able to sense is related to the complex interaction of radiance of bottom material, incident sun angle and intensity, and the type and quantity of organics or sediments in the water column. As a rule-of-thumb, the SHOALS system should be capable of sensing bottom to depths equal to two or three times the Secchi depth.
  1. How might this data set be cited?
    U.S. Geological Survey, 2007, Image showing bathymetry data for the coastal region of Rincon, Puerto Rico (rincon_lidar.tif): Open-File Report 2007-1017, U.S. Geological Survey, Coastal and Marine Geology Program, Woods Hole Science Center, Woods Hole, MA.

    Online Links:

    This is part of the following larger work.

    Thieler, E.R., Rodriguez, R.W., and Himmelstoss, E.A., 2007, Historical Shoreline Changes at Rincon, Puerto Rico, 1936-2005: Open-File Report 2007-1017, U.S. Geological Survey, Coastal and Marine Geology Program, Woods Hole Science Center, Woods Hole, MA.

    Online Links:

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?
    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -67.297178
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -67.151041
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 18.406479
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 18.278626
  3. What does it look like?
  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
    Calendar_Date: 2001
    Currentness_Reference:
    ground condition
  5. What is the general form of this data set?
    Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: remote-sensing image
  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?
    1. How are geographic features stored in the data set?
      Indirect_Spatial_Reference: _Method: Puerto Rico Shoreline Survey
      This is a Raster data set. It contains the following raster data types:
      • Dimensions 2857 x 3062 x 1, type Pixel
    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 North American Datum of 1983.
      The ellipsoid used is Geodetic Reference System 80.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378137.000000.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.257222.
  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?
    Band_1
    Red pixel values for image. (Source: U.S. Geological Survey)
    ObjectID
    Internal feature number. (Source: ESRI) Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.
    Value
    Pixel value for red histogram. (Source: U.S. Geological Survey) information unavailable from original metadata
    Count
    Count number for red histogram. (Source: U.S. Geological Survey) information unavailable from original metadata
    Band_2
    Green pixel values for image. (Source: U.S. Geological Survey)
    ObjectID
    Internal feature number. (Source: ESRI) Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.
    Value
    Pixel value for green histogram. (Source: U.S. Geological Survey) information unavailable from original metadata
    Count
    Count value for green histogram. (Source: U.S. Geological Survey) information unavailable from original metadata
    Band_3
    Blue pixel values for image. (Source: U.S. Geological Survey)
    ObjectID
    Internal feature number. (Source: ESRI) Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.
    Value
    Pixel value for blue histogram (Source: U.S. Geological Survey) information unavailable from original metadata
    Count
    Count value for blue histogram. (Source: U.S. Geological Survey) information unavailable from original metadata
    Band_4
    Hillshade values for image. (Source: U.S. Geological Survey)
    ObjectID
    Internal feature number. (Source: ESRI) Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.
    Value
    Pixel value for hillshade histogram. (Source: U.S. Geological Survey) information unavailable from original metadata
    Count
    Count value for hillshade histogram (Source: U.S. Geological Survey) information unavailable from original metadata

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?
    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers JALBCTX
    109 St. Joseph Street
    Mobile, Alabama

    334-694-3721 (voice)
    334-690-3464 (FAX)

Why was the data set created?

The purpose was to survey the entire perimeter of Puerto Rico, Culebra and Vieques collecting data either to depths of 30m or 2000m offshore.

How was the data set created?

  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?
    None (source 1 of 1)
    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers JALBTCX, 200108, Puerto Rico Shoreline Survey: unpublished data information unavailable from original metadata, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Spatial Data Branch, Mobile, Alabama.

    Type_of_Source_Media: CD-ROM
    Source_Contribution: SHOALS - Puerto Rico Shoreline Survey
  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?
    Date: Dec-2000 (process 1 of 5)
    The SHOALS airborne system acquires a tremendous volume of raw data during a single mission. The lidar data are unique and require a specialized Data Processing System (DPS) for post-processing. The DPS main funcions are: 1) import airborne data stored on high density data tape; 2) perform quality control checks on initial depths and horizontal positions; 3) provide display and edit capabilities; 4) calculate depth and position (XYZ) values for each sounding; and 5) output final positions and depths for each sounding. Person who carried out this activity:
    US Army Corps of Engineers - Joint Airborne Lidar Bathymetry Technical Center of Expertise (JALBCTX)
    109 St. Joseph Street
    Mobile, Alabama

