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At least 1,531 records · Page 85Linked to original sources
USGS2010

Ocean and coastal data management

We introduce data management concepts, including what we mean by "data" and its "management," sources of data, interoperability, and data geometry. We then discuss various components of a data management system. Finally, we summarize some existing ocean and coastal data management efforts. We make specific recommendations throughout the paper. We are generally optimistic that ocean and coastal data management is an interesting and solvable challenge that will provide great benefit to society.

Conference Paper↗
USGS2017

Capturing change: the duality of time-lapse imagery to acquire data and depict ecological dynamics

We investigate the scientific and communicative value of time-lapse imagery by exploring applications for data collection and visualization. Time-lapse imagery has a myriad of possible applications to study and depict ecosystems and can operate at unique temporal and spatial scales to bridge the gap between large-scale satellite imagery projects and observational field research. Time-lapse data sequences, linking time-lapse imagery with data visualization, have the ability to make data come alive for a wider audience by connecting abstract numbers to images that root data in time and place. Utilizing imagery from the Platte Basin Timelapse Project, water inundation and vegetation phenology metrics are quantified via image analysis and then paired with passive monitoring data, including streamflow and water chemistry. Dynamic and interactive time-lapse data sequences elucidate the visible and invisible ecological dynamics of a significantly altered yet internationally important river system in central Nebraska.

Nebraska↗
USGS2001

Access to bird population data

Access to bird population data is critical for effective conservation planning and implementation. Although a tremendous volume of baseline data exists, it is often diffusely distributed and inaccessible to the resource manager and decision maker. A mechanism that facilitates assembly, documentation and delivery of avian data in a user-friendly manner is needed in order to integrate bird-related information resources across agencies and organizations. To address this fundamental need, the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII), in partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey's Patuxent Wildlife Research Center and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is developing a web-based interactive system that will focus on access to bird population and habitat data used in bird management and conservation. This system, known as the NBII Bird Conservation Node, will support planning and evaluation of bird conservation activities within the context of the North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI), a framework for collaboration among organizations interested in bird conservation across North America. Initial development of the NBII Bird Conservation Node will focus on creating a prototype mapping application that will provide interactive access to data from the North American Breeding Bird Survey, the Colonial Waterbird Survey, the Breeding Waterfowl Population and Habitat Survey, and the Atlantic Flyway Mid-winter Waterfowl Survey. This prototype mapping application, to be available on-line at http://www.nbii.gov by Sep 2001, will lay the foundation for establishment of a Migratory Bird Data Center at Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, and will provide an opportunity for linking to and establishing partnerships with other sources of bird population and habitat data available over the Internet.

Book chapter↗
USGS2002

Using Christmas Bird Count data in analysis of population change

The scientific credibility of Christmas Bird Count (CBC) results depend on the development and implementation of appropriate methods of statistical analysis. The key to any successful analysis of CBC data is to begin with a careful review of how the limitations of the data are likely to influence the results of the analysis, then to choose methods of analysis that accommodate as much as possible the limitations of the survey. For our analyses of CBC data, we develop a flexible model for effort adjustment and use information from the data to guide the selection of the best model. We include geographic structuring to accommodate the regional variation in number of samples, use a model that allows for overdispersed poisson data appropriate for counts, and employ empirical Bayes procedures to accommodate differences in quality of information in regional summaries. This generalized linear model approach is very flexible, and can be applied to a variety of studies focused on factors influencing wintering bird populations. In particular, the model can be easily modified to contain covariates, allowing for assessment of associations between CBC counts and winter weather, disturbance, and a variety of other environmental factors. These new survey analysis methods have added value in that they provide insights into changes in survey design that can enhance the value of the information. The CBC has been extremely successful as a tool for increasing public interest in birding and bird conservation. Use of the information for bird conservation creates new demands on quality of information, and it is important to maintain a dialogue between users of the information, information needs for the analyses, and survey coordinators and participants. Our work as survey analysts emphasizes the value and limitations of existing data, and provides some indications of what features of the survey could be modified to make the survey a more reliable source of bird population data. Surveys only remain useful if they adapt to current needs, while still maintaining consistency with historical goals.

American Birds↗
USGS1984

JOINT DEVELOPMENT OF A NATIONAL 1:100,000-SCALE DIGITAL CARTOGRAPHIC DATA BASE.

The U. S. Geological Survey is beginning a major new program to create a nationwide digital cartographic data base from 1:100,000-scale maps by the end of the decade. This data base will supplement the currently available 1:2,000,000-scale national data base and the selected coverage at 1:24,000-scale. It is anticipated that the data will be useful for both the production of custom graphics and as basic input to geographic information systems. The 1:100,000-scale USGS map series was designed to facilitate automated data capture. The methodologies and procedures used in the data capture process have developed enough so that the two agencies can take advantage of the design features of the 1:100,000-scale maps and work together on complementary tasks to build a digital cartographic data base.

Conference Paper↗
USGS1987

DISTRIBUTED GROUND-WATER DATA BASE OF THE U. S. G. S.

During the past 20 years, the ground-water data base of the U. S. Geological Survey has evolved from paper files in local offices, to a national data base on a central mainframe computer, to a distributed data base on a network of 49 minicomputers throughout the United States. Users in local offices have easy, inexpensive access to the distributed data base. The distributed data base has caused some problems in data management but has increased the overall quality of the data base.

Conference Paper↗
USGS1989

Spectral analysis and filtering techniques in digital spatial data processing

A filter toolbox has been developed at the EROS Data Center, US Geological Survey, for retrieving or removing specified frequency information from two-dimensional digital spatial data. This filter toolbox provides capabilities to compute the power spectrum of a given data and to design various filters in the frequency domain. Three types of filters are available in the toolbox: point filter, line filter, and area filter. Both the point and line filters employ Gaussian-type notch filters, and the area filter includes the capabilities to perform high-pass, band-pass, low-pass, and wedge filtering techniques. These filters are applied for analyzing satellite multispectral scanner data, airborne visible and infrared imaging spectrometer (AVIRIS) data, gravity data, and the digital elevation models (DEM) data. -from Author

Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing↗
USGS1991

Use of electronic microprocessor-based instrumentation by the U.S. geological survey for hydrologic data collection

The U.S. Geological Survey is acquiring a new generation of field computers and communications software to support hydrologic data-collection at field locations. The new computer hardware and software mark the beginning of the Survey's transition from the use of electromechanical devices and paper tapes to electronic microprocessor-based instrumentation. Software is being developed for these microprocessors to facilitate the collection, conversion, and entry of data into the Survey's National Water Information System. The new automated data-collection process features several microprocessor-controlled sensors connected to a serial digital multidrop line operated by an electronic data recorder. Data are acquired from the sensors in response to instructions programmed into the data recorder by the user through small portable lap-top or hand-held computers. The portable computers, called personal field computers, also are used to extract data from the electronic recorders for transport by courier to the office computers. The Survey's alternative to manual or courier retrieval is the use of microprocessor-based remote telemetry stations. Plans have been developed to enhance the Survey's use of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite telemetry by replacing the present network of direct-readout ground stations with less expensive units. Plans also provide for computer software that will support other forms of telemetry such as telephone or land-based radio.

Conference Paper↗
USGS1991

Comparison of three different methods to merge multiresolution and multispectral data: Landsat TM and SPOT panchromatic

The merging of multisensor image data is becoming a widely used procedure because of the complementary nature of various data sets. Ideally, the method used to merge data sets with high-spatial and high-spectral resolution should not distort the spectral characteristics of the high-spectral resolution data. This paper compares the results of three different methods used to merge the information contents of the Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) and Satellite Pour l'Observation de la Terre (SPOT) panchromatic data. The comparison is based on spectral characteristics and is made using statistical, visual, and graphical analyses of the results. The three methods used to merge the information contents of the Landsat TM and SPOT panchromatic data were the Hue-Intensity-Saturation (HIS), Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and High-Pass Filter (HPF) procedures. The HIS method distorted the spectral characteristics of the data the most. The HPF method distorted the spectral characteristics the least; the distortions were minimal and difficult to detect. -Authors

Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing↗
USGS1994

Real-time data collection of scour at bridges

The record flood on the Mississippi River during the summer of 1993 provided a rare opportunity to collect data on scour of the streambed at bridges and to test data collection equipment under extreme hydraulic conditions. Detailed bathymetric and hydraulic information were collected at two bridges crossing the Mississippi River during the rising limb, near the peak, and during the recession of the flood. Bathymetric data were collected using a digital echo sounder. Three-dimensional velocities were collected using Broadband Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (BB-ADCP) operating at 300 kilohertz (kHz), 600 kHz, and 1,200 kHz. Positioning of the data collected was measured using a range-azimuth tracking system and two global positioning systems (GPS). Although differential GPS was able to provide accurate positions and tracking information during approach- and exit-reach data collection, it was unable to maintain lock on a sufficient number of satellites when the survey vessel was under the bridge or near the piers. The range-azimuth tracking system was used to collect position and tracking information for detailed data collection near the bridge piers. These detailed data indicated local scour ranging from 3 to 8 meters and will permit a field-based evaluation of the ability of various numerical models to compute the hydraulics, depth, geometry, and time-dependent development of local scour.

Conference Paper↗
USGS2001

Hierarchical programming for data storage and visualization

Graphics software is an essential tool for interpreting, analyzing, and presenting data from multidimensional hydrodynamic models used in estuarine and coastal ocean studies. The post-processing of time-varying three-dimensional model output presents unique requirements for data visualization because of the large volume of data that can be generated and the multitude of time scales that must be examined. Such data can relate to estuarine or coastal ocean environments and come from numerical models or field instruments. One useful software tool for the display, editing, visualization, and printing of graphical data is the Gr application, written by the first author for use in U.S. Geological Survey San Francisco Bay Program. The Gr application has been made available to the public via the Internet since the year 2000. The Gr application is written in the Java (Sun Microsystems, Nov. 29, 2001) programming language and uses the Extensible Markup Language standard for hierarchical data storage. Gr presents a hierarchy of objects to the user that can be edited using a common interface. Java's object-oriented capabilities allow Gr to treat data, graphics, and tools equally and to save them all to a single XML file.

Conference Paper↗
USGS2002

Comparability and accuracy of fluvial-sediment data - A view from the U.S. Geological Survey

The quality of historical fluvial-sediment data cannot be taken for granted, based on a review of upper Colorado River basin suspended-sediment discharges, and on an evaluation of the reliability of Total Suspended Solids (TSS) data. Additionally, the quality of future fluvial-sediment data are not assured. Sediment-surrogate technologies, including those that operate on acoustic, laser, bulk optic, digital optic, or pressure differential principles, are being used with increasing frequency to measure in-stream and (or) laboratory fluvial-sediment characteristics. Data from sediment-surrogate technologies may yield results that differ significantly from those obtained by traditional methods for the same sedimentary conditions. Development of national sediment data-quality criteria and rigorous comparisons of data derived from sediment-surrogate technologies to those obtained by traditional techniques will minimize the potential for future fluvial-sediment data-quality concerns.

Conference Paper↗
USGS1969

Hydrogeologic data for the southwestern coastal river basins, Connecticut

This report presents hydrologic and geologic data collected by the U.S. Geological Survey during an investigation of water resources in the southwestern coastal river basins of Connecticut in cooperation with the Connecticut Water Resources Commission. These basins occupy about 394 square miles in Connecticut and 46 square miles in New York, including the towns of Greenwich, Stamford, Darien, New Canaan, Norwalk, Wilton, Westport, Weston, Fairfield, Easton, and Bridgeport and parts of Danbury, Ridgefield, Redding, Bethel, Newtown, Trumbull, Monroe, Shelton, and Stratford. A companion interpretive report evaluating the water resources of the basins will be published as Connecticut Water Resources Bulletin No. 17. The data on the following pages serve to document and supplement that report and should be especially useful in planning the development of water resources at specific localities. Data were collected as part of this investigation during the period July 1963 through November 1966. Streamflow records from continuous-record gaging stations in the basins have been published annually along with data from other parts of the State in a series of U.S. Geological Survey reports entitled "Surface Water Records of Connecticut." Water-level measurements in wells throughout the State from 1960 through 1966, including most of those made as part of this investigation, are published in Connecticut Water Resources Bulletins No. 7 and No. 13. Most other data collected during this investigation are tabulated on the following pages. Included are some well records and chemical analyses of water samples collected prior to July 1963 and not previously published. The locations of sites at which data were collected are shown on plate A in the pocket at the back of the report. Data presented, unless otherwise noted, were collected by U.S. Geological Survey personnel.

Connecticut↗
USGS1970

Hydrogeologic data for the lower Housatonic River basin, Connecticut

This report contains hydrologic and geologic data collected for an investigation of the lower Housatonic River basin by the U.S. Geological Survey in financial cooperation with the Connecticut Water Resources Commission. The report also summarizes data that are available in other publications. The towns within the 557 square mile area of the basin in western Connecticut include all of Beacon Falls, Middlebury, Naugatuck, Oxford, Seymour, Thomaston, Waterbury, Watertown, and Woodbury; and parts of Ansonia, Bethany, Bethlehem, Bristol, Burlington, Cheshire, Derby, Easton, Goshen, Narwinton, Litchfield, Milford, Monroe, Morris, New Hartford, Newtown, Norfolk, Orange, Plymouth, Prospect, Roxbury, Shelton, Southbury, Stratford, Torrington, Trumbull, Washington, Winchester, Wolcott, and Woodbridge. The factual information on the following pages was the basis for a companion interpretive report, Connecticut Water Resources Bulletin No. 19 (Wilson, W. E., and others, in preparation, 1970). The basic-data report can be used alone for detailed information needed in planning water resources development at specific sites or it can be used to supplement the interpretive report. Data were collected for this investigation from 1965 to 1967. Water levels measured in wells as part of this investigation were published in Connecticut Water Resources Bulletin No. 7 (Meikle and Baker, 1965) and No. 13 (Meikle, 1967) with water-level data from other wells throughout the State. Publications containing relevant ground-water information are listed on page those concerned with streamflow are on page 5 and those on quality of water, are on page 6. The locations of sites at which data were collected are shown on plate A in the back pocket of this report. Data presented here were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey unless otherwise noted.

Connecticut↗
USGS1972

Photogeology: Part W: Apollo 16 landing site: summary of Earth-based remote sensing data

The purpose of the infrared (IR) and radar study of the Apollo data is to establish lunar surface conditions in the vicinity of the orbital tracks of the Apollo command modules during the J-series missions. Correlations and comparisons between the Earth-based radar observations, IR observations, and other data will be plotted on photomaps produced from the mapping and panoramic cameras. In addition, the Apollo photography will be used to improve the classifications of the anomalous IR and radar features. The three sets of Earth-based data have already been obtained. The IR (11 μm) data (ref. 29-112) were obtained during a total lunar eclipse. More than a thousand thermally anomalous regions with an unusually high population of exposed boulders have been identified (ref. 29-113). The 70-cm radar backscatter observations made at the same resolution as the IR measurements show regions of anomalous backscatter. These regions have been explained as roughness caused by the boulders on the surface and below the surface. The high-resolution 3.8-cm radar backscatter measurements (ref. 29-114) reveal in great detail regions of anomalous radar backscatter. At this short radar wavelength, small-scale surface and subsurface roughness and boulders less than the order of 10 cm are responsible for the anomalous returns. Previous studies have revealed strong correlation between these three data sets (refs. 29-115 to 29-117). The strongest anomalies (anomalous at all three wavelengths) correspond to features interpreted geologically as young Copernican craters. There are, however, many combinations of enhancements from IR only, 70-cm radar only, 3.8-cm radar only, or combinations of two of these types but not a third. The variation of intensity in all combinations indicates a very complex set of features. These data provide information about the surface on a centimeter- and meter-sized scale although the basic instrumental resolution was 2 to 15 km. The Apollo orbital photography and observations at the landing sites, used in conjunction with the remote sensing data, can significantly improve geologic and geophysical interpretations of lunar surface conditions.

