Pacific Islands Benthic Habitat Mapping Center (PIBHMC), Coral Reef Ecosystem Division (CRED), Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
200606
CRED Optical Validation Data at French Frigate Shoals, 2003, to Support Benthic Habitat Mapping
Video and photo imagery, track line navigation files, and log sheets
http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/pibhmc/
Optical validation data were collected using a Tethered Optical Assessment Device (TOAD), an underwater sled
equipped with an underwater digital video camera and lights. Data were collected at the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands,
French Frigate Shoals to support Benthic Habitat Mapping efforts.
This data provides optical observations that will be correlated with bathymetry and acoustic backscatter
imagery to develop a benthic habitat map of French Frigate Shoals. Refer to supplemental information for description
of instrument and survey.
French Frigate Shoals is a large open atoll located at 23.75N, 166.2W. Tern Island is the
largest island at FFS and was enlarged by the U.S. Navy just prior to World War II; numerous other small islets exist.
The total land mass is only 0.23 sq. km but the large reef and adjacent banks include 733 sq. km of coral habitat
less than 100 m in depth.
Optical validation data were collected using the Tethered Optical Assessment Device (TOAD), a sled equipped with
underwater video camera and lights. These data are used to provide ground-truth validation for benthic habitat maps
based on multibeam echosounder surveys. Camera sled deployments were conducted at night, usually between 1800 and
midnight. The duration of each tow varied but averaged about 40 minutes of bottom time at a given location. The camera
sled was deployed from the port J-frame mounted amidships on the NOAA Ship Oscar Elton Sette. At each station the
ship was positioned with the wind on the port side and drifted downwind; occasional light turns were applied to the
ship's screws if necessary to reduce the ship's motion. The TOAD was lowered slowly to the bottom by the deck crew
using a capstan. The operator monitored a live video feed from the camera and began recording data on a video tape
recorder. When the camera reached bottom the deck crew was notified by radio to stop lowering. The operator continued
to monitor the vehicle and provided commands to raise or lower it to keep the camera just above the bottom.
Equipment Description: The TOAD was deployed from the lower arm of the vessel's port side J-frame. The TOAD is a
camera sled based on the Guildline MiniBat model 8820 tow body. The frame has been extensively modified from its
original configuration and was equipped with an ROS model 54-00100-13 color underwater video camera as the primary
data collection instrument. The ROS camera was mounted to point at approximately a 45 degree angle toward the seafloor.
A Deep Sea Power and Light model 2050 MultiSeaCam low-light color video camera was also mounted on the sled and aimed
straight ahead. The signal from this camera was fed to a second video monitor to provide warning of underwater
obstructions the sled might be headed for. Illumination was provided by two 500 W DeepSea Power & Light Multi-SeaLite
model 1050 underwater lights mounted on the original sled frame. The lights were located near the base and each side
of the sled to provide the maximum possible horizontal distance from the ROS camera. Cable between the sled and the
surface consisted of an underwater electrical cable (cable 2, black in color) with an internal Kevlar strength member
to support the sled frame. The cable was led from the camera sled over a 22-inch diameter sheave hung from the
J-frame, and from there around a gypsy head mounted on the alternate CTD winch, amidships on the vessel's port side.
All TOAD surface components were located in the Dry Lab in an equipment rack on the after bulkhead.
Name & address of person collecting data:
John Rooney
NOAA IRC
NMFS/PIFSC/CRED
1845 WASP Blvd., Building 176
Honolulu, HI 96818
Data Files: Video data were recorded on two video tape recorders. The position of the camera sled was recorded using
Guildline MiniBat In-Tow data acquisition software.
File naming convention: Each tow is given a name consisting of a 3-letter designator for the island area, "FFS" in
this case followed by a two-digit year and three-digit tow number. The first two digits indicate the last two digits of the calendar
year, i.e., "03" is used for this cruise, which took place in 2003. The last three numbers indicate the consecutive
number of the tow for that island and year, and start on the next hundred for subsequent cruises in that year to the
same island. During OES0306 the consecutive numbers started at FFS03004. Video tape labels, the navigation files (*.glo)
and paper log forms are all annotated with the tow name. Metadata were extracted from the navigation data and recorded
to a file with the same name as the navigation file except that a file type of ".met" was appended; for example,
"FFS03004.glo.met."
Time Correlation: All times are based on UTC. Two clocks were set manually synchronized prior to starting data
collection; the clock in the video character generator that was used to annotate the video tape and the TOAD data
acquisition computer clock was used to annotate the navigation (*.glo) files. These clocks were set to UTC at the
beginning of each evening's operations and then compared to one another prior to (and during) each tow.
Resource Description: Digital video images that are geo-referenced to navigation files
20030716
20030718
ground condition
As needed
-166.39037
-166.29622
23.83590
23.69618
NCEI Geoportal FilterCoRIS_MetadataCRCP ProjectBenthic Habitat Mapping and Characterization - Northwestern and Main Hawaiian Islands1217
CoRIS Theme Thesaurus
EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Aquatic Habitat > Benthic Habitat
EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > Mapping
EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > Photographic Analysis > Videography
None
Tethered Optical Assessment Device (TOAD)
Underwater video
OES0306
CoRIS Discovery Thesaurus
Visual Images > Habitats
ISO 19115 Topic Category
environment
biota
CoRIS Place Thesaurus
OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Central Pacific Ocean > Northwestern Hawaiian Islands > French Frigate Shoals (24N166W0001)
COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > Hawaii > Honolulu > French Frigate Shoals (24N166W0001)
OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Central Pacific Ocean > Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (28N178W0000)
COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > Hawaii > Honolulu > Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (28N178W0000)
CoRIS Region
NWHI
None
Please acknowledge the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Division, Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center as
the source of this information.
