H11077_INTERP.SHP: Interpretation of Bottom Features from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Survey H11077 of Woods Hole, MA (Geographic)

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Frequently-anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?

Title:
H11077_INTERP.SHP: Interpretation of Bottom Features from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Survey H11077 of Woods Hole, MA (Geographic)
Abstract:
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (MA CZM), is producing detailed geologic maps of the coastal sea floor. Imagery, originally collected by NOAA for charting purposes, provides a fundamental framework for research and management activities along this part of the Massachusetts coastline, shows the composition and terrain of the seabed, and provides information on sediment transport and benthic habitat. Interpretive data layers were derived from multibeam echo-sounder and sidescan-sonar data collected in the vicinity of Woods Hole, a passage between the Elizabeth Islands and Cape Cod, Massachusetts. In November 2007, bottom photographs, seismic-reflection profiles, and surficial sediment data were acquired as part of a ground-truth reconnaissance survey.
  1. How should this data set be cited?

    U.S. Geological Survey, 2008, H11077_INTERP.SHP: Interpretation of Bottom Features from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Survey H11077 of Woods Hole, MA (Geographic): Open-File Report 2008-1004, 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., McMullen, K.Y., Foster, D.S., Blackwood, D.S., Williams, S.J., Ackerman, S.D., Barnum, S.R., and Brennan, R.T., 2008, Sea-Floor Character and Sedimentary Processes in the Vicinity of Woods Hole, Massachusetts: Open-File Report 2008-1004, U.S. Geological Survey, Coastal and Marine Geology Program, Woods Hole Science Center, Woods Hole, MA.

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details: 1 DVD-ROM

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -70.680235
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -70.655576
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 41.526792
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 41.507094

  3. What does it look like?

    <http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2008/1004/data/interpretation/h11077_interp.gif> (GIF)
    Thumbnail image showing the interpreted bottom features within NOAA survey H11077

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

    Calendar_Date: 2008
    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 (161)

    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_84.
      The ellipsoid used is WGS_84.
      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?

    h11077_interp

    FID
    Internal feature number. (Source: ESRI)

    Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.

    Shape
    Feature geometry. (Source: ESRI)

    Coordinates defining the features.

    ID


    FEATURES
    Identified bottom features (Source: Scientist)

    Value Definition
    boulders Rocky area of the sea floor were avarage gravel exceed 256 mm in diameter
    sand waves Distribution of transverse and barchanoid sand waves. Bedforms exceed 1 m in amplitude.
    ship wreck Sunken vessel.
    pockmark Depression in the sea floor typically formed by escaping biogenic gas.
    tidal delta Accumulation of sediments at the end of a tidal channel
    marsh deposit Organic-rich sediment deposited in a marsh

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?

  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 02543-1598

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

Why was the data set created?

To release interpretations of bottom features based on sidescan-sonar and bathymetry data collected during NOAA survey H11077 and sediment samples and bottom photography collected during USGS survey RAFA07034 in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, in a geographic coordinate system.

How was the data set created?

  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?

    (source 1 of 1)
    Type_of_Source_Media: DVD-ROM
    Source_Contribution:
    The original acoustic data acquired during NOAA survey H11077 aboard the NOAA ship Whiting and the sediment samples and bottom photography collected during USGS survey RAFA07034.

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

    (process 1 of 2)
    Processing steps included: 1.) The geographic GeoTIFF image of the sidescan-sonar and multibeam data from survey H11076 and the point data layer from grain-size analyses of sediments collected from this survey area, both new and historical (Poppe and others, 2003), were imported into the ArcView 3.3 GIS project view. Bottom features were interpreted based on tonal changes in the sidescan-sonar imagery, the bathymetry, bottom photography, and textural analyses. The individually interpreted features (boulders, sand waves, ship wreck, pockmark, tidal delta, and marsh deposit) were outlined using the available graphic tools then converted to an ESRI shapefile using ArcView 3.3 for each feature. 2) These shapefiles were merged into one file with the ArcView 3.3 Geoprocessing Wizard extension.

    Person who carried out this activity:

    Larry Poppe
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Geologist
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598

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

    Data sources used in this process:
    • h11077_mb0.5m_geo.tif
    • h11077_sss100_geo.tif
    • rafa07034_sediment.shp

    Data sources produced in this process:

    • h11077_interp.shp
    • h11077_interp.shx
    • h11077_interp.dbf
    • h11077_interp.avl

    Date: 2008 (process 2 of 2)
    ArcGIS 9.2 was used to define the projection of the ESRI shapefile and to create the .prj file.

    Person who carried out this activity:

    Larry Poppe
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Geologist
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA 02536
    USA

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

    Data sources used in this process:
    • h11077_interp.shp

    Data sources produced in this process:

    • h11077_interp.prj

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

    Poppe, L.J., Paskevich, V.F., Williams, S.J., Hastings, M.E., Kelley, J.T., Belknap, D.F., Ward, L.G., FitzGerald, D.M., and Larsen, P.F., 2003, Surficial sediment data from the Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank, and vicinity: a GIS compilation: Open-File Report 03-001, 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 this 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:
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 information.

  1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)

    Larry Poppe
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Geologist
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598

    508-548-8700 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?

    This dataset has been approved for release and publication by the USGS. Although it has been subjected to rigorous review and is substantially complete, the USGS reserves the right to revise the data pursuant to further analysis and review. Furthermore, it is released on condition that 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.

    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 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: 08-Apr-2008
Metadata author:
U.S. Geological Survey
c/o Larry Poppe
Geologist
384 Woods Hole Road
Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598

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 Tue Apr 08 10:48:59 2008