Field Activity 2017-666-FA

Identifier 2017-666-FA
Purpose Collect bathymetric and topographic data from Oregon and Washington coasts.
Location Oregon and Washington Coast
Summary drones used to collect SfM and video
Info derived Beach Topography, Nearshore Bathymetry
Comments drones used; Entries for this field activity are based on entries from Field Activity 2014-631-FA Entries for this field activity are based on entries from Field Activity 2015-647-FA Entries for this field activity are based on entries from Field Activity 2016-663-FA
Projects
Platform
Waverunner 1 (SC)
Personal Water Craft
Waverunner 2 (SC)
Personal Water Craft
Vehicles
MarFac; Chevy Suburban - gray; 7 pass; G62-2874L
Itinerary
Start Astoria, OR 2017-08-07
End Ocean Shores, WA 2017-08-25
Days in the field 10
Bounds
West -124.761
East -123.69384766
North 47.23448964
South 45.6927804

Personnel

Organization
2885 Mission Street
Santa Cruz, CA95060
(831) 460-7401
Principal investigators Andrew StevensGuy R Gelfenbaum
Crew members
Timothy C Elfers
Scientist, Staff
Joshua Logan
Scientist, Staff
Shawn R Harrison
Scientist, Staff
Information specialist(s)
Andrew Stevens
Specialist, Information
Affiliate principal Peter Ruggiero (Oregon State) George Kaminsky (WA Dept. of Ecology)

Data types and categories

Data category: Imagery, Location-Elevation, Sonar
Data type: Photo, Video, Benchmarks, Navigation, Profiles, Transects, Single Beam, Sound Velocity

Equipment used

Equipment Usage description Data types Datasets
video Video (no data reported)
camera Photo 4
Structure from Motion - crewed aircraft Photo (no data reported)
Radio (base) Benchmarks, LIDAR, Navigation, Profiles, Transects 1
Radio (rover) Navigation, Profiles, Transects (no data reported)
Trimble R7 GPS (AS) Benchmarks, Navigation, Profiles, Transects (no data reported)
Trimble R7 GPS receiver Benchmarks, LIDAR, Navigation, Profiles, Transects 1
Trimble R7 GPS receiver 9 Benchmarks, LIDAR, Navigation, Profiles, Transects (no data reported)
Echosounder-1 Single Beam 1
Echosounder-2 Single Beam (no data reported)
YSI Sound velocity CTD Sound Velocity (no data reported)

