Completion Rubric

65%

22.67 / 35

Alaska Fisheries Science Center Metadata Librar... > Resource Assessment and Conservation Engineerin... > Groundfish Assessment Program >

AFSC/RACE/GAP/Zimmermann: Central Gulf of Alaska Bathymetry Features

Data Set (DS) | Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC)
GUID: gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:22903 | Updated: March 4, 2026 | Published / External

Short Citation:

Full Citation Examples

Alaska Fisheries Science Center, 2026: AFSC/RACE/GAP/Zimmermann: Central Gulf of Alaska Bathymetry Features, https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/22903.

Title:	AFSC/RACE/GAP/Zimmermann: Central Gulf of Alaska Bathymetry Features
Short Name:	AFSC/RACE/GAP/Zimmermann: Central Gulf of Alaska Bathymetry Features
Status:	Completed
Publication Date:	2015
Abstract:	We assembled 1.75 million National Ocean Service (NOS) bathymetric soundings from 225 lead-line and single-beam echosounder hydrographic surveys conducted from 1901 to 1999 in the central Gulf of Alaska. These bathymetry data are available from the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC: http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov), which archives and distributes data that were originally collected by the NOS and others. While various bathymetry data have been downloaded previously from NGDC, compiled, and used for a variety of projects, our effort differed in that we compared and corrected the digital bathymetry by studying the original analog source documents - digital versions of the original survey maps, called smooth sheets. Our editing included deleting erroneous and superseded values, digitizing missing values, and properly aligning all data sets to a common, modern datum. There were several areas where these older surveys were superseded by more recent, higher quality multibeam surveys, mostly from the NOS (n=106). Three of these were unprocessed NOS multibeam surveys in the Sitka area, which we edited and processed into final bathymetric surfaces. We reduced the resolution of these multibeam surveys to 100 m, since some may have sub-meter resolution and many exceed a million soundings, and added them to our bathymetry compilation. We proofed, edited or digitized 96,000 cartographic features (mostly from the smooth sheets, some from the multibeam surveys), such as rocky reefs, kelp beds, rocks and islets, creating the most thorough source of these typically shallow, inshore features. The depth surface and inshore features, available at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC: http://www.afsc.noaa.gov), were mostly produced at a map scale of 1:20,000.
Purpose:	The purpose for creating this data set was to provide the best available bathymetry and inshore features of the central Gulf of Alaska for predictive, geospatial modeling of marine resources.
Notes:	Loaded by FGDC Metadata Uploader, batch 5224, 12-05-2014 10:42 The following FGDC sections are not currently supported in InPort, but were preserved and will be included in the FGDC export: - Spatial Reference Information (FGDC:spref), - Spatial Data Organization Information (FGDC:spdoinfo) - Lineage (FGDC:lineage)

Keywords

Theme Keywords

Theme Keywords
Thesaurus	Keyword
ISO 19115 Topic Category	elevation
ISO 19115 Topic Category	imageryBaseMapsEarthCover
ISO 19115 Topic Category	oceans
UNCONTROLLED
None	Alaska
None	bathymetry
None	Gulf of Alaska
None	North Pacific Ocean
None	point

Physical Location

Organization:	Alaska Fisheries Science Center
City:	Seattle
State/Province:	WA
Country:	USA

Data Set Information

Data Set Scope Code:	Data Set
Maintenance Frequency:	None Planned
Data Presentation Form:	digital point data
Data Set Credit:	These features were digitized by Mark Zimmermann and Megan Prescott. Funding for much of the work was provided by NOAA's Essential Fish Habitat (EFH), Habitat and Ecological Processes Research (HEPR) through the Alaska NMFS Regional Office. B. McMahon, G. Nelson (retired) and especially C. Barry (Pacific Hydrographic Branch of the NOS) provided assistance with interpreting smooth sheets, bathymetric sounding files, and descriptive reports. D. Doyle and J. Benson provided valuable datum and GIS advice, respectively. D. Fischman, G. Glover, J.A. Bunn, J. Campagnoli, M. Frydrych, and M. Cole from the National Geophysical Data Center helped with accessing smooth sheets on the NGDC web site.

Support Roles

Data Steward

CC ID: 248003

Date Effective From:	2015
Date Effective To:
Contact (Person):	Zimmermann, Mark
Address:
Email Address:	mark.zimmermann@noaa.gov

Distributor

CC ID: 248002

Date Effective From:	2015
Date Effective To:
Contact (Organization):	Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC)
Address:	7600 Sand Point Way N.E., Building 4 Seattle, WA 98115 USA
ROR:	https://ror.org/01h7fye62
Email Address:	afsc.webmaster@noaa.gov
Phone:	(206) 526-4000
Fax:	(206) 526-4004
URL:	https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/about/alaska-fisheries-science-center
Business Hours:	0700-1700 Pacific Time

Metadata Contact

CC ID: 182031

Date Effective From:	2014-12-05
Date Effective To:
Contact (Person):	Zimmermann, Mark
Address:
Email Address:	mark.zimmermann@noaa.gov

Originator

CC ID: 182032

Date Effective From:	2014-12-05
Date Effective To:
Contact (Person):	Zimmermann, Mark
Address:
Email Address:	mark.zimmermann@noaa.gov

Point of Contact

CC ID: 248000

Date Effective From:	2015
Date Effective To:
Contact (Person):	Zimmermann, Mark
Address:
Email Address:	mark.zimmermann@noaa.gov

Extents

Currentness Reference:	observed

Extent Group 1

Extent Group 1 / Geographic Area 1

CC ID: 182030

W° Bound:	-154.6
E° Bound:	-134.2
N° Bound:	60.7
S° Bound:	55.8

Extent Group 1 / Time Frame 1

CC ID: 182029

Time Frame Type:	Range
Start:	1901
End:	1999

Access Information

Security Class:	Unclassified
Data Access Procedure:	unknown
Data Access Constraints:	These data are not to be used for navigation.
Data Use Constraints:	These data are not to be used for navigation. We consider this smooth sheet bathymetry and feature compilation a first draft.
Metadata Use Constraints:	These data are not to be used for navigation.

Distribution Information

Distribution 1

CC ID: 248004

Download URL:	https://www.ncei.noaa.gov
Distributor:

Distribution 2

CC ID: 248005

Download URL:	https://www.afsc.noaa.gov/RACE/groundfish/bathymetry/CGOA_features.zip
Distributor:

URLs

URL 1

CC ID: 182034

URL:	https://www.afsc.noaa.gov/RACE/groundfish/bathymetry/CGOA_features.zip
URL Type:	Online Resource
File Resource Format:	ZIP

Technical Environment

Description:	Microsoft Windows 7 Version 6.1 (Build 7600) ; ESRI ArcGIS 10.0.5.4400

Data Quality

Completeness Report:	Our editing included deleting erroneous and superseded values, digitizing missing values, and properly aligning all data sets to a common, modern datum.
Conceptual Consistency:	not applicable
Quality Control Procedures Employed:	Our editing included deleting erroneous and superseded values, digitizing missing values, and properly aligning all data sets to a common, modern datum. See also Abstract

Completeness Report:

Our editing included deleting erroneous and superseded values, digitizing missing values, and properly aligning all data sets to a common, modern datum.

Conceptual Consistency:

not applicable

Quality Control Procedures Employed: