Historic shoreline positions for Rincon, Puerto Rico 1936-2006 (shorelines.shp)

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Frequently anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?

Title:
Historic shoreline positions for Rincon, Puerto Rico 1936-2006 (shorelines.shp)
Abstract:
The 8 km of shoreline from Punta Higüero to Punta Cadena in Rincón, Puerto Rico is experiencing long-term coastal erosion. This study documents historical shoreline changes at Rincón for the period 1936-2005. Twelve historical shoreline positions were compiled from existing data, new orthophotography, and GPS field surveys. Shoreline vectors represent the high water line at the time of the survey.
  1. How might this data set be cited?
    Thieler, E.R., 2007, Historic shoreline positions for Rincon, Puerto Rico 1936-2006 (shorelines.shp): 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: -67.271440
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -67.225821
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 18.364635
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 18.296929
  3. What does it look like?
  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
    Beginning_Date: 08-Feb-1936
    Ending_Date: 06-Dec-2005
    Currentness_Reference:
    ground condition
  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):
      • String (16)
    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?
    shorelines
    information not available from original metadata (Source: information not available 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.
    date_
    Year of survey (Source: U.S. Geological Survey)
    ValueDefinition
    02/08/1936Feature surveyed in 1936
    11/25/1950Feature surveyed in 1950
    02/21/1963Feature surveyed in 1963
    03/30/1971Feature surveyed in 1971
    10/03/1974Feature surveyed in 1974
    01/26/1977Feature surveyed in 1977
    03/15/1983Feature surveyed in 1983
    01/18/1987Feature surveyed in 1987
    04/13/1989Feature surveyed in 1989
    08/24/1994Feature surveyed in 1994
    09/21/2004Feature surveyed in 2004
    12/06/2005Feature surveyed in 2005
    accuracy
    information unavailable from original metadata (Source: U.S. Geological Survey) information not available from the original metadata
    Shape_Leng
    Length of feature in meters (Source: U.S. Geological Survey) information not available from the original metadata

Who produced the data set?

  1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)
    • E.R. Thieler
  2. Who also contributed to the data set?
  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
    E.R. 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

Why was the data set created?

The historic shorelines were compiled for use in the Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) ArcGIS extension. DSAS reports various rate of change statistics based on transect-shoreline intersections cast at 50 meter spacing alongshore from Punta Higuero to Punta Cadena.