Datasets

Datasets produced in this activity

Dataset name Equipment Description Dataset contact
Aerial imagery from UAS surveys of beaches at Fort Stevens State Park, OR, and Cape Disappointment State Park, WA, August 2017 camera This portion of the data release presents the raw aerial imagery collected during the uncrewed aerial system (UAS) survey conducted on the ocean beaches adjacent to the Columbia River Mouth at the Oregon-Washington border in August 2017. The imagery was acquired using a Department of Interior-owned 3DR Solo quadcopter fitted with a Ricoh GR II digital camera featuring a global shutter. The camera was mounted using a fixed mount on the bottom of the UAS and oriented in an approximately nadir orientation. The Fort Stevens State Park survey was conducted under Oregon Parks and Recreation Department Scientific Research Permit #024-17. Five flights were conducted at Fort Stevens State Park on 7 August 2017, between 16:32 and 20:22 UTC (9:32 and 13:22 PDT). A total of 785 aerial images from these flights are presented in this data release. The Benson Beach survey at Cape Disappointment State Park was conducted under Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission Scientific Research Permit #170603. Seven flights were conducted at Benson Beach on 8 August 2017, between 17:13 and 22:28 UTC (10:13 and 15:28 PDT). A total of 1492 aerial images from these flights are presented in this data release. All flights were conducted at an approximate altitude of 120 meters or less above ground level, depending on operational restrictions related to the cloud ceiling. Before each flight, the camera’s digital ISO, aperture, and shutter speed were adjusted for ambient light conditions. For all flights the camera was triggered using a built-in intervalometer. After acquisition, the images were renamed to include flight number and acquisition time in the file name. The coordinates of the approximate image acquisition locations were added ('geotagged') to the image metadata (EXIF) using the telemetry log from the UAS onboard single-frequency autonomous GPS. The image EXIF were also updated to include additional information related to the acquisition. The data release includes a total of 2,277 JPG images. Images from takeoff and landing sequences as well as other images not used for processing have been omitted from the data release. To facilitate bulk download, the images from each flight are provided in a zip file named with the flight number. In addition to the provided zip files, the images are also available for browsing and individual download on the USGS Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program Imagery Data System at the following URL: https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/idsviewer/data_release/10.5066-P9BVTVAW. Joshua Logan
Digital Surface Models (DSM) from UAS surveys of the beaches at Fort Stevens State Park, OR, and Cape Disappointment State Park, WA, August 2017 camera This portion of the data release presents digital surface models (DSM) of the ocean beach at Fort Stevens State Park, OR, and Benson Beach at Cape Disappointment State Park, WA. The DSMs have resolutions of 10 centimeters per pixel and were derived from structure-from-motion (SfM) processing of aerial imagery collected with unoccupied aerial systems (UAS) during low tides on 7 and 8 August 2017. Unlike a digital elevation model (DEM), the DSMs represent the elevation of the highest object within the bounds of a cell. Vegetation, buildings, and other objects have not been removed from the data. The raw imagery used to create the DSMs was acquired with a UAS fitted with a Ricoh GR II digital camera featuring a global shutter. The UAS was flown on pre-programmed autonomous flight lines spaced to provide approximately 70 percent overlap between images from adjacent lines. The camera was triggered at 1 Hz using a built-in intervalometer. The raw imagery was geotagged using positions from the UAS onboard single-frequency autonomous GPS. Survey control was established using temporary ground control points (GCPs) consisting of a combination of small square tarps with black-and-white cross patterns and temporary chalk marks placed on the ground. The GCP positions were measured using dual-frequency post-processed kinematic (PPK) GPS with corrections referenced to a static base station operating nearby. The images and GCP positions were used for structure-from-motion (SfM) processing to create topographic point clouds, high-resolution orthomosaic images, and DSMs. The DSMs, which are presented in this portion of the data release have been formatted as cloud optimized GeoTIFFs with internal overviews and masks to facilitate cloud-based queries and display. Joshua Logan
Orthomosaic images from UAS surveys of the beaches at Fort Stevens State Park, OR, and Cape Disappointment State Park, WA, August 2017 camera This portion of the data release presents high-resolution orthomosaic images of the ocean beach at Fort Stevens State Park, OR, and Benson Beach at Cape Disappointment State Park, WA. The orthomosaics have resolutions of 5 centimeters per pixel and were derived from structure-from-motion (SfM) processing of aerial imagery collected with unoccupied aerial systems (UAS) during low tide surveys on 7 and 8 August 2017. The raw imagery used to create the orthomosaics was acquired with a UAS fitted with a Ricoh GR II digital camera featuring a global shutter. The UAS was flown on pre-programmed autonomous flight lines spaced to provide approximately 70 percent overlap between images from adjacent lines. The camera was triggered at 1 Hz using a built-in intervalometer. The raw imagery was geotagged using positions from the UAS onboard single-frequency autonomous GPS. Survey control was established using temporary ground control points (GCPs) consisting of a combination of small square tarps with black-and-white cross patterns and temporary chalk marks placed on the ground. The GCP positions were measured using dual-frequency post-processed kinematic (PPK) GPS with corrections referenced to a static base station operating nearby. The images and GCP positions were used for structure-from-motion (SfM) processing to create topographic point clouds, high-resolution orthomosaic images, and DSMs. The orthomosaic images have been provided in a three-band RGB format, with 8-bit unsigned integer values compressed using high-quality JPEG compression and are formatted as cloud optimized GeoTIFFs with internal overviews and masks to facilitate cloud-based queries and display. Joshua Logan
