H11043_BATHY3: Interpolated 3-m bathymetric grid of NOAA survey H11043 off Branford, Connecticut

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Frequently-anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?

Title:
H11043_BATHY3: Interpolated 3-m bathymetric grid of 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. The bathymetry data in this data set were collected during 2002 for charting applications as part of NOAA project OPR-B340-RU, survey H11043 aboard the NOAA Ship RUDE. The RUDE, which supports NOAA's east-coast nautical charting mission, is outfitted to acquire single-beam bathymetry with an Odom Echotrac DF-3200 duel frequency echosounder and shallow water multibeam bathymetry with a Reson 8125 system. The Reson multibeam system operates at 455 KHz with a 120 degree across track swath and 240 beams along its swath.
  1. How should this data set be cited?

    U.S. Geological Survey, 2006, H11043_BATHY3: Interpolated 3-m bathymetric grid of NOAA survey H11043 off Branford, Connecticut: Open-File Report 2005-1145, 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.

    Poppe, L.J., Ackerman, S.D., Doran, E.F., Beaver, A.L., Crocker, J.M., and Schattgen, P.T., 2006, Interpolation of reconnaissance multibeam bathymetry from north-central Long Island Sound: Open-File Report 2005-1145, 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: -72.870617
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -72.774582
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 41.236582
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 41.149296

  3. What does it look like?

    <http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2005/1145/graphics/browse_graphics/h11043_bathy3.jpg> (JPEG)
    Image showing overview of 3-m interpolated grid of NOAA survey H11043

  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?

    Calendar_Date: 2005
    Currentness_Reference: publication date

  5. What is the general form of this data set?

    Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: raster digital data

  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?

    1. How are geographic features stored in the data set?

      This is a Raster data set. It contains the following raster data types:

      • Dimensions 3167 x 2607 x 1, type Grid Cell

    2. What coordinate system is used to represent geographic features?

      Grid_Coordinate_System_Name: Universal Transverse Mercator
      Universal_Transverse_Mercator:
      UTM_Zone_Number: 18
      Transverse_Mercator:
      Scale_Factor_at_Central_Meridian: 0.999600
      Longitude_of_Central_Meridian: -75.000000
      Latitude_of_Projection_Origin: 0.000000
      False_Easting: 500000.000000
      False_Northing: 0.000000

      Planar coordinates are encoded using row and column
      Abscissae (x-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 3.000000
      Ordinates (y-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 3.000000
      Planar coordinates are specified in meters

      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?

Who produced the data set?

  1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)

  2. Who also contributed to the data set?

    Please acknowledge NOAA and the NOAA Ship RUDE as the originators of the data from which this data set was derived.

  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?

    U.S. Geological Survey
    c/o Larry Poppe
    Geologist
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA 02543
    USA

    508-548-8700 x2314 (voice)
    508-457-2310 (FAX)
    lpoppe@usgs.gov

Why was the data set created?

To release the 3-m interpolated and regridded bathymetry generated from NOAA survey H11043 in Long Island Sound off Branford, Connecticut.

How was the data set created?

  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?

    h11043_1m_decimal_degrees_xyz.txt (source 1 of 1)
    , Unpublished Material, H11043 Bathymetry.

    Type_of_Source_Media: DVD-ROM
    Source_Contribution:
    Original processed shallow-water multibeam and single beam bathymetric data with no interpolation. Areas of no data exist between many of the ship's tracks.

  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?

    Date: 2003 (process 1 of 2)
    The multibeam data for this survey was acquired in XTF (extended Triton data format) and recorded digitally through an ISIS data acquisition system. Once digitally recorded, the XTF data were processed using CARIS HIPS/SIPS software to quality control the data and to incorporate sound velocity and tidal corrections. Data were gridded to 1 m; vertical datum is mean lower low water.

    Person who carried out this activity:

    Atlantic Hydrographic Branch, NOAA
    439 West York Street
    Norfolk, VA 23510
    USA

    Data sources produced in this process:
    • h11043_1m_decimal_degrees_xyz.txt

    Date: 2005 (process 2 of 2)
    The original multibeam data sets, which are in ASCII comma-delimited text, do not entirely cover the sea floor because line spacing during acquisition was such that areas of no data often are present between the ship's tracks. Therefore, further processing was conducted at the USGS's Woods Hole Science Center to provide bathymetric datasets with more continuous coverage. First, all non-standardized records were assumed to be bad records and were removed. Subsequently, the PROJ.4 cartographic projections library was used to project the data, the SwathEd software produced by the Ocean Mapping Group at the University of New Brunswick was used to create the grid from the actual sounding data, and GMT (the Generic Mapping Tools) was used to create a 3-m interpolated grid of the bathymetry. Interpolation was achieved during GMT processing by running the data through a block median filter and using a surface generating algorithm with a tension of 0.5. Other parameters were set at default. The grid was projected into Universal Transverse Mercator, Zone 18N.

    Person who carried out this activity:

    U.S. Geological Survey
    c/o Seth Ackerman
    Computer Specialist
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA 02543
    USA

    508-548-8700 x2315 (voice)
    508-457-2310 (FAX)
    sackerman@usgs.gov

    Data sources used in this process:
    • h11043_1m_decimal_degrees_xyz.txt

    Data sources produced in this process:

    • h11043_bathy3

  3. What similar or related data should the user be aware of?

    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, Coastal and Marine Geology Program, Woods Hole Science Center, Woods Hole, MA.

    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?

    Navigation was by differential GPS

  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?

    All collected data were processed and used to produce the interpolated and gridded dataset.

  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?

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:
Data are not for navigation purposes.

Public domain data are freely redistributable with proper metadata and source attribution. Please recognize the U.S.Geological Survey (USGS) as the source of this information.

  1. Who distributes the data set?[Distributor contact information not provided.]

  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?

    Downloadable Data: 3-m interpolated gridded bathymetry from NOAA survey H11043

  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

    Although this data set has been used by the USGS and NOAA, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by the USGS or NOAA as to the accuracy of the data and/or related materials. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by the USGS or NOAA in the use of these data or related materials.

  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 must have a program similar to ArcGIS that is capable of reading and processing the data files.

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 26-Jan-2006
Metadata author:
U.S. Geological Survey
c/o Larry Poppe
Geologist
384 Woods Hole Road
Woods Hole, MA 02543
USA

508-548-8700 x2314 (voice)
508-457-2310 (FAX)
lpoppe@usgs.gov

Metadata standard:
FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)
Metadata extensions used:

Generated by mp version 2.8.6 on Thu Jan 26 07:58:08 2006