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Google Earth Display
of Gulf
of Mexico
Benthic Substrates Data from dbSEABED System usSEABED and goSEABED combined coverages START Note Feb 2012: GE has changed the way this data plots, so the display has been disabled while it is fixed Google Earth (GE) and KML/KMZ*1 data constructs are a useful way of publishing dbSEABED data coverages. This web page describes a cell-based display for the Northern Gulf of Mexico. The display is primarily for browsing data, but we expect that experimentation will occur in this new medium. It is computed off the database from dbSEABED integrated data. Please see documentation for usSEABED for the details of the data integration. Briefly stated, dbSEABED is a system for the accumulation, safeguarding, and integration of seafloor data: geological, engineering, biologic, survey, chemical, acoustic. It is directed to research and informed ocean management. Most of the data here is from direct physical samplings of the seafloor. However, some is geophysically defined, such as coral reef outlines, pinnacles, and rock areas of high acoustic backscatter. We include this geophysical data to achieve a representative rendering of seabed character, not just of the sampleable sediment areas. These KML projects for the US waters of the Gulf of Mexico were sponsored and guided by the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission (GSMFC). Compiling was done by the Universities of Colorado (CU INSTAAR group) and New Orleans (UNO PIES group), supported by the US Geological Survey (USGS CMG group) usSEABED sister project. They deal with data >223,353 surficial samples and observations. Despite this number, we estimate that less than 50% of the easily available data is included. In the same region dbSEABED holds extensive cored datasets, shallow and deep marine. Users should contact GSMFC or other partners if more extensive GIS or RDB datasets are needed. Users should also check with these organisations that the data is fit-for-purpose for their application. The data presented here (Version 1.1) may be altered at any time, without notice. To prevent metamorphosis of the data by uncontrolled transmission/copying we ask that users always acquire the data direct from source (i.e., this web site).
Start the project Double click on the file "http://instaar.colorado.edu/~jenkinsc/dbseabed/KML/GMX/GMX_CEL.KMZ" or click on this web URL. Once the project is opened you can save it locally through Google earth as a KMZ compressed bundle of files for further local use. Zooming in As the project opens (Google Earth version 4) the display zooms to the region of coloured placemarks. Each placemark represents a 0.1 degree (latitude, longitude, WGS84) cell that contains some point data. Many cells contain just a few points, some contain hundreds. dbSEABED holds data for estuarine, river and some lake sites, so some of the bin placemarks appear over land - especially where bins touch inshore areas or a shoreline. Drilling down to data By clicking on a cell placemark, a top-level summary of the data there appears as a GE balloon. That summary describes the number of samples there, the range of Folk Codes (see LINK) to characterize the sediment textures, and the sampler types (e.g., 'Grab'). It also provides a link "Go to Summary for this Cell". In the bubble, the arrangement of 'e/p/c' shows whether extracted, parsed or calculated data is present for each output attributes. Futher details may be found in usSEABED documentation (e.g., LINK). A web page summarizing the cell data appears with location, water depth, and mean values/ranges/units/data types for the main parameters.  Click to enlarge Beneath the summary table are links another web page summarising the provenance and pedigree of the data. [In future a further link will be made to FGDC metadata.]  Click to enlargeWarranty This data product was prepared by for the purposes of education and research. None of the partner organisations, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed in the product, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by any of the partner organisations. Any views and opinions of authors expressed herein do no necessarily state or reflect those of the partner organisations. Although all the data made available here have been used by the partner organisations, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by those as to the accuracy of the data and related materials and/or the functioning of the software. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by the partner organisations in the use of these data, software, or related materials. Acknowledgements INSTAAR and PIES thank the GSMFC for providing funding, which has allowed a huge improvement and development of the Gulf of Mexico substrates database. We also thank the USGS CMG branch for continued support. We thank particularly the many people and organisations who donated datasets and made the mapping possible. |
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Notes: *1 KML is Keyhole Markup Language, a variant of XML. KMZ is a zipped form of KML. |
