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Short Citation:
OCM Partners, 2024: 2007 USGS/NASA Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar (EAARL): Fire Island National Seashore, NY and Sandy Hook, NJ, https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/50104.

Item Identification

Title: 2007 USGS/NASA Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar (EAARL): Fire Island National Seashore, NY and Sandy Hook, NJ
Short Name: usgs2007_ne_bi_m521_metadata
Status: Completed
Publication Date: 2008
Abstract:

ASCII xyz point cloud data were produced from remotely sensed, geographically referenced elevation measurements cooperatively

by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Elevation measurements were

collected over the barrier island areas of Nassau and Suffolk Counties (Fire Island Natational Seashore)in New York and Monmouth County

(Sandy Hook) in New Jersey, using the NASA Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar (EAARL), a pulsed laser ranging system

mounted onboard an aircraft to measure ground elevation, vegetation canopy, and coastal topography. The system uses high-frequency

laser beams directed at the Earth's surface through an opening in the bottom of the aircraft's fuselage. The laser system records

the time difference between emission of the laser beam and the reception of the reflected laser signal in the aircraft. The plane

travels over the target area at approximately 50 meters per second at an elevation of approximately 300 meters. The EAARL, developed

by NASA at Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, measures ground elevation with a vertical resolution of 15 centimeters. A sampling

rate of 3 kilohertz or higher results in an extremely dense spatial elevation dataset. Over 100 kilometers of coastline can be easily

surveyed within a 3- to 4-hour mission time period. When subsequent elevation maps for an area are analyzed, they provide a useful

tool to make management decisions regarding land development.

Original contact information:

Contact Name: Amar Nayegandhi

Contact Org: Jacobs Technology, U.S. Geological Survey, FISC

Title: Computer Scientist

Phone: 727-803-8747 (x3026)

Email: anayegandhi@usgs.gov

Purpose:

The ASCII elevation data can be used to create raster Digital Elevation Models (DEMs). The purpose of this project is to produce

highly detailed and accurate digital elevation maps of the northeast coastal barrier islands for use as a management tool and to

make these data available to natural resource managers and research scientists.

Notes:

10748

Supplemental Information:

Raw Lidar data are not in a format that is generally usable by resource managers and scientists. Converting dense Lidar elevation

data into a readily usable format without loss of essential information requires specialized processing. The U.S. Geological

Survey's Coastal and Marine Geology (CMG) Program has developed custom software to convert raw Lidar data into a GIS-compatible

map product to be provided to GIS specialists, managers, and scientists. The primary tool used in the conversion process is

Advanced Lidar Processing System (ALPS), a multi-tiered processing system developed by a USGS-NASA collaborative project.

Specialized processing algorithms are used to convert raw waveform Lidar data acquired by the EAARL to georeferenced spot (x, y, z)

returns for "first surface" and "bare earth" topography. These data are then converted to the North American Datum of 1983 and the

North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (using the Geoid 03 model). The files are in the Quarter-Quad tiling format, and the exact

tile location is contained in the filename at n88_########_mf_be, where ####### is the Quarter-Quad tile ID. The development of

custom software for creating these data products has been supported by the USGS CMG Program's Decision Support for Coastal Parks,

Sanctuaries, and Preserves project. Processed data products are used by the USGS CMG Program's National Assessments of Coastal

Change Hazards project to quantify the vulnerability of shorelines to coastal change hazards such as severe storms, sea-level rise,

and shoreline erosion and retreat.

Keywords

Theme Keywords

Thesaurus Keyword
ISO 19115 Topic Category
elevation
UNCONTROLLED
None ALPS
None bare earth
None EAARL

Temporal Keywords

Thesaurus Keyword
UNCONTROLLED
None 2007
None April
None May

Physical Location

Organization: Office for Coastal Management
City: Charleston
State/Province: SC

Data Set Information

Data Set Scope Code: Data Set
Maintenance Frequency: None Planned
Entity Attribute Overview:

Binary lidar data file for xyz data points.

Entity Attribute Detail Citation:

The variables measured by EAARL are distance between aircraft and GPS satellites (m), attitude information (roll, pitch, heading

in degrees), scan angle (degrees), second of the epoch (sec), and 1ns time-resolved return intensity waveform (digital counts).

Z value is referenced to orthometric elevations derived from National Geodetic Survey Geoid Model, Geoid03.

Distribution Liability:

Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system at the U.S. Geological Survey, no warranty expressed or

implied is made regarding the display or utility of the data on any other system, nor shall the act of distribution imply any such

warranty. The U.S. Geological Survey shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of the data described and (or)

contained herein. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer,

or otherwise does not constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency

thereof.

Any conclusions drawn from the analysis of this information are not the responsibility of NOAA, the Office for Coastal Management or its partners.

Data Set Credit: Acknowledgement of the U.S. Geological Survey, Florida Integrated Science Center, as a data source would be appreciated in products developed from these data, and such acknowledgement as is standard for citation and legal practices for data source is expected by users of this data. Sharing new data layers developed directly from these data would also be appreciated by the U.S. Geological Survey staff. These data are not legal documents and are not to be used as such. The U.S. Geological Survey and National Aeronautics and Space Administration request to be acknowledged as originators of the data in future products or derivative research.

Support Roles

Data Steward

CC ID: 690602
Date Effective From: 2008
Date Effective To:
Contact (Organization): NOAA Office for Coastal Management (NOAA/OCM)
Address: 2234 South Hobson Ave
Charleston, SC 29405-2413
Email Address: coastal.info@noaa.gov
Phone: (843) 740-1202
URL: https://coast.noaa.gov

Distributor

CC ID: 690604
Date Effective From: 2008
Date Effective To:
Contact (Organization): NOAA Office for Coastal Management (NOAA/OCM)
Address: 2234 South Hobson Ave
Charleston, SC 29405-2413
Email Address: coastal.info@noaa.gov
Phone: (843) 740-1202
URL: https://coast.noaa.gov

Metadata Contact

CC ID: 690605
Date Effective From: 2008
Date Effective To:
Contact (Organization): NOAA Office for Coastal Management (NOAA/OCM)
Address: 2234 South Hobson Ave
Charleston, SC 29405-2413
Email Address: coastal.info@noaa.gov
Phone: (843) 740-1202
URL: https://coast.noaa.gov

Point of Contact

CC ID: 690603
Date Effective From: 2008
Date Effective To:
Contact (Organization): NOAA Office for Coastal Management (NOAA/OCM)
Address: 2234 South Hobson Ave
Charleston, SC 29405-2413
Email Address: coastal.info@noaa.gov
Phone: (843) 740-1202
URL: https://coast.noaa.gov

Extents

Currentness Reference: Ground Condition

Extent Group 1

Extent Group 1 / Geographic Area 1

CC ID: 1138565
W° Bound: -74.02031
E° Bound: -71.854012
N° Bound: 41.072956
S° Bound: 40.394056

Extent Group 1 / Time Frame 1

CC ID: 1138560
Time Frame Type: Discrete
Start: 2007-04-26

Extent Group 1 / Time Frame 2

CC ID: 1138561
Time Frame Type: Discrete
Start: 2007-04-29

Extent Group 1 / Time Frame 3

CC ID: 1138562
Time Frame Type: Discrete
Start: 2007-04-30

Extent Group 1 / Time Frame 4

CC ID: 1138563
Time Frame Type: Discrete
Start: 2007-05-15

Extent Group 1 / Time Frame 5

CC ID: 1138564
Time Frame Type: Discrete
Start: 2007-05-16

Spatial Information

Spatial Representation

Representations Used

Vector: Yes

Access Information

Security Class: Unclassified
Security Classification System:

Unclassified

Security Handling Description:

None

Data Access Procedure:

This data can be obtained on-line at the following URL: https://coast.noaa.gov/dataviewer;

Data Access Constraints:

None

Data Use Constraints:

Users should be aware that temporal changes may have occurred since this data set was collected and some parts of this data may no

longer represent actual surface conditions. Users should not use this data for critical applications without a full awareness of its

limitations.

Distribution Information

Distribution 1

CC ID: 743047
Download URL: https://coast.noaa.gov/dataviewer/#/lidar/search/where:ID=521
Distributor:
File Name: Customized Download
Description:

Create custom data files by choosing data area, product type, map projection, file format, datum, etc.

