Ecological Baseline Studies of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf Option Year 1

APEM, Normandeau Associates

Dataset credit

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Normandeau Associates Inc., APEM Ltd.

Contacts

RoleNameOrganization 
Primary contact Michelle Vukovich Normandeau Associates, Inc.
Data entry Ei Fujioka Duke University

Citation

Abstract

Normandeau Associates, Inc., and APEM Inc. (Team) have been contracted by BOEM to complete quarterly high-altitude aerial digital surveys in a 12-month period. The Team proposes to conduct the first survey in February 2018 and complete all four surveys in the 2018 calendar year.

The South Atlantic Survey area (SASA) is defined as the area of the ocean off the coast of North and South Carolina out to the -30-m contour line. The approximate size of the area is 11,000 square nautical miles.

Transect surveys will cover a minimum of 5% of the SASA.In addition, 10% of the total area within the Kitty Hawk, Wilmington East, and Wilmington West Wind Energy Areas –as well as the South Carolina–Grand Stand Call Area will be surveyed.

The planned image resolution of all the imagery for the project will be 1.5-cm ground sampling distance at the surface of the ocean.

Option Year 1 includes four surveys of each these areas from Jan/Feb 2018 to Dec 2018.

Purpose

N/A

Supplemental information

[2022-06-07] The following recorded species names got their assigned scientific names corrected.
BLACK SCOTER: Melanitta nigra americana => Melanitta nigra
GREAT SHEARWATER: Aythya marila => Puffinus gravis
GREAT SKUA: Puffinus gravis => Stercorarius skua
GREATER SCAUP: Stercorarius skua => Aythya marila

[2022-05-09] The following records (snag_id) got identified species changed.
00044126812ab7c63052: Chilean Devil Ray to Remora unid.
00054126817f2c5c3500: Sterna Tern-species unknown to Tern-species unknown
000541268184f3c9011f: Sterna Tern-species unknown to Tern-species unknown
0007412681632ac959aa: Chilean Devil Ray to Ray-species unknown
0007412681f54ad065fe: Loggerhead Turtle to Kemp's Ridley Turtle
000941268046d89cf951: Bullnose Ray to Spotted Eagle Ray
00094126804af560bab4: Chilean Devil Ray to Ray-species unknown

[2020-08-20] An attribute of flight heights was added. Additional fish shoal information was added resulting in more records.

The areas defined for survey were the South Atlantic Survey Area (SASA), Kitty Hawk (KH) Wind Energy Area (WEA), Wilmington East (WE) WEA, Wilmington West (WW) WEA, Grand Stand Call Area (GSCA), Charleston Call Area (CCA), and fish spawning areas SMZ 51 (A51) and SMZ 53 (A53). SASA surveys are linear transects flown in a saw tooth pattern out to the -30-m contour line along the entire South Carolina and North Carolina coasts. These surveys included the CCA, A51 and A53 areas. The overlap portion of SASA and CCA is designated “SASA,CCA”; the overlap portion of SASA and A51 is designated “SASA,A51”; and the overlap portion of SASA and A53 is designated “SASA,A53”.The WEAs and GSCA areas are grid surveys through the area plus a 1NM buffer.

GSCA and WW share survey overlap and that overlap portion is designated as “GSCA,WW”.The SASA survey area overlaps portions of CCA, A51 and A53 areas and overlapped areas are designated by the area name “SASA,CCA”; “SASA,A51”; or “SASA,A53”. GSCA and WW also share survey overlap and that area is designated by “GSCA,WW”.DISCLAIMERStudy concept, oversight, and funding were provided by the US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Environmental Studies Program, Washington, DC, under Contract Number M17PC00010; Order M17PD00063. This report has been technically reviewed by BOEM, and it has been approved for publication. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the opinions or policies of the US Government, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.

References

Attributes

Overview

This section explains attributes included in the original dataset. OBIS-SEAMAP restricts the attributes available to the public to date/time, lat/lon and species names/counts only. Should you need other attributes described here, you are encouraged to contact the data provider.

Attributes described below represent those in the original dataset provided by the provider.
All attributes are included in the downloadable file (CSV or ESRI File Geodatabase) for "Complete Set of Dataset".

Attributes in dataset

Attribute (table column)Description
oidUnique ID number (generated by OBIS-SEAMAP)
snag_idUnique ID for target Each entry is 1 individual (except for Fish Shoals which is one entry per 1 shoal encompassing uncounted number of fish)
surveySurvey name
datetakenDate image taken, in local time (EST)
timetakenTime image taken, in local time (EST)
id_type1st level of identification
id_subtype2nd level of identification Target group type if identified Needs id = Target has not been reviewed for ID Unid. Type = Target has been reviewed and cannot be identified to a subtype
id_species3rd level of identification Common Name if identified Needs id = Target has not been reviewed for ID species unknown = Target has been reviewed and cannot be identified to species
sp_tsnTaxonomic Serial Number added by OBIS-SEAMAP
obs_countNumber of animals (always 1) added by OBIS-SEAMAP
id_confidConfidence level of ID: Definite Probable Possible blank = not rated
lengthcmGenerally, head-to-tail length in cm. This is NOT turtle carapace. Ignored for non-animal & fish shoal. NULL = not determined
wingspancmWing span tip to tip in cm. 0 = wings are folded up/bird is sitting on surface. Applies to avian only
altitudemdefinition not provided
alterrordefinition not provided
surfaceDepth rating. blank = not rated
headingdegDirection of target (in degrees)
listedYes = Species/Species Group status is listed (as of 2016)
parentimgImage name where target is located
latitudeLatitude in decimal degrees (WGS84)
longitudeLongitude in decimal degrees (WGS84)
sargassumSargassum is present in image with target. 1 = present; 0 = not present; blank = not evaluated
areaArea - specific
genareaArea - general
scientificScientific name if species is identified
familyFamily if species is identified
transectiddefinition not provided
transectnodefinition not provided
shoaliddefinition not provided
shlareasqmdefinition not provided
shlextenddefinition not provided
visibilityVisibility (greater than, km)
seastateSea State (mean values) 0 Calm (Glass) 1 Calm (Rippled) 2 Smooth 3 Slight 4 Moderate
glintGlint Percentage (highest %)
turbidityTurbidity visual estimation (mean values) 0 Clear 1 Slightly Turbid 2 Moderately Turbid 3 Highly Turbid
precipduraPrecipitation duration in time (minutes)
cloudClound Cover Percentage (highest %) 0-10% Clear 11-15% Scattered 51-94% Broken 95-100% Overcast
airtemp_cAir Temperature (°Celsius)
pressurePressure (inHg)
windspeedWind Speed (kts)
winddirectWind Direction (degrees)
note_id_changedefinition not provided
geomGeometry field added by OBIS-SEAMAP
OBIS-SEAMAP ID2065
Seabirds46,563
Marine mammals1,630
Sea turtles1,359
Rays and sharks5,785
Other species76,744
Non spatial0
Non species1,079
Total133,160
Date, Begin2018-01-31
Date, End2018-12-22
Temporal prec.111111
Latitude31.80 - 36.55
Longitude-80.77 - -74.98
Coord. prec.4 decimal digits
PlatformPlane
Data typeAnimal sighting
EffortN/A
Traveled (km)0
0
Contr. through
Registered2020-06-04
Updated2022-06-07
StatusPublished
Sharing policy CC-BY (All)
Shared with OBIS
GBIF (via DOI)
See metadata in static HTML
See metadata in FGDC XML
See download history / statistics