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Color Infrared Digital Orthophoto Quadrangles for the South Florida Ecosystem Area

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Frequently-anticipated questions:


What does this data set describe?

Title:
Color Infrared Digital Orthophoto Quadrangles for the South Florida Ecosystem Area
Abstract:
The digital orthophoto quadrangles (DOQ's) produced by the USGS for the South Florida Ecosystem Initiative iare color-infrared, 1-meter ground resolution quadrangle images covering 3.75 minutes of latitude by 3.75 minutes of longitude at a map scale of 12,000.

Orthophotos combine the image characteristics of a photograph with the geometric qualities of a map. The primary digital orthophotoquadrangle (DOQ) is a 1-meter ground resolution, quarter-quadrangle (3.75 minutes of latitude by 3.75 minutes of longitude) image cast on the Universal Transverse Mercator projection (UTM) on the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD83). The geographic extent of the DOQ is equivalent to a quarter-quadrangle plus the overedge ranges from a minimum of 50 meters to a maximum of 300 meters beyond the extremes of the primary and secondary corner points. The overedge is included to facilitate tonal matching for mosaicking and for the placement of the NAD83 and secondary datum corner ticks. The normal orientation of data is by lines (rows) and samples (columns). Each line contains a series of pixels ordered from west to east with the order of the lines from north to south. The radiometric image brightness values are stored as 256 gray levels, ranging from 0 to 255.

The standard, uncompressed gray scale DOQ format contains an ASCII header followed by a series of 8-bit image data lines. The keyword-based, ASCII header may vary in the number of data entries. The header is affixed to the beginning of the image and is composed of strings of 80 characters with an asterisk (*) as character 79 and an invisible newline character as character 80. Each keyword string contains information for either identification, display, or registration of the image. Additional strings of blanks are added to the header so that the length of a header line equals the number of bytes in a line of image data. The header line will be equal in length to the length of an image line. If the sum of the byte count of the header is less than the sample count of one DOQ image line, then the remainder of the header is padded with the requisite number of 80 character blank entries, each terminated with an asterisk and newline character.

Supplemental_Information:
A DOQ is a raster image of an aerial photograph or other remotely sensed data in which displacement in the image caused by sensor orientation and terrain relief has been removed. A DOQ combines the image characteristics of a aerial photograph with the geometric qualities of a map.
  1. How should this data set be cited?

    U.S. Geological Survey, 1999, Color Infrared Digital Orthophoto Quadrangles for the South Florida Ecosystem Area: U.S. Geological Survey, Sioux Falls, SD.

    Online Links:

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -82.2
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -80.1
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 27.8
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 24.6

  3. What does it look like?

  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?

    Beginning_Date: 1994
    Ending_Date: 1999
    Currentness_Reference: ground condition

  5. What is the general form of this data set?

  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?

    1. How are geographic features stored in the data set?

      This is a raster data set.

    2. What coordinate system is used to represent geographic features?

      Grid_Coordinate_System_Name: Universal Transverse Mercator
      Universal_Transverse_Mercator:
      UTM_Zone_Number: 17
      Transverse_Mercator:
      Scale_Factor_at_Central_Meridian: 0.9996
      Longitude_of_Central_Meridian: -81
      Latitude_of_Projection_Origin: 0
      False_Easting: 500000
      False_Northing: 0

      Planar coordinates are encoded using Coordinate Pair
      Abscissae (x-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 1
      Ordinates (y-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 1
      Planar coordinates are specified in meters

      The horizontal datum used is North American Datum of 1983 (NAD83).
      The ellipsoid used is Geodetic Reference System 80 (GRS 80).
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378137.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.257.

  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?

    Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:
    For color-infrared each pixel for each band in a three-band image is represented by red, blue, and green (RBG). Areas where the rectification process is incomplete because of incomplete data (that is, lack of elevation data, gaps) are represented with the numeric value of 0 or 128.
    Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation:
    U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, 1996, Standards for Digital Orthophotos: Reston, VA. Available at <http://rockyweb.cr.usgs.gov/nmpstds/doqstds.html>


Who produced the data set?

  1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)

  2. Who also contributed to the data set?

    The following agencies participated in producing the CIR DOQ coverage of this region:

    (1) Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FLDEP) (2) South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) (3) U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) (4) National Park Service (NPS)

  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?

    Greg Desmond
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Project Chief
    521 National Center
    Reston, VA 20192
    USA

    703 648 4728 (voice)
    703 648 4165 (FAX)
    gdesmond@usgs.gov

    Hours_of_Service: 8:30-4:30 ET M-F


Why was the data set created?

The objective of this project was to provide color infrared (CIR) digital orthophoto coverage for the entire south Florida ecosystem area. The main advantage of a digital orthophoto is that it gives a measurable image free of distortion. Therefore, the digital orthophotos for the ecosystem provide multi-use base images for identifying natural and manmade features and for determining their extent and boundaries; the images can also be used for the interpretation and classification of these areas.


How was the data set created?

  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?

    DEM (source 1 of 4)
    U.S. Geological Survey, Unknown, 7.5-minute DEM quadrangle: U.S. Geological Survey, Reston VA.

    Type_of_Source_Media: digital file
    Source_Contribution: Elevation values

    PHOTO (source 2 of 4)
    U.S. Geological Survey, unknown, aerial photos: U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA.

    Type_of_Source_Media: stable base material
    Source_Scale_Denominator: 40000
    Source_Contribution:
    Stable-base aerial photography film provides most of the images for DOQ's. Film is color-infrared (CIR) NAPP (or NAPP-like).

    CONTROL_INPUT (source 3 of 4)
    U.S. Geological Survey, unpublished material, project ground and photo control: National Geodetic Survey (NGS), Silver Spring MD.

    Type_of_Source_Media: various media
    Source_Contribution:
    Horizontal and vertical control used to establish positions and elevations for reference and correlation purposes

    CAMERA_INPUT (source 4 of 4)
    U.S. Geological Survey, unpublished material, report of calibration.

    Type_of_Source_Media: disc or paper
    Source_Contribution: camera calibration parameters

  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?

    Date: 1999 (process 1 of 1)
    Digital Orthophoto Characteristics: The digital orthophoto produced by the USGS is a color-infrared, 1-meter ground resolution image covering 3.75 minutes of latitude by 3.75 minutes of longitude, at a map scale of 1:12,000. This image is called a digital orthophoto quadrangle (DOQ). DOQ's are cast on the Universal Transverse Mercator projection on the North American Datum of 1983. They also have between 30 and 300 meters of over-edge image beyond the primary and secondary datum corner tick extremes; this extra image area is used to facilitate tonal matching and to mosaic adjacent images. Through image mosaicking, two or more rectified images can be combined and joined into one.

    The production procedures, instrumentation, and hardware and software used in the collection of color-infrared USGS DOQ's vary depending on systems used at the contract, cooperator, or USGS production sites. The description below details, in general, the process used in the production of the USGS Color Infrared (CIR) DOQ data sets collected as part of the South Florida ecosystem research effort.

    The rectification process required, as input, a user parameter file to control the rectification process, a digital elevation model (DEM) gridded to user-specified bounds, projection, zone, datum and X-Y units, a scanned digital image file (PHOTO) covering the same area as the DEM, ground X-Y-Z point values (CONTROL_INPUT) and their conjugate photograph coordinates in the camera coordinate system, and measurements of the fiducial marks (CAMERA_INPUT) in the digitized image.

    The camera calibration report (CAMERA_INPUT) provided the focal length of the camera and the distances in millimeters from the camera's optical center to the camera's eight fiducial marks. These marks defined the frame of reference for spatial measurements made from the photograph. Ground control points (CONTROL_INPUT) acquired from ground surveys or developed in aerotriangulation are third order class 1 or better and meet National Map Accuracy Standard (NMAS) for 1:12,000-scale. Ground control points were in the Universal Transverse Mercator on NAD83. Horizontal and vertical residuals of aerotriangulated tie-points were equal to or less than 2.5 meters. Standard aerotriangulation passpoint configuration consisted of nine ground control points, one near each corner, one at the center near each side, and one near the center of the photograph. The conjugate positions of the ground control points on the photograph were measured and recorded in camera coordinates.

