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Item Identification
Physical Location
Entity Info
Data Attributes
Support Roles
Distribution Info
Catalog Details

Summary

Abstract

Marine mammal (cetacean) cue (when recorded) and sighting data with calculated perpendicular distances (sightingDistanceInMeters) for the forward team (T1).

Please note that cues to marine mammal sightings are not necessarily recorded for all sightings.

Description

Marine mammal (cetacean) sighting cues with calculated perpendicular distances for the forward team (T1):

Entity Information

Entity Type
Data Table

Data Attribute / Type Description
surveyEventID
Character
Unique identifier to a survey (vessel or aircraft based) event. For vessel survey: composed of the vessel's acronym followed by a 2-digit survey year and a 2-digit consecutive mission-number on that vessel (a.k.a cruise code). Cruise name / Cruise Number
eventID
numeric
Unique numeric identifier for each survey effort point recorded at regular time intervals. For vessel surveys: approximately every 30 seconds. For aerial surveys: approximately every 10 seconds. This is the indexing number that allows each marine mammal sighting, non-mammal occurence and cue to be linked to the effort points. See also dwc:eventID
sightingNumber
numeric
The unique identifier for the Sighting (for marine mammal sighting).
sightingCue
character
Description of what was seen first of the group, that is, the cue associated with the first sighting of the animal (or group of animals). A behavioral code may be used (e.g. BL = blow).
scientificName
Character
The full scientific name or lowest level taxonomic rank that could be determined for the sighting.
vernacularName
Character
The common or vernacular name for the species or lowest level taxonomic rank that could be determined for the sighting.
eventDateCue
date
Local date-time during cue data recording.
platformLatitudeCue
Numeric
The latitude of the platform at the moment of cue data recording.
platformLongitudeCue
Numeric
The longitude of the platform at the moment of cue data recording.
eventDateSight
Character
Local date-time during sighting data recording.
platformLatitude
Numeric
Latitude Value (Location) of the platform at time of sighting
platformLongitude
Numeric
Platform Location Longitude at the time of sighting
onEffort
character
Effort status designating if observers were on effort (e.g. observers actively scanning for marine mammals through the big eye binoculars with the vessel steadily cruising on the trackline) or off effort (e.g. observers searching naked eyed, whenever the ship was maneuvering and turning onto a new trackline, if other operations were taking place, during bad weather and whenever observers were not actively searching for cetaceans through the big eyes) at the moment of data recording. Y=Yes (on effort), N=No (off effort). For vessel survey: #1=vessel's Flying Bridge, #2=vessel's Bridge Wing (a.k.a. bridge deck).
observationLocation
character
Description of where on the vessel the observer was located when the animal was first detected. For vessel survey:
verticalangle
Numeric
Angle from the plane to the sighting measured with a digital inclinometer.
verticalIncrement
character
Interval for the sighting based on markings on the belly port splitting the window into sections with numbers from 1 to 4 and letters to designate the left (L) or right (R) side in relation to the plane, with 1 being closest to the center of the window, i.e., closest to the trackline. Observers record the section of the window when the sighting is directly under the aircraft.
recordedBy
Numeric
Numeric code for each observer
observationHeight
numeric
Height in meters of each observationLocation (for vessel survey: flying bridge or bridge wing) from the water surface to the big eyes binoculars at an average's adult height. Measurement is specific to each platform (vessel).
sightingDistanceInMeters
Numeric
Radial distance calculated based on the distance reading (reticle or meters) and the observationHeight (Lerczak and Hobbs, 1998. Calculating sighting distances from angular readings during shipboard, aerial, and shore-based marine mammal surveys. Marine Mammal Science, Vol. 14(3):590-599)
eventDateTimeZone
Numeric
Number of hours from Greenwich mean time
typeVLTS
character
One-character string to flag only the initial sighting records which can be used in density and abundance estimation. Opportunistic and subsequent sighting records can be included in the dataset, but these are easily identified from this term for exclusion from abundance and density modeling. The fixed vocabulary terms are: F = first observation sighting on transect, O = opportunistic sighting, S = subsequent sighting either on or off transect, Null = for position-only records or non-VLTS datasets.
platformVLTS
character
One-character string to flag survey platform type for visual line transect surveys.
geodeticDatum
character
The ellipsoid, geodetic datum, or spatial reference system (SRS) upon which the geographic coordinates given in decimal Latitude and decimal Longitude as based.
higherInstitutionCode
Character
Institution codes, in the form of abbreviated institution names, separated by semicolons, that define the hierarchy of institutions within which the data originator operates. Includes the originating institution as the lowest level (rightmost) code.
permitNumber
character
The federal permit number which gives permission for the data collection. (This value is the same for every record in this file)
platformAttributes
character
Model, name and/or other proper characteristics of the platform where the survey was conducted. For vessel: e.g. NOAA Ship Gordon Gunter, NOAA Ship Pisces. For aerial survey: e.g. NOAA De Havilland DHC-6-300 Twin Otter.
relatedProjectProgram
character
Official project and/or program under which the survey was conducted (e.g. AMAPPS, GoMMAPPS). If applicable.

Distribution Information

Child Items

No Child Items for this record.

Contact Information

Distributor
National Centers for Environmental Information - Silver Spring, Maryland (NCEI-MD)
(301) 713-3277

Item Identification

Title: NOAA_SEFSC_GoMMAPPS_TO18Fa_T1_MMSightsAndCues_20211117.csv
Status: Completed
Publication Date: 2021-10
Abstract:

Marine mammal (cetacean) cue (when recorded) and sighting data with calculated perpendicular distances (sightingDistanceInMeters) for the forward team (T1).

Please note that cues to marine mammal sightings are not necessarily recorded for all sightings.

Purpose:

Main goal of this file is to provide platform location at time of cue and sighting recording, and perpendicular distance of the sighting in relation to the platform based on vertical angle and observation height.

Physical Location

Organization: National Centers for Environmental Information - Silver Spring, Maryland
City: Silver Spring
State/Province: MD
Location Description:

ncei ARCHIVE

Entity Information

Entity Type: Data Table
Description:

Marine mammal (cetacean) sighting cues with calculated perpendicular distances for the forward team (T1):

Data Attributes

Attribute Summary

Rubric Score Primary Key? Name Type Description
100
surveyEventID Character Unique identifier to a survey (vessel or aircraft based) event. For vessel survey: composed of the vessel's acronym followed by a 2-digit survey year and a 2-digit consecutive mission-number on that vessel (a.k.a cruise code). Cruise name / Cruise Number
100
eventID numeric Unique numeric identifier for each survey effort point recorded at regular time intervals. For vessel surveys: approximately every 30 seconds. For aerial surveys: approximately every 10 seconds. This is the indexing number that allows each marine mammal sighting, non-mammal occurence and cue to be linked to the effort points. See also dwc:eventID
100
sightingNumber numeric The unique identifier for the Sighting (for marine mammal sighting).
100
sightingCue character Description of what was seen first of the group, that is, the cue associated with the first sighting of the animal (or group of animals). A behavioral code may be used (e.g. BL = blow).
100
scientificName Character The full scientific name or lowest level taxonomic rank that could be determined for the sighting.
100
vernacularName Character The common or vernacular name for the species or lowest level taxonomic rank that could be determined for the sighting.
100
eventDateCue date Local date-time during cue data recording.
100
platformLatitudeCue Numeric The latitude of the platform at the moment of cue data recording.
100
platformLongitudeCue Numeric The longitude of the platform at the moment of cue data recording.
100
eventDateSight Character Local date-time during sighting data recording.
100
platformLatitude Numeric Latitude Value (Location) of the platform at time of sighting
100
platformLongitude Numeric Platform Location Longitude at the time of sighting
100
onEffort character Effort status designating if observers were on effort (e.g. observers actively scanning for marine mammals through the big eye binoculars with the vessel steadily cruising on the trackline) or off effort (e.g. observers searching naked eyed, whenever the ship was maneuvering and turning onto a new trackline, if other operations were taking place, during bad weather and whenever observers were not actively searching for cetaceans through the big eyes) at the moment of data recording. Y=Yes (on effort), N=No (off effort). For vessel survey: #1=vessel's Flying Bridge, #2=vessel's Bridge Wing (a.k.a. bridge deck).
100
observationLocation character Description of where on the vessel the observer was located when the animal was first detected. For vessel survey:
100
verticalangle Numeric Angle from the plane to the sighting measured with a digital inclinometer.
100
verticalIncrement character Interval for the sighting based on markings on the belly port splitting the window into sections with numbers from 1 to 4 and letters to designate the left (L) or right (R) side in relation to the plane, with 1 being closest to the center of the window, i.e., closest to the trackline. Observers record the section of the window when the sighting is directly under the aircraft.
100
recordedBy Numeric Numeric code for each observer
100
observationHeight numeric Height in meters of each observationLocation (for vessel survey: flying bridge or bridge wing) from the water surface to the big eyes binoculars at an average's adult height. Measurement is specific to each platform (vessel).
100
sightingDistanceInMeters Numeric Radial distance calculated based on the distance reading (reticle or meters) and the observationHeight (Lerczak and Hobbs, 1998. Calculating sighting distances from angular readings during shipboard, aerial, and shore-based marine mammal surveys. Marine Mammal Science, Vol. 14(3):590-599)
100
eventDateTimeZone Numeric Number of hours from Greenwich mean time
100
typeVLTS character One-character string to flag only the initial sighting records which can be used in density and abundance estimation. Opportunistic and subsequent sighting records can be included in the dataset, but these are easily identified from this term for exclusion from abundance and density modeling. The fixed vocabulary terms are: F = first observation sighting on transect, O = opportunistic sighting, S = subsequent sighting either on or off transect, Null = for position-only records or non-VLTS datasets.
100
platformVLTS character One-character string to flag survey platform type for visual line transect surveys.
100
geodeticDatum character The ellipsoid, geodetic datum, or spatial reference system (SRS) upon which the geographic coordinates given in decimal Latitude and decimal Longitude as based.
100
higherInstitutionCode Character Institution codes, in the form of abbreviated institution names, separated by semicolons, that define the hierarchy of institutions within which the data originator operates. Includes the originating institution as the lowest level (rightmost) code.
100
permitNumber character The federal permit number which gives permission for the data collection. (This value is the same for every record in this file)
100
platformAttributes character Model, name and/or other proper characteristics of the platform where the survey was conducted. For vessel: e.g. NOAA Ship Gordon Gunter, NOAA Ship Pisces. For aerial survey: e.g. NOAA De Havilland DHC-6-300 Twin Otter.
100
relatedProjectProgram character Official project and/or program under which the survey was conducted (e.g. AMAPPS, GoMMAPPS). If applicable.

Attribute Details

surveyEventID

CC ID: 1119009
Seq. Order: 10
Data Storage Type: Character
Max Length: 6
Min Length: 6
Required: Yes
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

Unique identifier to a survey (vessel or aircraft based) event. For vessel survey: composed of the vessel's acronym followed by a 2-digit survey year and a 2-digit consecutive mission-number on that vessel (a.k.a cruise code).

Cruise name / Cruise Number

Derivation:

Made up of a combination of

a two character Boat Abbreviation : GU = Gordon Gunther

a two digit year: 18 for 2018

a two digit cruise number: 01 for first cruise of the year

eventID

CC ID: 1118992
Seq. Order: 20
Data Storage Type: numeric
Required: Yes
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

Unique numeric identifier for each survey effort point recorded at regular time intervals. For vessel surveys: approximately every 30 seconds. For aerial surveys: approximately every 10 seconds. This is the indexing number that allows each marine mammal sighting, non-mammal occurence and cue to be linked to the effort points. See also dwc:eventID

sightingNumber

CC ID: 1119008
Seq. Order: 30
Data Storage Type: numeric
Max Length: 4
Required: Yes
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

The unique identifier for the Sighting (for marine mammal sighting).

sightingCue

CC ID: 1119006
Seq. Order: 40
Data Storage Type: character
Max Length: 20
Required: Yes
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

Description of what was seen first of the group, that is, the cue associated with the first sighting of the animal (or group of animals). A behavioral code may be used (e.g. BL = blow).

scientificName

CC ID: 1119331
Seq. Order: 50
Data Storage Type: Character
Max Length: 50
Required: Yes
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

The full scientific name or lowest level taxonomic rank that could be determined for the sighting.

vernacularName

CC ID: 1119332
Seq. Order: 60
Data Storage Type: Character
Max Length: 50
Required: Yes
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

The common or vernacular name for the species or lowest level taxonomic rank that could be determined for the sighting.

eventDateCue

CC ID: 1119333
Seq. Order: 70
Data Storage Type: date
Required: Yes
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

Local date-time during cue data recording.

Null Value: NA
Null Value Meaning:

NA = Not applicable

platformLatitudeCue

CC ID: 1119335
Seq. Order: 80
Data Storage Type: Numeric
Required: Yes
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

The latitude of the platform at the moment of cue data recording.

platformLongitudeCue

CC ID: 1119336
Seq. Order: 90
Data Storage Type: Numeric
Required: Yes
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

The longitude of the platform at the moment of cue data recording.

eventDateSight

CC ID: 1119334
Seq. Order: 100
Data Storage Type: Character
Required: Yes
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

Local date-time during sighting data recording.

platformLatitude

CC ID: 1119001
Seq. Order: 110
Data Storage Type: Numeric
Required: Yes
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

Latitude Value (Location) of the platform at time of sighting

Unit of Measure: Degrees of Latitude

platformLongitude

CC ID: 1119002
Seq. Order: 120
Data Storage Type: Numeric
Required: Yes
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

Platform Location Longitude at the time of sighting

Unit of Measure: Degrees Longitude

onEffort

CC ID: 1118998
Seq. Order: 130
Data Storage Type: character
Max Length: 1
Required: Yes
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

Effort status designating if observers were on effort (e.g. observers actively scanning for marine mammals through the big eye binoculars with the vessel steadily cruising on the trackline) or off effort (e.g. observers searching naked eyed, whenever the ship was maneuvering and turning onto a new trackline, if other operations were taking place, during bad weather and whenever observers were not actively searching for cetaceans through the big eyes) at the moment of data recording. Y=Yes (on effort), N=No (off effort). For vessel survey: #1=vessel's Flying Bridge, #2=vessel's Bridge Wing (a.k.a. bridge deck).

Allowed Values: Y=Yes (on effort), N=No

observationLocation

CC ID: 1118997
Seq. Order: 140
Data Storage Type: character
Max Length: 1
Required: Yes
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

Description of where on the vessel the observer was located when the animal was first detected. For vessel survey:

Allowed Values: 1=vessel's Flying Bridge (FB), 2=vessel's Bridge Wing (BW) (a.k.a. bridge deck).

verticalangle

CC ID: 1119012
Seq. Order: 150
Data Storage Type: Numeric
Required: Yes
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

Angle from the plane to the sighting measured with a digital inclinometer.

verticalIncrement

CC ID: 1119011
Seq. Order: 160
Data Storage Type: character
Required: Yes
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

Interval for the sighting based on markings on the belly port splitting the window into sections with numbers from 1 to 4 and letters to designate the left (L) or right (R) side in relation to the plane, with 1 being closest to the center of the window, i.e., closest to the trackline. Observers record the section of the window when the sighting is directly under the aircraft.

recordedBy

CC ID: 1119004
Seq. Order: 170
Data Storage Type: Numeric
Max Length: 2
Required: Yes
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

Numeric code for each observer

observationHeight

CC ID: 1118996
Seq. Order: 180
Data Storage Type: numeric
Required: Yes
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

Height in meters of each observationLocation (for vessel survey: flying bridge or bridge wing) from the water surface to the big eyes binoculars at an average's adult height. Measurement is specific to each platform (vessel).

Unit of Measure: meters

sightingDistanceInMeters

CC ID: 1119007
Seq. Order: 190
Data Storage Type: Numeric
Required: Yes
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

Radial distance calculated based on the distance reading (reticle or meters) and the observationHeight (Lerczak and Hobbs, 1998. Calculating sighting distances from angular readings during shipboard, aerial, and shore-based marine mammal surveys. Marine Mammal Science, Vol. 14(3):590-599)

eventDateTimeZone

CC ID: 1118991
Seq. Order: 200
Data Storage Type: Numeric
Max Length: 3
Required: Yes
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

Number of hours from Greenwich mean time

typeVLTS

CC ID: 1119010
Seq. Order: 205
Data Storage Type: character
Required: Yes
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

One-character string to flag only the initial sighting records which can be used in density and abundance estimation. Opportunistic and subsequent sighting records can be included in the dataset, but these are easily identified from this term for exclusion from abundance and density modeling. The fixed vocabulary terms are: F = first observation sighting on transect, O = opportunistic sighting, S = subsequent sighting either on or off transect, Null = for position-only records or non-VLTS datasets.

platformVLTS

CC ID: 1119003
Seq. Order: 210
Data Storage Type: character
Max Length: 1
Min Length: 1
Required: Yes
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

One-character string to flag survey platform type for visual line transect surveys.

Allowed Values: A = aerial surveys B = boat-based surveys

geodeticDatum

CC ID: 1118994
Seq. Order: 220
Data Storage Type: character
Required: Yes
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

The ellipsoid, geodetic datum, or spatial reference system (SRS) upon which the geographic coordinates given in decimal Latitude and decimal Longitude as based.

higherInstitutionCode

CC ID: 1118995
Seq. Order: 230
Data Storage Type: Character
Required: Yes
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

Institution codes, in the form of abbreviated institution names, separated by semicolons, that define the hierarchy of institutions within which the data originator operates. Includes the originating institution as the lowest level (rightmost) code.

permitNumber

CC ID: 1118999
Seq. Order: 240
Data Storage Type: character
Max Length: 100
Required: Yes
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

The federal permit number which gives permission for the data collection.

(This value is the same for every record in this file)

platformAttributes

CC ID: 1119000
Seq. Order: 250
Data Storage Type: character
Required: Yes
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

Model, name and/or other proper characteristics of the platform where the survey was conducted. For vessel: e.g. NOAA Ship Gordon Gunter, NOAA Ship Pisces. For aerial survey: e.g. NOAA De Havilland DHC-6-300 Twin Otter.

relatedProjectProgram

CC ID: 1119005
Seq. Order: 260
Data Storage Type: character
Max Length: 100
Required: Yes
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

Official project and/or program under which the survey was conducted (e.g. AMAPPS, GoMMAPPS). If applicable.

Support Roles

Distributor

CC ID: 1119013
Date Effective From: 2021
Date Effective To:
Contact (Organization): National Centers for Environmental Information - Silver Spring, Maryland (NCEI-MD)
Address: NOAA/NESDIS E/OC SSMC3, 4th Floor, 1351 East-West Highway
Silver Spring, MD 20910-3282
Phone: (301) 713-3277

Distribution Information

Distribution 1

CC ID: 1119014
Start Date: 2021
End Date: Present
Download URL: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0243468/1.1/data/0-data/TO18Fa_NCEI_DataPackage/NOAA_SEFSC_GoMMAPPS_TO18Fa_VisualSightingData/NOAA_SEFSC_GoMMAPPS_TO18Fa_T1_MMSightsAndCues_20211117.csv
Distributor: National Centers for Environmental Information - Silver Spring, Maryland (NCEI-MD) (2021 - Present)
File Name: NOAA_SEFSC_GoMMAPPS_TO18Fa_T1_MMSightsAndCues_20211117.csv
Description:

NOAA_SEFSC_GoMMAPPS_TO18Fa_T1_MMSightsAndCues_20211117.csv

File Date/Time: 2021-12-02 21:56:00
File Type (Deprecated): csv (comma-separated values)
Distribution Format: CSV - Comma Separated Values (Text)
File Size: 126K
Compression: Uncompressed
Review Status: Chked Viruses Inapp Content

Catalog Details

Catalog Item ID: 66283
GUID: gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:66283
Metadata Record Created By: Lee M Weinberger
Metadata Record Created: 2021-12-28 01:12+0000
Metadata Record Last Modified By: SysAdmin InPortAdmin
Metadata Record Last Modified: 2023-10-17 16:12+0000
Metadata Record Published: 2022-09-23
Owner Org: SEFSC
Metadata Publication Status: Published Externally
Do Not Publish?: N
Metadata Last Review Date: 2022-01-03
Metadata Review Frequency: 1 Year
Metadata Next Review Date: 2023-01-03