Distribution 2

CC ID: 743048
Download URL: https://noaa-nos-coastal-lidar-pds.s3.amazonaws.com/laz/geoid18/521/index.html
Distributor:
File Name: Bulk Download
Description:

Simple download of data files.

URLs

URL 1

CC ID: 743050
URL: https://coast.noaa.gov/dataviewer
URL Type:
Online Resource

URL 2

CC ID: 743051
URL: https://coast.noaa.gov
URL Type:
Online Resource

Activity Log

Activity Log 1

CC ID: 690641
Activity Date/Time: 2016-05-23
Description:

Date that the source FGDC record was last modified.

Activity Log 2

CC ID: 690640
Activity Date/Time: 2017-11-14
Description:

Converted from FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata (version FGDC-STD-001-1998) using 'fgdc_to_inport_xml.pl' script. Contact Tyler Christensen (NOS) for details.

Activity Log 3

CC ID: 718708
Activity Date/Time: 2018-02-08
Description:

Partial upload of Positional Accuracy fields only.

Activity Log 4

CC ID: 743049
Activity Date/Time: 2018-03-13
Description:

Partial upload to move data access links to Distribution Info.

Technical Environment

Description:

Microsoft Windows XP Version 5.1 (Build 2600) Service Pack 2; ESRI ArcMap 9.2.2.1350

Data Quality

Accuracy:

The expected accuracy of the measured variables is as follows: attitude within 0.07 degree, 3 cm nominal laser ranging accuracy,

and vertical elevation accuracy of +/-15 cm for the topographic surface. Quality checks are built into the data-processing software.

Horizontal Positional Accuracy:

Raw elevation measurements have been determined to be within 1 meter horizontal accuracy.

Vertical Positional Accuracy:

Elevations of the DEM are vertically consistent with the point elevation data, +/-15 cm.

Completeness Report:

Several regions of the dataset are labeled as "No Data" which corresponds to a cell value of -32767 m in the ASCII file.

These "No Data" areas are a result of the survey not covering a particular region, optical water depth of greater than 1.5 Secchi

disc depths, or the manual removal of lidar processing artifacts.

Conceptual Consistency:

The files are in the Quarter-Quad tiling format and the exact tile location is contained in the filename at n88_########_mf_be/fs

where ####### is the Quarter-Quad tile ID.

See QQ_naming_convention.doc in the 'extras' directory.

Lineage

Process Steps

Process Step 1

CC ID: 1138556
Description:

The data are collected using a Cessna 310 aircraft. The NASA Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar (EAARL) laser scanner

collects the data using a green (532-nm) raster scanning laser, while a digital camera acquires a visual record of the flight.

The data are stored on hard drives and archived at the U.S. Geological Survey, FISC, St. Petersburg, Florida office and the NASA

office at Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The navigational data are processed at Wallops Flight Facility. The navigational

and raw data are then downloaded into the Advanced Lidar Processing System (ALPS). Data are converted from units of time

to x, y, z points for elevation. The derived surface data can then be converted into raster data (GeoTIFFs).

Process Date/Time: 2007-01-01 00:00:00

Process Step 2

CC ID: 1138557
Description:

Metadata imported into ArcCatalog from XML file.

Process Date/Time: 2008-08-18 00:00:00

Process Step 3

CC ID: 1138558
Description:

The NOAA Office for Coastal Management (OCM) received files in LAS format. The files contained LiDAR intensity and elevation measurements.

OCM performed the following processing on the data to make it available within Digital Coast:

1. The data were converted from UTM Zone 18 coordinates to geographic coordinates.

2. The data were converted from NAVD88 heights to ellipsoid heights using Geoid03.

3. The LAS header fields were sorted by latitude and updated.

Process Date/Time: 2009-11-01 00:00:00

Catalog Details

Catalog Item ID: 50104
GUID: gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:50104
Metadata Record Created By: Anne Ball
Metadata Record Created: 2017-11-15 15:24+0000
Metadata Record Last Modified By: SysAdmin InPortAdmin
Metadata Record Last Modified: 2022-08-09 17:11+0000
Metadata Record Published: 2022-03-16
Owner Org: OCMP
Metadata Publication Status: Published Externally
Do Not Publish?: N
Metadata Last Review Date: 2022-03-16
Metadata Review Frequency: 1 Year
Metadata Next Review Date: 2023-03-16