Data Management Plan

This dataset contains an ESRI Geotiff with 1 meter cell size representing the bathymetry of an inshore portion of the NPS's Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument, south of St. John, US Virgin Islands.NOAA's NOS/NCCOS/CCMA Biogeography Team, in collaboration with NOAA vessel Nancy Foster and territory, federal, and private sector partners, acquired multibeam bathymetry data in the US Virgin Islands from 2/1/05 to 2/12/05. Data was acquired with a pole-mounted Reson 8101 ER multibeam echosounder (240 kHz) and processed by a NOAA contractor using CARIS HIPS v5.4 software. Data has all correctors applied (attitude, sound velocity) and has been reduced to mean lower low water (MLLW) using final approved tides and zoning from NOAA COOPS. Data is in UTM zone 20 north, datum NAD83. The processed CARIS data was used to generate a CARIS BASE surface based on swath angle. An ASCII XYZ file was exported from the BASE surface and opened in ESRI ArcMap 9 as an XY event. Then the ArcToolbox conversion tool 'Feature to Raster' was used to generate the final ESRI Geotiff.The project was conducted to meet IHO Order 1 and 2 accuracy standards, dependant on the project area and depth. All users should individually evaluate the suitability of this data according to their own needs and standards.

Process Steps:

• 2005-02-01 00:00:00 - For this project, the Chief Scientist was NOAA/NOS/NCCOS/CCMA's Tim Battista and the Lead Hydrographer was independent contractor Jay Lazar. Data was collected aboard the NOAA ship Nancy Foster from 2/1/05 to 2/12/05, as project number NF-05-05-VI. Multibeam data was acquired in GSF format with a pole-mounted Reson 8101 ER multibeam echosounder (240 kHz), with options 033, 037, and 040. Reson backscatter snippet collection was enabled. SAIC ISS 2000 software was used to interface with the Reson system. Line spacing for acquisition was three times the water depth, and data was retained out to 60 or 70 degrees from nadir, depending on project area. Heave, roll, pitch and heading correctors were collected using an Applanix POS/MV Model 320 inertial measurement unit (IMU) and associated Trimble GPS antennas. Sound velocity profiles were acquired with a Seabird Electronics SeaCat SBE19P CTD profiler and processed using Seabird Seaterm software, then applied directly to the raw GSF data. Positioning was obtained using Northstar 941X GPS receivers with differential correctors from U.S. Coast Guard CORS beacon Isabel, Puerto Rico. Data was reduced to Mean Lower-Low Water (MLLW) using final approved tides from NOAA COOPS, based on National Water Level Observation Network (NWLON) primary tide stations at Charlotte Amalie, VI (9751639) and Lime Tree Bay, VI (9751401). | Source Produced: NF-05-05 GSF Raw Multibeam Data (Citation: NF-05-05 GSF Raw Multibeam Data)
• 2005-11-01 00:00:00 - Raw SWMB data in GSF (generic sensor format) format were converted and processed using CARIS HIPS v5.4 software, resulting in a CARIS HDCS format dataset with all correctors applied. Attitude and SWMB data was cleaned of fliers, and SWMB data was reviewed in subset mode by a NOAA contractor. Process Date Range is 200502 - 200511 (Citation: NF-05-05 HDCS Processed Multibeam Data)
• 2005-12-01 00:00:00 - After being submitted to CCMA by the contractor, CARIS HIPS v5.4 was used to generate a CARIS BASE surface (similar to a DTM), based on weighted swath angle, from the processed HDCS data. Then CARIS export tool "BASE Surface to ASCII" was used to export a comma delimited ASCII XYZ file, with Easting, Northing, and Depth values, using ground position units (NAD83 UTM zone 20N). (Citation: NF-05-05 CARIS BASE Surface)
• 2005-12-01 00:00:00 - The ASCII XYZ file was opened in ArcMap 9 and the 'Display XY Data' option was used to add the XY data as an event with spatial reference NAD83 UTM zone 20N. Finally, the ArcToolbox 9 conversion tool "Feature to Raster" was then used to convert the XY event into an ESRI Geotiff, based on the depth field Z. These steps were accomplished using an inhouse Arc script which combined these functions and allowed bulk processing. | Source Produced: NF05_npsinshore_1m.tif (Citation: NF-05-05 CARIS BASE Surface)