<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ascii"?>
<metadata xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/metadata/published/xsd/ngdcSchema/schema.xsd">
    <idinfo>
        <datsetid> gov.noaa.csc.maps:2008_USGS_PearlRiver_m540 </datsetid>
        <citation>
            <citeinfo>
                <origin> Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), Coastal Services Center (CSC) </origin>
                <origin>U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)</origin>
                <origin>National Park Service (NPS)</origin>
                <origin>National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)</origin>
                <pubdate>2009</pubdate>
                <title>2008 USGS/NPS/NASA Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar (EAARL): Pearl River Delta, LA and MS</title>
                <geoform>LAS</geoform>
                <pubinfo>
                    <pubplace>Charleston, SC</pubplace>
                    <publish>NOAA's Ocean Service, Coastal Services Center (CSC)</publish>
                </pubinfo>
                <onlink>http://www.csc.noaa.gov/lidar</onlink>
                <onlink>http://www.csc.noaa.gov</onlink>
            </citeinfo>
        </citation>
        <descript>
            <abstract> A bare earth elevation map (also known as a Digital Elevation Model or DEM) of the Pearl River Delta in Louisiana and Mississippi was produced from remotely sensed, geographically referenced elevation measurements cooperatively by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the National Park Service (NPS), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This data set provides those bare earth elevation measurements in portions of the following parishes/counties:
                Orleans and St. Tammany in Louisiana and Hancock in Mississippi. Elevation measurements were collected over the area using the NASA Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar (EAARL), a pulsed laser ranging system mounted onboard an aircraft to measure ground elevation, vegetation canopy, and coastal topography. The system uses high frequency laser beams directed at the Earth's surface through an opening in the bottom of the aircraft's fuselage. The laser system records the
                time difference between emission of the laser beam and the reception of the reflected laser signal in the aircraft. The plane travels over the target area at approximately 50 meters per second at an elevation of approximately 300 meters. The EAARL, developed by NASA at Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, measures ground elevation with a vertical resolution of 15 centimeters. A sampling rate of 3 kilohertz or higher results in an extremely dense spatial elevation dataset. Over
                100 kilometers of coastline can be easily surveyed within a 3 to 4 hour mission time period. When subsequent elevation maps for an area are analyzed, they provide a useful tool to make management decisions regarding land development. </abstract>
            <purpose> The purpose of this project was to produce a highly detailed and accurate bare earth digital elevation map of the Pearl River Delta in Louisiana and Mississippi for use as a management tool and to make these data available to natural resource managers and research scientists. </purpose>
            <supplinf> Raw Lidar data are not in a format that is generally usable by resource managers and scientists for scientific analysis. Converting dense Lidar elevation data into a readily usable format without loss of essential information requires specialized processing. The U.S. Geological Survey's Coastal and Marine Geology (CMG) Program has developed custom software to convert raw lidar data into a GIS-compatible map product to be provided to GIS specialists, managers, and
                scientists. The primary tool used in the conversion process is Airborne Lidar Processing System (ALPS), a multi-tiered processing system developed by a USGS-NASA collaborative project. Specialized processing algorithms are used to convert raw waveform lidar data acquired by the EAARL to georeferenced spot (x,y,z) returns for "first surface" and "bare earth" topography. These data are then converted to the North American Datum of 1983 and the North American Vertical Datum of 1988
                (using the Geoid 03 model). Each file contains data located in a 2 km by 2 km tile, where the upper left bound can be quickly assessed through the file name. The first 3 numbers in the filename represent the left most UTM easting coordinate (e###000) in meters, the next 4 numbers represent the top most UTM northing coordinate (n####000) in meters, and the last 2 numbers (##) represent the UTM zone in which the tile is located (ex. be_e123_n4567_18). The development of custom
