Slope Derivative Surface used to characterize the complexity of the seafloor around St. John, USVI

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Frequently anticipated questions:


What does this data set describe?

Title:
Slope Derivative Surface used to characterize the complexity of the seafloor around St. John, USVI
Abstract:
Slope was calculated from the bathymetry surface for each raster cell using ArcGIS's Spatial Analyst 'Slope' Tool. Slope describes the maximum steepness of a terrain (in degrees) within a square 3x3 cell neighborhood. The 2x2 meter resolution slope GeoTIFF was exported and added as a new map layer to aid in benthic habitat classification. Please see ESRI's online support center for more information about Slope.

Acoustic imagery was acquired for the VICRNM on two separate missions onboard the NOAA ship, Nancy Foster. The first mission took place from 2/18/04 to 3/5/04. The second mission took place from 2/1/05 to 2/12/05. On both missions, seafloor depths between 14 to 55 m were mapped using a RESON SeaBat 8101 ER (240 kHz) MBES sensor. This pole-mounted system measured water depths across a 150 degree swath consisting of 101 individual 1.5 degree x 1.5 degree beams. The beams to the port and starboard of nadir (i.e., directly underneath the ship) overlapped adjacent survey lines by approximately 10 m. The vessel survey speed was between 5 and 8 kn.

In 2004, the ship's location was determined by a Trimble DSM 132 DGPS system, which provided a RTCM differential data stream from the U.S. Coast Guard Continually Operating Reference Station (CORS) at Port Isabel, Puerto Rico. Gyro, heave, pitch and roll correctors were acquired using an Ixsea Octans gyrocompass. In 2005, the ship's positioning and orientation were determined by the Applanix POS/MV 320 V4, which is a GPS aided Inertial Motion Unit (IMU) providing measurements of roll, pitch and heading. The POS/MV obtained its positions from two dual frequency Trimble Zephyr GPS antennae. An auxiliary Trimble DSM 132 DGPS system provided a RTCM differential data stream from the U.S. Coast Guard CORS at Port Isabel, Puerto Rico. For both years, CTD (conductivity, temperature and depth) measurements were taken approximately every 4 hours using a Seabird Electronics SBE-19 to correct for the changing sound velocities in the water column. In 2004, raw data were logged in .xtf (extended triton format) using Triton ISIS software 6.2. In 2005, raw data were logged in .gsf (generic sensor format) using SAIC ISS 2000 software.

Data from 2004 were referenced to the WGS84 UTM 20 N horizontal coordinate system, and data from 2005 were referenced to the NAD83 UTM 20 N horizontal coordinate system. Data from both projects were referenced to the Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW) vertical tidal coordinate system. The 2004 and 2005 MBES bathymetric data were both corrected for sensor offsets, latency, roll, pitch, yaw, static draft, the changing speed of sound in the water column and the influence of tides in CARIS Hips & Sips 5.3 and 5.4, respectively. The 2004 data was then binned to create a 1 x 1 m raster surface, and the 2005 data was binned to a create 2 x 2 m raster surface. After these final surfaces were created, the datum for the 2004 bathymetric surfaces was transformed from WGS84 to NAD83 using the "Project Raster" function in ArcGIS 9.1. The 2004 surface was transformed so that it would have the same datum as the 2005 surface. The 2004 bathymetric surface was then down sampled from 1 x 1 to 2 x 2 m using the "Resample" function in ArcGIS 9.1. The 2004 surface was resampled so it would have the same spatial resolution as the 2005 surface. Having the same coordinate systems and spatial resolutions, the final 2004 and 2005 bathymetry rasters were then merged using the Raster Calculator function "Merge" in ArcGIS's Spatial Analyst Extension to create a seamless bathymetry surface for the entire VICRNM area south of St. John. For a complete description of the data acquisition and processing parameters, please see the data acquisition and processing reports (DAPRs) for projects: NF-04-06-VI and NF-05-05-VI (Monaco & Rooney, 2004; Battista & Lazar, 2005).

Supplemental_Information:
Depth_System_Definition Depth_Datum_Name Mean lower low water Depth_Resolution See Data Acquisition and Processing Report (DAPR) for project NF-04-06-VI and NF-05-05. Depth_Distance_Units meters Depth_Encoding_Method Explicit depth coordinate included with horizontal coordinates
  1. How might this data set be cited?
    Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA), Biogeography Branch, 2009, Slope Derivative Surface used to characterize the complexity of the seafloor around St. John, USVI: NOAA's National Ocean Service (NOS), National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), Silver Spring, MD.