    The raster image file (PHOTO) was created by scanning an aerial photograph film diapositive with a precision image scanner. An aperture of approximately 25 to 32 microns was used, with an aperture no greater than 32 microns permitted. Using 1:40,000-scale photographs, a 25-micron scan aperture equated to a ground resolution of 1-meter. The scanner converted the photographic image densities to gray scale values ranging from 0 to 255 for each color band. Scan files with ground resolution less than 1 meter or greater than 1 meter but less than 1.28 meters were resampled to 1 meter.

    The principal elevation data source (DEM) was a standard DEM data set from the National Digital Cartographic Data Base (NDCDB). The DEM used in the production of DOQ's generally has a 30-meter grid post spacing and possesses a vertical RMSE of 7 meters or less. A DEM covering the extent of the photograph was used for the rectification. The DEM was traversed from user-selected minimum to maximum X-Y values, and the DEM X-Y-Z values are used to find pixel coordinates in the digitized photograph using the transformations mentioned above. For each raster image cell subdivision, a brightness or gray-scale value was obtained using nearest neighbor, bilinear, or cubic convolution resampling of the scanned image. The pixel processing algorithm is indicated in the header file. An inverse transformation relateed the image coordinates referenced to the fiducial coordinate space back to scanner coordinate space. For those areas for which a 7.5-minute DEM is unavailable and relief differences are less than 150 feet, a planar-DEM (slope-plane substitute grid) may have been used.

    Rectification Process: The photo control points and focal length were iteratively fitted to their conjugate ground control points using a single photo space resection equation. The camera location and orientation in the form of a rotation matrix was obtained from this mathematical fit. This rotation matrix was then used to find the photograph or camera coordinates of any other ground X-Y-Z point. Next, a two-dimensional fit was made between the measured fiducial marks on the digitized photograph and their conjugate camera coordinates. Transformation constants were developed from the fit, and the camera or photograph coordinates were used in reverse to find their conjugate pixel coordinates on the digitized photograph.

    The DEM was traversed from user-selected minimum to maximum X-Y values, and the DEM X-Y-Z values were used to find pixel coordinates in the digitized photograph using the transformations mentioned above. For each raster image pixel, a brightness or gray-scale value was obtained using nearest neighbor, bilinear, or cubic convolution resampling of the scanned image. An inverse transformation related the image coordinates referenced to the fiducial coordinate space back to scanner coordinate space.

    Quality Control: All data were inspected according to a quality control plan. During the initial production phase, all rectification inputs and DOQ data sets were inspected for conformance to standards. All DOQ's are tested for physical format standards.

    Person who carried out this activity:

    Earth Science Information Center, U.S. Geological Survey
    507 National Center
    Reston, VA 20192
    USA

    1-888-ASK-USGS (703 648-5953) (voice)
    703 648-5548 (FAX)
    ask@usgs.gov

    Hours_of_Service: 0800 - 1600 EST M-F
    Data sources used in this process:
    • DEM
    • PHOTO
    • CONTROL_INPUT
    • CAMERA_INPUT

  3. What similar or related data should the user be aware of?


How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?

  1. How well have the observations been checked?

  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?

    The DOQ horizontal positional accuracy and the assurance of that ccuracy depend, in part, on the accuracy of the data inputs to the rectification process. These inputs consist of the digital elevation model (DEM), aerotriangulation control and methods, the photograph source camera calibration, scanner calibration, and aerial photographs that meet National Aerial Photography Program (NAPP) standards. Field control is acquired by third-order class 1 or better survey methods sufficiently spaced to meet National Map Accuracy Standards (NMAS) for 1:12,000-scale products.

    Aerial cameras have current certification from the USGS, Geography Discipline, Optical Science Laboratory. Test calibration scans are performed on all source photograph scanners.

    An in-house orthophoto accuracy software program is used to determine the horizontal positional accuracy for DOQ data produced by the Geography Discipline. The program determines the accuracy by finding the line and sample coordinates of the passpoints in the DOQ and fitting these to their ground coordinates to develop a Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) statistic. From 4 to 9 points are checked. As a further accuracy test, the image line and sample coordinates of the DEM corners are transformed and compared with the actual X,Y DEM corner values to determine if they are within the RMSE. Additional information on this testing procedure can be found in U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, 1993, Technical Instructions, ORACC Users Manual (draft): Reston, VA. DOQ's produced by cooperators and contractors use similarly approved RMSE test procedures.

    Adjacent DOQ's, when displayed together in a common planimetric coordinate system, may exhibit positional discrepancies across common DOQ boundaries. Linear features, such as streets, may not be continuous. These edge mismatches, however, still conform to positional horizontal accuracy within the National Map Accuracy standard (NMAS).

  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?

    DOQ imagery is visually inspected for completeness to ensure that no gaps, or image misplacement exist in the 3.75' image area or in overedge coverage. DOQ images may be combined by mosaicking multiple images together. DOQs are cloud free within the 3.75' image area. Some clouds may, very infrequently, be encountered only in the overedge coverage. National Aerial Photography Program (NAPP) source photography is leaf-off in deciduous vegetation regions. Coastal areas and international boundary regions may have areas without imagery (void areas) in parts of the 3.75' coverage. The data set field content of each DOQ header element is validated to assure completeness prior to archiving. The area of coverage for a standard USGS digital orthophoto is either a quarter-quadrangle (3.75-minutes of latitude by 3.75-minutes of longitude plus overedge) or quadrangle (7.5-minutes of latitude by 7.5- minutes of longitude plus overedge). USGS requires image overedge to provide overlap coverage between adjoining DOQs to facilitate edge matching and mosaicking. That overedge extent is approximately 300 (+/- 30) meters beyond the extremes of the primary and secondary datum corner points for the standard digital orthophoto quad.

  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?

    All DOQ header data and image file sizes are validated using USGS software prior to archiving. This validation procedure assures correct physical format and field values for header elements. Logical relationships between header elements are tested.


How can someone get a copy of the data set?

Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?

Access_Constraints: None
Use_Constraints:
None. Acknowledgment of the U.S. Geological Survey would be appreciated for products derived from these data.

  1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)

    U.S. Geological Survey, Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS)
    Customer Services
    47914 252nd Street
    Siioux Falls, SD 57198-0001
    USA

    800 252-4547 (voice)
    605 594-6589 (FAX)
    custserv@usgs.gov

    Hours_of_Service: 0800 - 1600 CT
  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?

    Color Infrared Orthophotos (CIR DOQs)

  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

    Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system at the USGS, no warranty expressed or implied is made by the USGS regarding the use of these data on any other system, nor does the act of distribution constitute any such warranty. The USGS will warrant the delivery of this product in computer-readable format and will offer appropriate adjustment of credit when the product is determined unreadable by correctly adjusted computer input peripherals or when the physical medium is delivered in damaged condition. Requests for adjustment of credit must be made within 60 days from the date of this shipment from the order site.

  4. How can I download or order the data?


Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 30-Jan-2007
Metadata author:
Heather Henkel
U.S. Geological Survey
600 Fourth Street South
St. Petersburg, FL 33701
USA

727 803-8747 ext 3028 (voice)
727 803-2030 (FAX)
sofia-metadata@usgs.gov

Metadata standard:
Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)


This page is <http://sofia.usgs.gov/metadata/sflwww/SF_CIR_DOQs.faq.html>

U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, Center for Coastal Geology
Comments and suggestions? Contact: Heather Henkel - Webmaster
Generated by mp version 2.8.18 on Tue Jan 30 17:19:06 2007