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: unknown (process 1 of 6)
    This process step describes the methods used to digitize shoreline positions for the following years: 1963, 1971, 1974, 1977, 1987 and 1989. Seven sets of near-vertical, overlapping aerial photographs were used to obtain historical shoreline positions. The data included sets of photography from 1950 as well but was discarded after determining that the original input data were flawed. All have a nominal scale of 1:20,000, were flown during winter months, and except the 1987 set which used natural color film, were taken in black and white.
    A ground control network for the air photos was developed by identifying a number of common features on most or all of the photograph sets. Stable reference features such as buildings and road intersections were identified and their approximate locations marked on a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 7.5-minute topographic map. The points were then precisely located in the field and a more specific, stable target (e.g., a building comer, sidewalk, etc.) identifiable on the photographs was surveyed using a differential Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver. The points used in this study are accurate horizontally within 3 m and vertically to within about 6 m.
    Once the basic control network was established, a suite of pass points (common points appearing on two or more photos for which precise geographic information is unknown) was identified to provide further relative control for the photos within each time series. To provide a very "tight" control network and permit greater photogrammetric accuracy, the photo sets for each date included frames that were well inland from the shoreline.
    The air photos were digitized using a 12x lighted magnifying loupe to aid in identification of the fiducial reference marks around the photo border, ground control points, pass points, and the shoreline. The wet/dry line on the beach, the reference feature used in the field surveys described below, was used to delineate the shoreline in each photo. The wet/dry line is the most frequently used shoreline for digitizing because it is easily identified by the tonal difference between wet and dry sand. Where available, camera system calibration data were used to correct the photographs for film distortion and assess the magnitude of lens distortion. The National Ocean Service's General Integrated Analytical Triangulation (GIANT) aerotriangulation program was used to solve simultaneously for the camera position and angular orientation parameters for the air photos. GIANT was also used to remove atmospheric refraction effects from the aerotriangulation solution. Statistical output from GIANT indicated an accuracy of +4 m for the air photo-derived shoreline locations.
    The camera parameters for each photo were used to compute a single-ray intersection solution for the digitized shoreline points. A geographic coordinate system based on the WGS84 ellipsoid was used in shoreline position calculations for consistency with the GPS control point surveys and the field shoreline surveys. The output shoreline position data files for each photo were imported into separate overlays (one for each year of photography) in Maplnfo TM, a Macintosh®-based Geographic Information System (GIS), and joined to adjacent photo data to form a continuous shoreline. Person who carried out this activity:
    E.R. 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
    Date: unknown (process 2 of 6)
    This process step describes the methods used to digitize shoreline positions for the following years: 1936, 1983, and 1987. Aerial photographs were scanned into digital format (.tif) at 600 dpi. The 2004 True Color Orthoimages (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) were used as a reference for the creation of Ground Control Points (GCPs) to geometrically correct all aerial photographs. No RMS error greater than 0.03 was used. A Direct Linear Transform (DLT) model was utilized. All photographs were re-sampled to 1-meter pixel resolution using nearest neighbor re-sampling. Three image mosaics, one for each survey year, were created (1936, 1983 and 1987). Cutlines were manually created following general linear features. Areas of overlap were feathered by a distance of 10-meters. All images were histogram matched to decrease variability between images Person who carried out this activity:
    E.R. 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
    Date: unknown (process 3 of 6)
    This process step describes the methods used to digitize shoreline positions for the following years: 1994, 2005 and 2006. Field surveys of wet/dry shoreline positions were conducted on 24 August 1994, 06 December 2005, and 05-06 December 2006. These surveys utilized a backpack-mounted GPS receiver logging positions at 5- second intervals as the backpacker walked along the wet/dry line. The wet/dry line is the most frequently used shoreline for digitizing because it is easily identified by the tonal difference between wet and dry sand. The data were differentially corrected in real-time in the field. Further post-processing yielded a positioning accuracy of 2-3 m. The GPS data were imported directly into the GIS for display with the shorelines obtained from the photographs. Person who carried out this activity:
    E.R. 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
    Date: unknown (process 4 of 6)
    The final shoreline file for each year was coded with 6 attribute fields (ID, Type, Date, Descr, Source, and Accuracy) required for the Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS), which was used to calculate shoreline change rates. Person who carried out this activity:
    E.R. 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
    Date: unknown (process 5 of 6)
    The shapefile was projected to Geographic Coordinates. Person who carried out this activity:
    Emily Himmelstoss
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Geologist
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA
    USA

    508-548-8700 x2262 (voice)
    508-457-2310 (FAX)
    ehimmelstoss@usgs.gov
    Date: 31-Aug-2021 (process 6 of 6)
    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 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?
    Thieler, E.R., Rodriguez, R.W., and Carlo, M., 1995, Beach Erosion and Coastal Development at Rincon, Puerto Rico: Shore and Beach v. 63, n. 4, pp. 18-28., American Shore and Beach Preservation Association, Berkeley, CA.

    Thieler, E.R., and Carlo, M., 1995, Historical Shoreline Changes at Rincon, Puerto Rico: Open-File Report 95-0072, U.S. Geological Survey, Coastal and Marine Geology Program, Woods Hole Science Center, Woods Hole, MA.

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?
    Approximate horizontal accuracy is 3 meters or better.
  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
    The data set is complete inasmuch as it covers the extent of the study area along the coast of Rincon, Puerto Rico and there are no plans for further modification of the data.
  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?
    There is significant agreement of linework between adjacent shorelines digitized from adjacent aerial photographs. No additional checks for topological consistency were performed on shoreline positions collected from GPS field surveys.

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. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) must be referenced as the originator of the dataset in any future products or research derived from these data. Public domain data are freely redistributable with proper metadata and source attribution. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) must be referenced as the originator of the dataset in any future products or research derived from these data.
  1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)
    E.R. 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?
    • Availability in digital form:
      Data format: The DBF file contains the attribute data in dBASE format. The PRJ file contains the coordinate system information. The SBN and SBX files contain the spatial index of the geospatial data. The SHP file contains the geospatial data. The SHX file contains the index of the geospatial data. The XML file contains the metadata describing the data set. in format SHP (version information not available from original metadata) ESRI Polyline Shapefile Size: 0.146
      Network links: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2007/1017/data/shapefiles/shorelines.zip
      http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2007/1017/htmldocs/data_catalog.html
      Media you can order: DVD-ROM (Density 4.75 Gbytes) (format UDF)
    • Cost to order the data: None

  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 data. A free data viewer, ArcExplorer, capable of displaying the data is availab efrom ESRI at www.esri.com.

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/shorelines_meta.faq.html>
Generated by mp version 2.9.50 on Tue Sep 21 18:20:22 2021