    Online Links:

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?
    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -64.987110
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -64.652198
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 18.313215
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 18.158064
  3. What does it look like?
  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
    Beginning_Date: 18-Feb-2004
    Ending_Date: 12-Feb-2005
    Currentness_Reference: ground condition
  5. What is the general form of this data set?
    Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: remote-sensing image
  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 8412 x 17629 x 1, type Pixel
    2. What coordinate system is used to represent geographic features?
      Grid_Coordinate_System_Name: Universal Transverse Mercator
      Universal_Transverse_Mercator:
      UTM_Zone_Number: 20
      Transverse_Mercator:
      Scale_Factor_at_Central_Meridian: 0.999600
      Longitude_of_Central_Meridian: -63.000000
      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 2.000000
      Ordinates (y-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 2.000000
      Planar coordinates are specified in meters
      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?

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?
    Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA), Biogeography Branch

    NOAA - NMAO personnel and R/V NANCY FOSTER

  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
    Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA), Biogeography Branch
    Project Manager - Seafloor Characterization of the U.S. Caribbean
    1305 East West Highway, N-SCI-1, SSMC 4, 9th Floor
    Silver Spring, MD
    USA

    (301) 713-3028 (voice)
    (301) 713-4384 (FAX)
    Contact_Instructions:
    Contact info is for CCMA general reception. Please ask for current Biogeography project manager for the Seafloor Characterization of the U.S. Caribbean Project

Why was the data set created?

This multibeam data was collected to support IOCM (Integrated Ocean and Coastal Mapping) initiatives as part of an ongoing NOAA scientific research mission to characterize coral reef habitats at depths down to 300 meters in the US Caribbean. The multibeam backscatter, multibeam bathymetry, and ground truth video footage collected during these missions was used to characterize sea floor features and to create benthic habitat maps, helping NOAA meet its mapping commitment to the US Coral Reef Task Force. The resulting publicly-distributed data is also a contribution to the greater scientific community interested in seafloor mapping in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

How was the data set created?

  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?
    NF-04-06 XTF Raw Multibeam Data (source 1 of 8)
    Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA), Biogeography Branch, Unpublished Material, NF-04-06 XTF Raw Multibeam Data.

    Type_of_Source_Media: external hard drive
    Source_Contribution: Original raw full resolution dataset.
    NF-05-05 GSF Raw Multibeam Data (source 2 of 8)
    Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA), Biogeography Branch, Unpublished Material, NF-05-05 GSF Raw Multibeam Data.

    Type_of_Source_Media: external hard drive
    Source_Contribution: Original raw full resolution dataset.
    NF-04-06 HDCS Processed Multibeam Data (source 3 of 8)
    Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA), Biogeography Branch, Unpublished Material, NF-04-06 HDCS Processed Multibeam Data.

    Type_of_Source_Media: external hard drive
    Source_Contribution:
    Processed, cleaned, and corrected full resolution dataset. Sourced from raw XTF data.
    NF-05-05 HDCS Processed Multibeam Data (source 4 of 8)
    Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA), Biogeography Branch, Unpublished Material, NF-05-05 HDCS Processed Multibeam Data.

    Type_of_Source_Media: external hard drive
    Source_Contribution:
    Processed, cleaned, and corrected full resolution dataset. Sourced from raw GSF data.
    NF-04-06 BASE Surface (source 5 of 8)
    Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA), Biogeography Branch, Unpublished Material, NF-04-06 CARIS BASE Surface.

    Type_of_Source_Media: external hard drive
    Source_Contribution:
    Downsampled CARIS BASE (Bathymetry Associated with Statistical Error) grid with best depth layer. Sourced from processed HDCS data.
    NF-05-05 BASE Surface (source 6 of 8)
    Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA), Biogeography Branch, Unpublished Material, NF-05-05 CARIS BASE Surface.

    Type_of_Source_Media: external hard drive
    Source_Contribution:
    Downsampled CARIS BASE (Bathymetry Associated with Statistical Error) grid with best depth layer. Sourced from processed HDCS data.
    NF-04-06 ASCII XYZ Multibeam Data (source 7 of 8)
    Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA), Biogeography Branch, 200412, NOAA XYZ Text File of 1x1 m Multibeam Bathymetry of St. John, US Virgin Islands, Project NF-04-06, 2004, UTM 20N WGS84.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: external hard drive
    Source_Contribution:
    Downsampled ASCII text file containing XYZ values. XYZ =northing, easting, and depth in meters. Sourced from CARIS BASE surface.
    NF-05-05 ASCII XYZ Multibeam Data (source 8 of 8)
    Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA), Biogeography Branch, 200603, NOAA XYZ Text File of 2x2 m Multibeam Bathymetry of St. John, US Virgin Islands, Project NF-05-05, 2005, UTM 20N NAD83.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: external hard drive
    Source_Contribution:
    Downsampled ASCII text file containing XYZ values. XYZ = northing, easting, and depth in meters. Sourced from CARIS BASE surface.
  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?
    Date: Feb-2005 (process 1 of 6)