Topographic point clouds from UAS surveys of the beaches at Fort Stevens State Park, OR, and Cape Disappointment State Park, WA, August 2017 camera This portion of the data release presents topographic point clouds of the ocean beach at Fort Stevens State Park, OR, and Benson Beach at Cape Disappointment State Park, WA. The point clouds were derived from structure-from-motion (SfM) processing of aerial imagery collected with unoccupied aerial systems (UAS) on during low tide surveys on 7 and 8 August 2017. The point clouds from each survey are tiled into 1000 by 1000 meter tiles to reduce individual file sizes. The Fort Stevens point clouds have a total of 271,915,544 points, with an average point density of 407 points per-square meter and an average point spacing of 5 centimeters. The Benson Beach point clouds have a total of 301,569,130 points, with an average point density of 558 points per-square meter and an average point spacing of 4 centimeters. The point clouds have not undergone any point classification (all points are classified as 0), but contain explicit horizontal and vertical coordinates, and color. Noise resulting from water and waves in the surf zone, and other areas of poor terrain reconstruction have not been removed from the point clouds. The raw imagery used to create the point clouds was acquired with a UAS fitted with a Ricoh GR II digital camera featuring a global shutter. The UAS was flown on pre-programmed autonomous flight lines spaced to provide at least 66 percent overlap between images from adjacent lines. The UAS was flown at an approximate altitude of 120 meters or less above ground level (AGL). The raw imagery was geotagged using positions from the UAS onboard single-frequency autonomous GPS. Survey control was established using temporary ground control points (GCPs) consisting of a combination of small square tarps with black-and-white cross patterns and temporary chalk marks placed on the ground. The GCP positions were measured using dual-frequency post-processed kinematic (PPK) GPS with corrections referenced to a static base station operating nearby. The images and GCP positions were used for structure-from-motion (SfM) processing to create topographic point clouds, high-resolution orthomosaic images, and DSMs. The point clouds are formatted in LAZ format (LAS 1.2 specification). Joshua Logan
Beach topography of the Columbia River littoral cell, Washington and Oregon, 2017 Radio (base) This portion of the USGS data release presents topography data collected during surveys performed in the Columbia River littoral cell, Washington and Oregon, in 2017 (USGS Field Activity Number 2017-666-FA). Topographic profiles were collected by walking along survey lines with global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receivers mounted on backpacks. Prior to data collection, vertical distances between the GNSS antennas and the ground were measured using a tape measure. Hand-held data collectors were used to log raw data and display navigational information allowing surveyors to navigate survey lines spaced at 100- to 1000-m intervals along the beach. Profiles were surveyed from the landward edge of the study area (either the base of a bluff, engineering structure, or just landward of the primary dune) over the beach foreshore, to wading depth on the same series of transects as nearshore bathymetric surveys that were conducted during the same time period. Additional topographic data were collected between survey lines in some areas with an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) equipped with a GNSS receiver to constrain the elevations and alongshore extent of major morphological features. Andrew Stevens
Ground control point locations for UAS surveys of the beaches at Fort Stevens State Park, OR, and Cape Disappointment State Park, WA, August 2017 Trimble R7 GPS receiver This portion of the data release presents the locations of the temporary ground control points (GCPs) used for the structure-from-motion (SfM) processing of the imagery collected during the August 2017 unoccupied aerial system (UAS) surveys of the ocean beach at Fort Stevens State Park, OR, and Benson Beach at Cape Disappointment State Park, WA. Eighteen temporary ground control points (GCPs) were distributed throughout the survey area to establish survey control. The GCPs consisted of a combination of small square tarps with black-and-white cross patterns and "X" marks placed on the ground using temporary chalk. The GCP positions were measured using dual-frequency real-time kinematic (RTK) or post-processed kinematic (PPK) GPS with corrections referenced to a static base station operating nearby. The GCP positions are presented in a comma-delimited text file.
Nearshore bathymetry of the Columbia River littoral cell, Washington and Oregon, 2017 Echosounder-1 This portion of the USGS data release presents bathymetry data collected during surveys performed in the Columbia River littoral cell, Washington and Oregon in 2017 (USGS Field Activity Number 2017-666-FA). Bathymetry data were collected using four personal watercraft (PWCs) equipped with single-beam sonar systems and global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receivers. Andrew Stevens

Publications

Samples collected during this field activity

Images collected during this field activity, from the Imagery Data System

2277 images are associated with this activity.