Pacific Islands Benthic Habitat Mapping Center (PIBHMC), Coral Reef Ecosystem Division (CRED), Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
John Rooney
mailing and physical address
NOAA IRC
NMFS/PIFSC/CRED
1845 WASP Blvd., Building 176
Honolulu
HI
96818
808 725-5360
808 725-5429
nmfs.pic.credinfo@noaa.gov
e-mail preferred
https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/oceans/coris/data/NOAA/nmfs/pifsc/cred/TOADbrowse/TOAD_FFS_92dpi.jpg
French Frigate Shoals, NWHI: TOAD Tows and Multibeam Bathymetry
JPEG
Benthic Habitat Mapping Group, Coral Reef Ecosystem Division (CRED), Pacific Islands Fisheries Science
Center (PIFSC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Not applicable
Unclassified
Not applicable
Unspecified
Complete
The horizontal position accuracy for the camera sled position is 100 meters.
There are three primary sources of this error. The ship's positioning is based on GPS SPS, often called standalone
or non-differential GPS positioning. SPS has a measured accuracy of under 5 meters. The position of the GPS antenna
is used; no attempt is made to translocate this position to that of the tow block from which the camera is deployed.
The difference between the tow block and the antenna is about 14 meters. The camera sled position is based a layback
calculation that use ship's course, the amount of cable out and the camera sled depth to develop an estimate of the
camera sled position. The amount of cable deployed is manually entered by the operator during a given camera tow.
After a tow was completed the video tape data was reviewed by spot checking the master and backup
tape to verify that data were recorded. Navigation data were copied from the acquisition computer to the data
archive. A metadata extractor (gloFilter.py, version 3/06) was run to summarize the navigation data and test for
errors. If errors were detected they were corrected or flagged as appropriate and a new data file was made. This
file's header was updated to document what type of processing occurred. A metadata file was recorded in the data
archive in the same location as the navigation data. Processed navigation data were then read into ArcView 3.2
shapefiles using an ArcView Avenue script named "TOAD.Import.Playback", version 9/25/01, written by Ronald Hoeke.
20060318
0.0001
0.0001
Decimal Degrees
D_WGS_1984
WGS_1984
6378137.000000
298.257224
No correction
0.1
meters
Attribute Values
Pacific Islands Benthic Habitat Mapping Center (PIBHMC), Coral Reef Ecosystem Division (CRED), Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
John Rooney
mailing and physical address
NOAA IRC
NMFS/PIFSC/CRED
1845 WASP Blvd., Building 176
Honolulu
HI
96818
808 725-5360
808 725-5429
nmfs.pic.credinfo@noaa.gov
e-mail preferred
Offline Data
These data are not to be used for navigational purposes. NOAA makes no warranty regarding these
data, expressed or implied, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty. NOAA cannot assume liability
for any damages caused by any errors or omissions in these data, nor as a result of the failure of these data to function
on a particular system.
ASCII
Each comma-delimited record contains year, day of year, time, latitude longitude,
velocity north and east, water column depth, vehicle depth, layback, and wing angle. For this data set the fields
for vehicle depth and wing angle do not contain useful data.
List of navigation files:
ffs03004.glo
ffs03008.glo
ffs03009.glo
ffs03010.glo
ffs03013.glo
ffs03014.glo
ffs03016.glo
ffs03018.glo
ffs03021.glo
CD-ROM
ISO 9660
mini digital video and VHS
List of video tapes:
FFS03004-010, VHS, Master
FFS03013, VHS, Master
FFS03014, VHS, Master
FFS03016, VHS, Master
FFS03018, VHS, Master
FFS03021, VHS, Master
FFS03004-010a, Mini DV, Master
FFS03010b, Mini DV, Master
FFS03013a, Mini DV, Master
FFS03013b, Mini DV, Master
FFS03014, Mini DV, Master
FFS03016, Mini DV, Master
FFS03018a, Mini DV, Master
FFS03018b, Mini Dv, Master
FFS03021a, Mini DV, Master
FFS03021b, Mini DV, Master
FFS03004-010a, Mini DV, Backup
FFS03010b, Mini DV, Backup
FFS03013a, Mini DV, Backup
FFS03013b, Mini DV, Backup
FFS03014, Mini DV, Backup
FFS03016, Mini DV, Backup
FFS03018a, Mini DV, Backup
FFS03018b, Mini Dv, Backup
FFS03021a, Mini DV, Backup
FFS03021b, Mini DV, Backup
Video casette tape
Mini DV
JPG digital still photo
529 still images available; poor photos were enhanced or deleted
List of photo folders:
FFS03005 and FFS03010: FFS_071603_150434 (147 photos)
FFS03013 and FFS03014: FFS_171703_0441 (88 photos)
FFS03016: FFS_071703_1603 (15 photos)
FFS03018: FFS_071803_0540 (103 photos)
FFS03021: FFS_071803_1458 (176 photos)
CD-ROM
JPEG
None
20200329
Pacific Islands Benthic Habitat Mapping Center (PIBHMC), Coral Reef Ecosystem Division (CRED), Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
CRED Data Management Team
mailing and physical address
NOAA IRC
NMFS/PIFSC/CRED
1845 WASP Blvd., Building 176
Honolulu
HI
96818
808 725-5360
808 725-5429
nmfs.pic.credinfo@noaa.gov
e-mail preferred
FGDC Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata
FGDC-STD-001-1998
20080502055216
None
20030716
20030718
https://www.coris.noaa.gov/metadata/records/html/cred_toad_french_frigate_shoals_oes0306_2003.html
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