Static Oceanographic Observations made by the USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Program at Martha's Vineyard Coastal Observatory, September and October 2011

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Frequently anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?

Title:
Static Oceanographic Observations made by the USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Program at Martha's Vineyard Coastal Observatory, September and October 2011
Abstract:
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) obtained oceanographic measurements as part of the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Optics Acoustics and Stress In Situ (OASIS) Project. The objective of this work is to relate optical and acoustic properties of suspended particles as a function of particle size, concentration, and vertical distribution near the sea floor. In order to accomplish this task, a specially modified tripod allows vertical profiling near the sea floor by moving instruments up and down within 2 meters of the sea floor. The profiling arm was designed and built by a team of scientists, engineers and technicians from the USGS Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center (WHCMSC). To accommodate communications and provide power required for arm movement and control, the tripod was connected via underwater cable to the Martha's Vineyard Coastal Observatory (MVCO), operated by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). In addition to the instruments on the profiling arm, other instruments were mounted elsewhere on the static portion of the tripod and nearby on a nearby seafloor platform. The tripod (USGS Mooring 910) and seafloor platform (911) were deployed on September 17, 2011 at the MVCO 12-m deep underwater node which is about 2 kilometers (km) south of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. Divers assisted in the deployment and cleaned the acoustic and optical instrument faces on the tripod approximately once a week until recovery on 23 October, 2011. For more information on the field operations associated with data collection: http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/operations/ia/public_ds_info.php?fa=11048 http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/operations/ia/public_ds_info.php?fa=11051 http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/operations/ia/public_ds_info.php?fa=11052 http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/operations/ia/public_ds_info.php?fa=11053 http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/operations/ia/public_ds_info.php?fa=11054
  1. How might this data set be cited?
    Sherwood, C.R., Montgomery, E.T., Dickhudt, P.J., and Martini, M.A., 2012, Static Oceanographic Observations made by the USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Program at Martha's Vineyard Coastal Observatory, September and October 2011: U.S. Geological Survey Coastal and Marine Geology Program, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Woods Hole, MA.

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details: Applies to the data distribution site for an experiment.
  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?
    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -70.55663
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -70.55656
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: +41.336480
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: +41.336365
  3. What does it look like?
  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
    Beginning_Date: 17-Sep-2011
    Ending_Date: 23-Oct-2011
    Currentness_Reference:
    Ground condition of data collection, not all sensors functioned for the entire deployment; Platforms were deployed with instruments at several depths for a month.
  5. What is the general form of this data set?
  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?
    1. How are geographic features stored in the data set?
    2. What coordinate system is used to represent geographic features?
      Vertical_Coordinate_System_Definition:
      Depth_System_Definition:
      Depth_Datum_Name: Local surface
      Depth_Resolution: 9999
      Depth_Distance_Units: meters
      Depth_Encoding_Method: Explicit depth coordinate included with horizontal coordinates
  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?

Who produced the data set?

  1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)
    • C.R. Sherwood
    • E.T. Montgomery
    • P.J. Dickhudt
    • M.A. Martini
  2. Who also contributed to the data set?
    For their outstanding logistical support in collecting the oceanographic data in this report, we thank crews of the R/V Tioga, and the WHOI and USGS divers who participated in operations. This research was funded jointly by ONR and the USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Program as part of the Coastal Model Applications and Field Measurements Project.
  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
    Christopher Sherwood
    U.S. Geological Survey
    U.S. Geological Survey Woods Hole Science Center 384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, Massachusetts

    508 548-8700 x2269 (voice)
    csherwood@usgs.gov

Why was the data set created?

To distribute the data collected by the static instruments on tripod 910 and platform 911. Data from the instruments on the moving arm are distributed in the open file report "Profile Measurements and Data from the 2011 Optics, Acoustics, and Stress In Situ (OASIS) Project at the Martha's Vineyard Coastal Observatory (MVCO)", on line at: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2012/1178/. This new information on the physics of particle resuspension and aggregation, and light penetration and water clarity, will help improve models of sediment transport, benthic primary productivity, and underwater visibility. Data collected includes pressure, current velocity, wave properties, turbidity, water temperature salinity and pressure. The locations, deployment depths, sensor type and parameters measured by the static sensors during the deployment are presented in the table displayed by the Basic Sampling Interval link on the data server (http://stellwagen.er.usgs.gov/mvco2011.html).