                software for creating these data products has been supported by the U.S. Geological Survey CMG Program's Decision Support for Coastal Parks, Sanctuaries, and Preserves project. Processed data products are used by the U.S. Geological Survey CMG Program's National Assessments of Coastal Change Hazards project to quantify the vulnerability of shorelines to coastal change hazards such as severe storms, sea-level rise, and shoreline erosion and retreat. A footprint of this data set
                may be viewed in Google Earth at: ftp://ftp.csc.noaa.gov/pub/crs/beachmap/qa_docs/ms/usgs2008_pearl_river/2008_USGS_NPS_NASA_EAARL_Lidar_Pearl_River.kmz </supplinf>
        </descript>
        <timeperd>
            <timeinfo>
                <mdattim>
                    <sngdate>
                        <caldate>20080309</caldate>
                    </sngdate>
                    <sngdate>
                        <caldate>20080310</caldate>
                    </sngdate>
                    <sngdate>
                        <caldate>20080311</caldate>
                    </sngdate>
                </mdattim>
            </timeinfo>
            <current>ground condition</current>
        </timeperd>
        <status>
            <progress>Complete</progress>
            <update>None planned</update>
        </status>
        <spdom>
            <bounding>
                <westbc>-89.833234</westbc>
                <eastbc>-89.411334</eastbc>
                <northbc>30.259536</northbc>
                <southbc>30.052736</southbc>
            </bounding>
        </spdom>
        <keywords>
            <theme>
                <themekt>ISO 19115 Topic Category</themekt>
                <themekey>elevation</themekey>
            </theme>
            <theme>
                <themekt>None</themekt>
                <themekey>Bathymetry/Topography</themekey>
                <themekey>Airborne Lidar Processing System</themekey>
                <themekey>ALPS</themekey>
                <themekey>Digital Elevation Model</themekey>
                <themekey>DEM</themekey>
                <themekey>EAARL</themekey>
                <themekey>Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar</themekey>
                <themekey>laser altimetry</themekey>
                <themekey>Lidar</themekey>
                <themekey>remote sensing</themekey>
                <themekey>topography</themekey>
            </theme>
            <place>
                <placekt>None</placekt>
                <placekey>US</placekey>
                <placekey>Louisiana</placekey>
                <placekey>Mississippi</placekey>
                <placekey>Orleans Parish</placekey>
                <placekey>St. Tammany Parish</placekey>
                <placekey>Hancock County</placekey>
                <placekey>Pearl River Delta</placekey>
                <placekey>Northern Gulf of Mexico</placekey>
            </place>
        </keywords>
        <accconst>None</accconst>
        <useconst> Users should be aware that temporal changes may have occurred since this data set was collected and some parts of this data may no longer represent actual surface conditions. Users should not use this data for critical applications without a full awareness of its limitations. </useconst>
        <ptcontac>
            <cntinfo>
                <cntorgp>
                    <cntorg>Jacobs Technology, contracted to USGS</cntorg>
                    <cntper>Amar Nayegandhi</cntper>
                </cntorgp>
                <cntpos>Computer Scientist</cntpos>
                <cntaddr>
                    <addrtype>mailing and physical</addrtype>
                    <address>600 4th Street South</address>
                    <city>Saint Petersburg</city>
                    <state>FL</state>
                    <postal>33701</postal>
                    <country>USA</country>
                </cntaddr>
                <cntvoice>727-803-8747 (x3026)</cntvoice>
                <cntemail>anayegandhi@usgs.gov</cntemail>
                <hours>M-F, 8:00-5:00 EST</hours>
            </cntinfo>
        </ptcontac>
        <datacred> The U.S. Geological Survey, National Park Service, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration request to be acknowledged as originators of this data in future products or derivative research. Acknowledgement of the U.S. Geological Survey, Florida Integrated Science Center, as a data source would be appreciated in products developed from these data, and such acknowledgement as is standard for citation and legal practices for data source is expected by users of this data.
            Sharing new data layers developed directly from these data would also be appreciated by the U.S. Geological Survey staff. Users should be aware that comparisons with other datasets for the same area from other time periods may be inaccurate due to inconsistencies resulting from changes in photointerpretation, mapping conventions, and digital processes over time. These data are not legal documents and are not to be used as such. </datacred>
        <secinfo>
            <secsys>Unclassified</secsys>
            <secclass>Unclassified</secclass>
            <sechandl>None</sechandl>
        </secinfo>
        <native>Microsoft Windows XP Version 5.1 (Build 2600) Service Pack 2; ESRI ArcCatalog 9.2.2.1350</native>
    </idinfo>
    <dataqual>
        <attracc>
            <attraccr> The expected accuracy of the measured variables is as follows: attitude within 0.07 degree, 3 cm nominal ranging accuracy, and vertical elevation accuracy of +/-15 cm for the topographic surface. Quality checks are built into the data-processing software. </attraccr>
        </attracc>
        <logic> Each file contains data located in a 2 km by 2 km tile, where the upper left bound can be quickly assessed through the file name. The first 3 numbers in the filename represent the left most UTM easting coordinate (e###000) in meters, the next 4 numbers represent the top most UTM northing coordinate (n####000) in meters, and the last 2 numbers (##) represent the UTM zone in which the tile is located (ex. be_e123_n4567_18). </logic>
        <complete> Several regions of the dataset are labeled as "No Data", which corresponds to a cell value of -32767 m in the LAS file. These "No Data" areas are a result of the survey not covering a particular region, optical water depth of greater than 1.5 Secchi disc depths, or the manual removal of lidar processing artifacts. </complete>
        <posacc>
            <horizpa>
                <horizpar>Raw elevation measurements have been determined to be within 1 meter horizontal accuracy.</horizpar>
            </horizpa>
            <vertacc>
                <vertaccr>Elevations are vertically consistent with the point elevation data, +/-15 cm.</vertaccr>
            </vertacc>
        </posacc>
        <lineage>
            <srcinfo>
                <srccite>
                    <citeinfo>
                        <origin>U.S. Geological Survey</origin>
                        <pubdate>2008</pubdate>
                        <pubtime>Unknown</pubtime>
                        <title>EAARL Coastal TopographyPearl River Delta</title>
                        <edition>first</edition>
                        <geoform>remote-sensing image</geoform>
                        <serinfo>
                            <sername>U.S. Geological Survey Data Series</sername>
                            <issue>416</issue>
                        </serinfo>
                        <pubinfo>
                            <pubplace>Saint Petersburg, FL</pubplace>
                            <publish>U.S. Geological Survey</publish>
                        </pubinfo>
                    </citeinfo>
                </srccite>
                <typesrc>Point elevation measurements collected by the EAARL sensor.</typesrc>
                <srctime>
                    <timeinfo>
                        <mdattim>
                            <sngdate>
                                <caldate>20080309</caldate>
                            </sngdate>
                            <sngdate>
                                <caldate>20080310</caldate>
                            </sngdate>
                            <sngdate>
                                <caldate>20080311</caldate>
                            </sngdate>
                        </mdattim>
                    </timeinfo>
                    <srccurr>ground condition</srccurr>
                </srctime>
                <srccitea>none</srccitea>
                <srccontr>none</srccontr>
            </srcinfo>
            <procstep>
                <procdesc> The data are collected using a Cessna 310 aircraft. The NASA Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar (EAARL) laser scanner collects the data using a green (532-nm) raster scanning laser, while a digital camera acquires a visual record of the flight. The data are stored on hard drives and archived at the U.S. Geological Survey office in St. Petersburg, Florida and the NASA office at Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The navigational data are processed at
                    Wallops Flight Facility. The navigational and raw data are then downloaded into the Airborne Lidar Processing System (ALPS). Data are converted from units of time to x, y, z points for elevation. The derived surface data can then be converted into raster data (GeoTIFFs). </procdesc>
                <procdate>20080808</procdate>
                <proccont>
                    <cntinfo>
                        <cntorgp>
                            <cntorg>Jacobs Technology, U. S. Geological Survey, FISC St. Petersburg</cntorg>
                            <cntper>Amar Nayegandhi</cntper>
                        </cntorgp>
                        <cntpos>Computer Scientist</cntpos>
                        <cntaddr>
                            <addrtype>mailing and physical</addrtype>
                            <address>600 4th Street South</address>
                            <city>Saint Petersburg</city>
                            <state>FL</state>
                            <postal>33703</postal>
                            <country>USA</country>
                        </cntaddr>
                        <cntvoice>727-803-8747 x3026</cntvoice>
                        <cntemail>anayegandhi@usgs.gov</cntemail>
                        <hours>M-F, 8:00-5:00 EST</hours>
                    </cntinfo>
                </proccont>
            </procstep>
            <procstep>
                <procdesc> The NOAA Coastal Services Center (CSC) received files in LAS format. The files contained LiDAR intensity and elevation measurements. CSC performed the following processing on the data to make it available within Digital Coast: 1. The data were converted from UTM, Zone 16 coordinates to geographic coordinates. 2. The data were converted from NAVD88 heights to ellipsoid heights using Geoid03. 3. The LAS header fields were sorted by latitude and updated. </procdesc>
                <procdate>201006</procdate>
                <proccont>
                    <cntinfo>
                        <cntorgp>
                            <cntorg> Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), Coastal Services Center (CSC) </cntorg>
                        </cntorgp>
                        <cntpos>CEM Project Scientist</cntpos>
                        <cntaddr>
                            <addrtype>mailing and physical</addrtype>
                            <address>2234 South Hobson Ave.</address>
                            <city>Charleston</city>
                            <state>SC</state>
                            <postal>29405</postal>
                            <country>US</country>
                        </cntaddr>
                        <cntvoice>843-740-1200</cntvoice>
                        <cntemail>tcm@csc.noaa.gov</cntemail>
                    </cntinfo>
                </proccont>
            </procstep>
            <procstep>
                <procdesc> The NOAA National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) received Lidar data files by ftp. The data received compressed containing LiDAR data from the NOAA Coastal Services Center. The data are currently being served via Digital Coastl at http://www.csc.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/. The data can be used to re-populate the system. The data are provided in LAS format. LAS format is an industry standard for serving LiDAR data. The data are exclusively in geographic coordinates,
                    however, the datums used vary. Most are NAD 83, however some are in ITRF. Vertical systems include both ellipsoid (ITRF and NAD 83) and NAVD 88. For NAVD 88 values, Geiod 03 is primarily used; however, data received in NAVD 88 prior to 2003 was processed using Geoid 99. </procdesc>
                <procdate> 20110427 </procdate>
                <proccont>
                    <cntinfo>
                        <cntorgp>
                            <cntorg> DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NGDC > National Geophysical Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce </cntorg>
                            <cntper> Pamela Grothe </cntper>
                        </cntorgp>
                        <cntaddr>
                            <addrtype> Mailing and Physical Address </addrtype>
                            <address> NOAA/NESDIS/NGDC E/GC1 325 Broadway </address>
                            <city> Boulder </city>
                            <state> CO </state>
                            <postal> 80305-3328 </postal>
                            <country> USA </country>
                        </cntaddr>
                        <cntvoice> (303) 497-6120 </cntvoice>
                        <cnttdd> (303) 497-6958 </cnttdd>
                        <cntfax> (303) 497-6513 </cntfax>
                        <cntemail> pamela.grothe@noaa.gov </cntemail>
                        <hours> 7:30-5:00 Mountain </hours>
                        <cntinst> Contact Data Center </cntinst>
                    </cntinfo>
                </proccont>
            </procstep>
        </lineage>
    </dataqual>
    <spdoinfo>
        <direct>Point</direct>
    </spdoinfo>
    <spref>
        <horizsys>
            <geograph>
                <latres>0.0000001</latres>
                <longres>0.0000001</longres>
                <geogunit>Decimal degrees</geogunit>
            </geograph>
            <geodetic>
                <horizdn>North American Datum of 1983</horizdn>
                <ellips>Geodetic Reference System 80</ellips>
                <semiaxis>6378137.000000</semiaxis>
                <denflat>298.257222</denflat>
            </geodetic>
        </horizsys>
        <vertdef>
            <altsys>
                <altdatum>Ellipsoid</altdatum>
                <altres>0.001</altres>
                <altunits>Meters</altunits>
                <altenc>Explicit elevation coordinate included with horizontal coordinates</altenc>
            </altsys>
        </vertdef>
    </spref>
    <eainfo>
        <overview>
            <eaover>The LAS grid is encoded with a 1 meter resolution.</eaover>
            <eadetcit> The variables measured by EAARL are distance between aircraft and GPS satellites (m), attitude information (roll, pitch, heading in degrees), scan angle (degrees), second of the epoch (sec), and 1-ns time-resolved return intensity waveform (digital counts). Z value is referenced to orthometric elevations derived from National Geodetic Survey Geoid Model, Geoid03. </eadetcit>
        </overview>
    </eainfo>
    <distinfo>
        <distrib>
            <cntinfo>
                <cntorgp>
                    <cntorg> Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), Coastal Services Center (CSC) </cntorg>
                    <cntper>CEM Project Scientist</cntper>
                </cntorgp>
                <cntaddr>
                    <addrtype>mailing and physical</addrtype>
                    <address>2234 South Hobson Ave.</address>
                    <city>Charleston</city>
                    <state>South Carolina</state>
                    <postal>29405</postal>
                    <country>USA</country>
                </cntaddr>
                <cntvoice>843.740.1200</cntvoice>
                <cntemail>tcm@csc.noaa.gov</cntemail>
                <hours>9:00am - 5:00pm</hours>
            </cntinfo>
        </distrib>
        <resdesc>Downloadable Data</resdesc>
        <distliab> Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system at the U.S. Geological Survey, no warranty expressed or implied is made regarding the display or utility of the data on any other system, nor shall the act of distribution imply any such warranty. The U.S. Geological Survey shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of the data described and (or) contained herein. Reference herin to any specific commercial product, process, or service by
            trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. Any conclusions drawn from the analysis of this information are not the responsibility of NOAA, the Coastal Services Center or its partners. </distliab>
        <custom>This data can be obtained on-line at the following URL: http://www.csc.noaa.gov/lidar</custom>
    </distinfo>
    <distinfo>
        <distrib>
            <cntinfo>
                <cntorgp>
                    <cntorg> DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NGDC > National Geophysical Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce </cntorg>
                    <cntper> Pamela Grothe </cntper>
                </cntorgp>
                <cntaddr>
                    <addrtype> Mailing and Physical Address </addrtype>
                    <address> NOAA/NESDIS/NGDC E/GC1 325 Broadway </address>
                    <city> Boulder </city>
                    <state> CO </state>
                    <postal> 80305-3328 </postal>
                    <country> USA </country>
                </cntaddr>
                <cntvoice> (303) 497-6120 </cntvoice>
                <cnttdd> (303) 497-6958 </cnttdd>
                <cntfax> (303) 497-6513 </cntfax>
                <cntemail> pamela.grothe@noaa.gov </cntemail>
                <hours> 7:30-5:00 Mountain </hours>
                <cntinst> Contact Data Center </cntinst>
            </cntinfo>
        </distrib>
        <distliab> Disclaimer While every effort has been made to ensure that these data are accurate and reliable within the limits of the current state of the art, NOAA cannot assume liability for any damages caused by any errors or omissions in the data, nor as a result of the failure of the data to function on a particular system. NOAA makes no warranty, expressed or implied, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty. </distliab>
        <custom> The National Geophysical Data Center serves as the archive for this LIDAR data. NGDC should only be contacted for this data if it cannot be obtained from NOAA Coastal Services Center. </custom>
    </distinfo>
    <metainfo>
        <metd>20111119</metd>
        <metrd>20111119</metrd>
        <metfrd>20121119</metfrd>
        <metc>
            <cntinfo>
                <cntorgp>
                    <cntorg> Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), Coastal Services Center (CSC) </cntorg>
                    <cntper>CEM Project Scientist</cntper>
                </cntorgp>
                <cntaddr>
                    <addrtype>mailing and physical</addrtype>
                    <address>2234 South Hobson Ave.</address>
                    <city>Charleston</city>
                    <state>South Carolina</state>
                    <postal>29405</postal>
                    <country>USA</country>
                </cntaddr>
                <cntvoice>843.740.1200</cntvoice>
                <cntemail>tcm@csc.noaa.gov</cntemail>
                <hours>9:00am - 5:00pm</hours>
            </cntinfo>
        </metc>
        <metstdn>FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata</metstdn>
        <metstdv>FGDC-STD-001-1998</metstdv>
    </metainfo>
</metadata>