    Process_Date 200403, 200502 Data sources used in this process:

    • NF-04-06 XTF Multibeam Data
    • NF-05-05 GSF Multibeam Data
    Date: Nov-2005 (process 2 of 6)

    Process_Date 200403 - 200408, 200502 - 200511 Data sources used in this process:

    • NF-04-06 HDCS Multibeam Data
    • NF-05-05 HDCS Multibeam Data
    Date: Dec-2005 (process 3 of 6)

    Process_Date 200411, 200512 Data sources used in this process:

    • NF-04-06 BASE Surface
    • NF-05-05 BASE Surface
    Date: Dec-2005 (process 4 of 6)

    Process_Date 200411, 200512 Data sources used in this process:

    • NF-04-06 ASCII XYZ Multibeam Data
    • NF-05-05 ASCII XYZ Multibeam Data
    Date: Aug-2009 (process 5 of 6)
    The datum for the 2004 bathymetric surface was transformed from the WGS84 to NAD83 using the "Project Raster" function in ArcGIS 9.1, so that the bathymetric surfaces would have the same horizontal coordinate systems for both years. The 2004 bathymetric surface was then down sampled from 1 x 1 to 2 x 2 m using the "Resample" function in ArcGIS 9.1, so that the bathymetric surfaces would have the same spatial resolutions for both years. The final 2004 and 2005 bathymetry rasters were then merged using the Raster Calculator function "Merge" in ArcGIS's Spatial Analyst Extension to create a seamless bathymetry GeoTIFF for the entire VICRNM area. Data sources used in this process:
    • Merged NF-04-06 and NF-05-05 GeoTIFF Bathymetric Surface
    Date: Aug-2009 (process 6 of 6)
    Slope was calculated from the bathymetry surface for each raster cell using ArcGIS's Spatial Analyst 'Slope' Tool. Slope describes the maximum steepness of a terrain (in degrees) within a square 3x3 cell neighborhood. The slope GeoTIFF was exported and added as a new map layer to aid in benthic habitat classification. Please see ESRI's online support center for more information about Slope. Data sources used in this process:
    • Slope of GeoTIFF Bathymetric Surface
  3. What similar or related data should the user be aware of?

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?
    See Data Acquisition and Processing Report (DAPR) for NF-04-06 and NF-05-05.
  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
    See Data Acquisition and Processing Report (DAPR) for NF-04-06 and NF-05-05.
  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
    This GeoTIFF is sourced from a gridded dataset. The original full-resolution multibeam data was used to create a downsampled uniform-resolution CARIS BASE (Bathymetry Associated with Statistical Error) surface grid with a best depth component. The downsampled grid nodes from that depth surface were then exported and used to generate the GeoTIFF. Some positional shifts may have occurred between the original data points and the transformed grid.
  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?
    While the project was conducted to meet IHO Order 1 or 2 accuracy standards (dependant on project area and depth) all users should independently analyze the dataset according to their own needs and standards to determine data usability.

How can someone get a copy of the data set?

Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?
Access_Constraints: Please cite any use of this data.
Use_Constraints:
Note: NOT TO BE USED FOR NAVIGATION.

These data were prepared by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, make any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed in this report, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference therein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. Any views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. Although all data have been used by NOAA, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by 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 NOAA in the use of these data or related materials.

  1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)
    Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA), Biogeography Branch
    Project Manager - Seafloor Characterization of the U.S. Caribbean
    1305 East West Highway, N-SCI-1, SSMC 4, 9th Floor
    Silver Spring, MD
    USA

    (301) 713-3028 (voice)
    (301) 713-4384 (FAX)
    Contact_Instructions:
    Contact info is for CCMA general reception. Please ask for current Biogeography project manager for the Seafloor Characterization of U.S. Caribbean.
  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set? Downloadable Data
  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?
    These data were prepared by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, make any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed in this report, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference therein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. Any views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. Although all data have been used by NOAA, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by 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 NOAA in the use of these data or related materials.
  4. How can I download or order the data?

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 29-Mar-2020
Last Reviewed: 23-Feb-2010
Metadata author:
NOAA/NOS/NCCOS/CCMA Biogeography Branch
Attn: Project Manager - Seafloor Characterization of the U.S. Caribbean
1305 East West Highway, N-SCI-1, SSMC 4, 9th Floor
Silver Spring, MD
USA

(301) 713-3028 (voice)
Metadata standard:
FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)

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