Book chapter↗
USGS2010

New software methods in radar ornithology using WSR-88D weather data and potential application to monitoring effects of climate change on bird migration

Radar ornithology has provided tools for studying the movement of birds, especially related to migration. Researchers have presented qualitative evidence suggesting that birds, or at least migration events, can be identified using large broad scale radars such as the WSR-88D used in the NEXRAD weather surveillance system. This is potentially a boon for ornithologists because such data cover a large portion of the United States, are constantly being produced, are freely available, and have been archived since the early 1990s. A major obstacle to this research, however, has been that identifying birds in NEXRAD data has required a trained technician to manually inspect a graphically rendered radar sweep. A single site completes one volume scan every five to ten minutes, producing over 52,000 volume scans in one year. This is an immense amount of data, and manual classification is infeasible. We have developed a system that identifies biological echoes using machine learning techniques. This approach begins with training data using scans that have been classified by experts, or uses bird data collected in the field. The data are preprocessed to ensure quality and to emphasize relevant features. A classifier is then trained using this data and cross validation is used to measure performance. We compared neural networks, naive Bayes, and k-nearest neighbor classifiers. Empirical evidence is provided showing that this system can achieve classification accuracies in the 80th to 90th percentile. We propose to apply these methods to studying bird migration phenology and how it is affected by climate variability and change over multiple temporal scales.

Conference Paper↗
USGS1981

The role of remotely sensed and other spatial data for predictive modeling: the Umatilla, Oregon example

The U. S. Geological Survey's Earth Resources Observations Systems Data Center, in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District, developed and tested techniques that used remotely sensed and other spatial data in predictive models to evaluate irrigation agriculture in the Umatilla River Basin of north-central Oregon. Landsat data and 1:24,000-scale aerial photographs were initially used to map he expansion of irrigate from 1973 to 1979 and to identify crops under irrigation in 1979. The crop data were then used with historical water requirement figures and digital topographic and hydrographic data to estimate water and power use for the 1979 irrigation season. The final project task involved production of a composite map of land suitability for irrigation development based on land cover (from Landsat), land-ownership, soil irrigability, slope gradient, and potential energy costs. The methods and data used in the study demonstrated the flexibility of remotely sensed and other spatial data as input for predictive models. When combined, they provided useful answers to complex questions facing resource managers.

Oregon↗
USGS1993

History of greenness mapping at the EROS data center

In 1987, the U.S. Geological Survey's EROS Data Center (EDC)installed a system to acquire, process, and distribute advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) satellite image data collected over North America. Using this system, the EDC began an experimental greenness mapping program as part of the U.S. Agency for the International Development Famine Early Warning System. The program used the greenness information derived from AVHRR data to identify potential outbreaks of locusts and grasshoppers in the Sahelian region of Africa. In 1988, the EDC began greenness mapping projects in Africa and the northern Great Plains of the United States. In 1989, the system was augmented to acquire AVHRR information for the rest of the world. As a result, the greenness mapping program was able to collect data for fire danger assessment, agricultural assessment, and land characterization. Illustrations of each of the mapping projects trace the chronology of the greenness mapping program at the EDC. Displays represent the initial activity in Africa and the transition of the north Great Plains project to the current conterminous U.S. project. The program's expansion to include Alaska, Eurasia, a prototype North America data set, and ultimately, an experimental global land 1-km product is also shown. The poster describes major technical advances in data processing, the development of derivative products, the magnitude of the data volume of each level, and major applications.

Pecora 12 Symposium↗