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: 2011 (process 1 of 5)
    FIELD PROGRAM: Two seafloor mounted tripods were deployed at the MVCO 12m node located at 41.3366 latitude and -70.5564 longitude. Platform 910 was a custom tripod with an instrumented arm that profiled autonomously through the 2 meters nearest the seafloor. The static instruments collected current velocity, temperature, salinity, pressure, turbidity and light attenuation data in support of understanding the dynamics of the Benthic Boundary Layer (BBL). Platform 911, located approximate 3 to 5 meters southeast of the platform 910, provided full water column measurements of velocity and waves to compliment the near-bottom data from platform 910.
    Date: 2012 (process 2 of 5)
    DATA PROCESSING: Data processing was conducted using the proprietary software for each instrument, and (or) specialized software developed by the USGS. The proprietary software was often used to download data from the instruments and export the data to ASCII-files. Post-processing of the raw binary or ASCII files was accomplished using USGS software developed in the MATLAB (http://www.mathworks.com/) programming language. Data were first decoded and calibrated from instrument-specific formats and units to the EPIC-standard NetCDF format (http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/epic/) and scientific units. Data were carefully checked for instrument malfunctions and then edited. The beginning and end of each data series were truncated to remove data collected out of water. The data were carefully checked at each stage of processing. After final editing, the best basic version of the data file includes all variables recorded at the basic sampling interval. Best basic versions of all data files in NetCDF format are provided. These data have been edited to remove outlying points and data recorded when the instruments were out of the water before and after deployment, and data after the tripod tipped over in a storm on October 21, 2011 were removed. Data from the static instruments on platforms 910 and 911 are presented herel data from the instruments on the moving arm as well as the bottom sediment sample data and suspended sediment sample data are distributed with the Open File Report documenting the project (http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2012/1178/). Person who carried out this activity:
    Ellyn Montgomery
    U.S. Geological Survey
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA
    United States

    508-457-8700 x2356 (voice)
    emontgomery@usgs.gov
    Date: 12-Jul-2016 (process 3 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.). The links to the experiment page had to be fixed in the Identification_Information section and the Distribution_Information section. Fixed the online link to a cross-reference. In the case of the depth resolution, the value of 9999 was entered to indicate that the original metadata did not contain the required information. 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 4 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: 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?
    Montgomery, E.T., Martini, M.A., Lightsom, F.L., and Butman, Bradford, 2009, Documentation of the U.S. Geological Survey Oceanographic Time Series Measurement Database: Open-File Report 2007-1194, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA.

    Online Links:

    C.R.Sherwood, Dickhudt, P.J., Martini, M.A., and Montgomery, E.T., 2012, Profile measurements and data from the 2011 Optics, Acoustics and Stress In Situ (OASIS) Project at the Martha's Vineyard Coastal Observatory: Open-File Report 2012-1178, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA.

    Online Links:

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 deployment positions were obtained from the R/V Connecticut's DGPS navigation system. The accuracy is to within 10m. The horizontal datum set on the navigation system is uknown but assumed to be either NAD83 or WGS84.
  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
    Bottom-mounted sensors have instrument_height attributes (meters above bottom) measured prior to deployment. The sensor height above bottom is accurate to within 1 cm, but the depth (representing the initial measurement depth) is only accurate to about 1 meter due to tidal fluctuations and use of nominal water depth. If the sensor acquires data in bins by depth (ADCP, PCADP, AQD), those depths are accurate to a few centimeters relative to each other. Sedimentation or scouring around the platform may change the vertical position over the course of a deployment by as much as 20 cm.
  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
    The data have been edited to remove outlying points and data recorded when the instruments were out of the water (before and after deployment). Data have been removed for periods when a sensor failed, and after the tripod tipped over in a storm on October 21, 2011. Divers cleaned the optical and acoustical sensors on the profiling tripod on 21 September, 27 September, 6 October and 11 October.
  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?
    Data are logically consistent

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 (and any cooperators you feel should be recognized) as the originator of the dataset.
  1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)
    Ellyn Montgomery
    U.S. Geological Survey
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA
    United States

    508-457-8700 x2356 (voice)
    emontgomery@usgs.gov
  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set? Downloadable Data available from http://stellwagen.er.usgs.gov/mvco2011.html.
  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?
    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 user's computer must have software to read netCDF files or import OPeNDAP.

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 07-Jul-2022
Metadata author:
Ellyn T. Montgomery
U.S. Geological Survey
384 Woods Hole Road
Woods Hole, MA
United States

(508) 457-8700 x2356 (voice)
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/stellwagen/mvco11_meta4.faq.html>
Generated by mp version 2.9.51 on Thu Jul 14 11:37:40 2022