13.0 Reports
The Reports section describes the metadata and written reports that must be provided to the Office of Coast Survey so that the data can be properly assessed. These reports may take the form as specified in those sections as either written prose reports, IHO compliant metadata, or via Pydro, a freely available, open-source tool published by the Office of Coast Survey that includes XML reporting.
13.1 Metadata
For any data submission provided to the Office of Coast Survey, metadata fields are required to perform an assessment of the data. Failure to include this information may result in the Office of Coast Survey either assessing the data with a lower grade or being unable to use the data.
The tables below present the required metadata that must be provided to the Office of Coast Survey as well as acceptable formats for providing this information to the Office of Coast Survey. Metadata must be provided that is representative of the entire survey, and other metadata must be representative of each bathymetric grid that is submitted to the Office of Coast Survey.
Table 13.1.0 Survey-specific Metadata
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License Identifier | String (see Data License) | M |
License Deed | URL (see Data License) | M |
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Field Unit | Source who collected the data | M |
Approval Statement* | Text | C |
Approver* | Name, Title, Certification(s) | C |
* Fields marked Conditional may be provided for datasets where those fields are applicable.
Table 13.1.1 Grid-specific Metadata
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Horizontal Coordinate Reference System and Units | See also CRS requirements | M |
Vertical Coordinate Reference System and Units | See also CRS requirements | M |
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Bathymetric data derived from acoustic sensors must provide those uncertainty fields marked as conditional. Topo-bathymetric data derived from lidar sensors should provide uncertainty fields marked as conditional if it has been computed.
Metadata may be provided to the Office of Coast Survey via text file or through the use of Pydro.
13.2 Equipment List
For each dataset submitted to the Office of Coast Survey, information about the equipment used to collect the dataset is required to be submitted alongside the data. For each type of equipment listed below, the minimum required information for that equipment is provided.
Table 13.2.0 Equipment Minimum Required Information
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13.3 Quality Control Procedures
All data submitted to the Office of Coast Survey must include a description of the quality control methodology used by the Field Unit. Failure to include this information may result in the Office of Coast Survey either assessing the data with a lower grade or being unable to use the data if the assessment is unable to determine if adequate quality control procedures were in place.
Field Units must describe all quality assurance methods and procedures. Discuss the methods used to complete crosslines comparisons, statistical analysis, directed editing, designated sounding selection, holiday identification, and uncertainty assessment. Describe any factors that affect the survey’s adequacy and accuracy. If applicable, include methods for establishing proof of acoustic intensity coverage and the methods and criteria used for detecting and selecting features. If data are interpolated, include a description of the parameters used in the interpolation. Note that the inclusion of interpolated data without identifying the specific data points that are interpolated will preclude the use of the data for charted sounding application but may be used for contour generation or other bathymetric modeling purposes as deemed appropriate by the Office of Coast Survey.
For Field Units submitting multibeam backscatter, as mentioned in 2D Imagery there are additional reporting requirements for multibeam backscatter quality control derived from Figure 5-1 of the Backscatter measurements by seafloor-mapping sonars report by the GeoHab Backscatter Working Group. Field Units submitted multibeam backscatter must include the answers to the below questions in this section.
- Was the backscatter calibrated? If so, was it an absolute or relative calibration?
- Do the echo sounder(s) have the dynamic range to accommodate the survey area without changes in sonar settings? If no, was the echo sounder(s) calibrated to itself across system settings?
- Will the intended acquisition configuration allow the echo sounder(s) to become saturated or nonlinear? If yes, was a technique applied to prevent system saturation?
- Were environmental variables a likely influence to the acoustic backscatter measurement? If so, was a technique applied for collecting environmental information to compensate for environmental effects?
- Did the acquisition output have a workflow that allows for post processing of backscatter data and full utilization of the data collected?
13.4 Control Point Establishment
If horizontal or vertical control points are established by the Field Unit, a written description of the processes and procedures used to establish, maintain, and quality control the control point data must be provided to the Office of Coast Survey. At a minimum, this description must include:
- The type of control point established (i.e., horizontal or vertical).
- The position of the established control point.
- The dates the control point was in operation.
- The horizontal and vertical (if applicable) uncertainty associated with the position of the control point.
- The process by which the control point data was applied to the data.
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Vertical Control -
A list of unusual tidal, water level, or current conditions. -
The height and time corrections, and zoning, if different from that specified in the Hydrographic Project Survey Instructions. -
Ellipsoidal benchmark positioning techniques and procedures.
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Horizontal Control -
The latitude and longitude to at least the nearest 1/100 of a second. -
The station elevation. -
The geodetic station name and year it was established. -
Briefly describe the methods and adequacy of positioning system confidence check.
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13.5 Environmental Compliance
Sea turtle sightings must be recorded in the provided PDF form (included in the Project Instructions) for each project and must be sent to sea.turtle.sightings@noaa.gov, with a CC to ocs.ecc@noaa.gov and the OCS Project Manager and/or COR.