    334-694-3721 (voice)
    334-690-3464 (FAX)
    Date: unknown (process 2 of 5)
    Final positions and soundings were converted from an Excel formatted file to a space delimited text file and imported into Fledermaus (Avggrid). Person who carried out this activity:
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Attn: William Danforth
    Geologist
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA
    USA

    508-548-8700 (voice)
    508-457-2310 (FAX)
    Date: unknown (process 3 of 5)
    The soundings were gridded using a weighted moving average interpolation routine with a weight diameter of 3 and a cell size of 5 meters. Person who carried out this activity:
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Attn: William Danforth
    Geologist
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA
    USA

    508-548-8700 (voice)
    508-457-2310 (FAX)
    Date: unknown (process 4 of 5)
    The resulting grid was exported as a GeoTiff in geographic coordinates using Imageviewer. Person who carried out this activity:
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Attn: William Danforth
    Geologist
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA
    USA

    508-548-8700 (voice)
    508-457-2310 (FAX)
    Date: 19-Aug-2021 (process 5 of 5)
    The metadata was edited to remove errors as well as update some information. Edits include updating the citation section with the DOI link and a slight modification to the dataset title, added the USGS Thesaurus, added keywords section with USGS persistent identifier as theme keyword, replaced distribution liability with FSP statement. Other unrequired blank fields were deleted, duplicate entries within a field were deleted, required empty elements were fixed with “information unavailable from original metadata”. The latitude and longitude resolution were absent, and require values, so the values were added but not verified. The metadata date (20070222), but not the contact (except email and contact instructions) was updated. The metadata available from a harvester may supersede metadata available from the publication. Compare the metadata dates to determine which metadata file is most recent. The metadata available from a harvester may supersede metadata available from the publication. 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 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?
    U.S. Army Engineer Joint Airborne Lidar Bathymetry Technical Center of Expertise, 2001, Puerto Rico Shoreline Survey: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Spatial Data Branch, Mobile, AL.

    Other_Citation_Details: CD-ROM

How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?

  1. How well have the observations been checked?
    SHOALS has demonstrated capabilities that meet US Army Corps of Engineers Hydrographic Survey accuracy requirements for Class 1 surveys (1:50,000 horizontal point closure standard) and the International Hydrographic Organization nautical charting standards for Order 1.
  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?
    The horizontal point closure is determined by dividing the linear distance misclosure of the survey into the overall circuit length of a traverse, loop, or network line/circuit. When independent directions or angles are observed, as on a conventional survey (i.e., traverse, trilateration, or triangulation), these angular misclosures may optionally be distributed before assessing positional misclosure. In cases where GPS vectors are measured in geocentric coordinates, then the three-dimensional positional misclosure is assessed.
  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
    The vertical accuracy of a survey is determined by the elevation misclosure within a level section or level loop. For conventional differential or trigonometric leveling, section or loop misclosures (in feet) shall not exceed the Class 1 limit of 0.025 times the square root of distance M (0.025*sqrtM), where the line or circuit length (M) is measured in miles.
  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
    The data used to create this image only included (negative) depth values from the SHOALS lidar survey. Additional data exists for this area but was not included in the process steps to generate the GeoTIFF image.
  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?
    No additional checks for topological consistency were performed on the 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:
These data are not to be used for navigational purposes. Acknowledgement of the U.S. Army Engineer Joint Airborne Lidar Bathymetry Technical Center of Expertise (JALBCTX) would be appreciated in products derived from these data.
  1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)
    E. Robert Thieler
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Research Geologist
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA
    USA

    508-548-8700 x2350 (voice)
    508-457-2310 (FAX)
    rthieler@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?
    Unless otherwise stated, all data, metadata and related materials are considered to satisfy the quality standards relative to the purpose for which the data were collected. Although these data and associated metadata have been reviewed for accuracy and completeness and approved for release by 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.
  4. How can I download or order the data?
  5. What hardware or software do I need in order to use the data set?
    This image is available as a GeoTIFF image with an accompanying world file. To utilize this data, the user must have an image viewer, image processing or GIS software package capable of importing a GeoTIFF image.

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 01-Sep-2021
Metadata author:
Emily Himmelstoss
U.S. Geological Survey
Geologist
384 Woods Hole Road
Woods Hole, MA
USA

508-548-8700 x2262 (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.
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/ofr2007-1017/rincon_lidar_meta.faq.html>
Generated by mp version 2.9.50 on Tue Sep 21 18:20:22 2021