HRC KB26 SCC Aerial Surveys Feb 2014

The U.S. Navy Marine Species Monitoring Program

Features in this feature class represent animal sightings recorded during aerial monitoring surveys for marine mammals and sea turtles performed in February 2014 in the Hawaii Range Complex (HRC). Aerial surveys were conducted in conjunction with the Submarine Commander's Course (SCC) naval training event in HRC on the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) Barking Sands Tactical Underwater Range and Barking Sands Underwater Range Extension between Kauai and Niihau, Hawaii during the period 18 February through 20 February 2014. The SCC training event occurred from 17 to 20 February 2014, in waters adjoining Kauai and Niihau, and involved surface ships, submarines, and aircraft. The approach involved flying elliptical-shaped patterns in advance of the cruiser (CG), which extended from the front of the ship (approximately 200 meters) out to approximately 2,500 meters over a width of 5 km. The survey platform was a small fixed-wing Aero Commander 500. Work was performed under HDR task order KB26 (IDIQ contract award N62470-10-D-3011, NAVFAC LANT).

N/A

N/A

The dataset has been updated over time as outlined below. Each entry includes the version number, release date, type of change, and a short description.

Overview

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
oid	Unique ID number (generated by OBIS-SEAMAP)
objectid	Unique ID number
altitudem	The altitude of the observation platform (plane, vessel bridge, etc) above sea level in meters
animalspeed	A calculation based on multiple resights, calculating the distance travelled by the time elapsed between sighting events
areakm2	The area in km2 over which the survey took place
aspectslope	Bathymetric slope aspect at location of animal
bearing	Relative bearing from the platform to the sighting, where the front of the platform is zero degrees. Formats include clock face, degrees, etc.
bearingabs	True (not magnetic) bearing to sighting. Calculated from relative bearing and platform bearing.
beaufortscale	Beaufort sea state (0-12)
beaufortscaleleft	Beaufort sea state on the left (port) side of the platform (0-12)
beaufortscaleright	Beaufort sea state on the right (starboard) side of the platform (0-12)
behavior	Initial behavioral state of the animal or group when first observed. Examples: Travel, Mill, Rest
behaviorevent	Discrete behavioral event(s) observed during the sighting. Examples: Breach, Tail Slap, Blow
biopsy	Was a biopsy attempted for the sighting?
birds	Are birds present?
calvespresent	Are calves present? Use notes field to indicate number of calves present.
countcalves	The number of calves in the sighting
countfemales	The number of positively identified females in the sighting
countjuveniles	The number of positively identified juveniles in the sightings
countmales	The number of positively identified males in the sighting
countnewborns	The number of positively identified newborns/pups in the sighting
counttotbest	The best estimate of the number of animals in the sighting
counttotmax	The highest estimate of the number of animals in the sighting
counttotmin	The lowest estimate of the number of animals in the sighting
countvescargo	The number of cargo ships present in the area
countvesferries	The number of ferries present in the area
countvesfishing	The number of fishing boats present in the area
countvesmilitary	The number of military vessels present in the area
countvesmotoryachts	The number of motor yachts present in the area
countvesother	The number of vessels in the area that do not fall into the above categories
countvessailing	The number of sailboats present in the area
cue	The sighting cue that initially drew the observers attention
datetime	Date and Time together in one cell value (LOCAL TIME)
datetimeutc	Date and Time together in one cell value (UTC)
depth	The depth of the water at sighting location, based on known bathymetry
depthsounding	Depth as determined in situ via sounding
dispmax	The maximum distance between nearest neighbors within a group (in body lengths)
dispmin	The minimum distance between nearest neighbors within a group (in body lengths)
distsight	The radial distance to the animal
distsightperp	The perpendicular distance to the animal from the trackline
effortstatus	Indication of whether the survey team was actively searching with all designated observers focused on searching for marine mammal sighting cues. Options: On= dedicated observation effort with both observers on watch. If line, strip, or point transect - following formal distance sampling protocol regardless of survey mode (e.g. maintaining observation and platform protocols on a connector line). All other survey types - maintaining a consistent level of observation effort ; Off= not observing; If line, strip, or point transect - not following formal distance sampling protocol regardless of survey mode (e.g. platform speed or altitude is not consistent with protocol, incomplete observer effort, etc). All other survey types - no dedicated observation effort. Compormised= only one observer watching, observing through cloud/fog patches, dark, or other conditions that compromise ability to observe consistently
flightofday	The sequential daily flight identifier (e.g., 1, 2, 3, etc.)
glareleft	The amount of glare (0-100%) on the left (port) side of the platform. Refers to glare from 0 to 90 degrees, or viewshed for which observer is reponsible.
glareright	The amount of glare (0-100%) on the right (starboard) side of the platform. Refers to glare from 270-360 degrees, or viewshed for which observer is reponsible.
groupid	Identifier for a particular group within a sighting
headinganimal	Heading of the animal (sighting) at the time of the initial sighting (in degrees magnetic)
headingplatmagnetic	Heading of the observation platform relative to magnetic North
headingplattrue	Heading of the observation platform relative to true North
horizsun	Horizontal glare calculation on NOAA large vessel surveys
latanimal	The calculated latitude of the animal at the initial time of the sighting
latplatform	The latitude of the platform in decimal degrees
latvessel	The latitude of the vessel(s) (NOT the survey platform) sighted during a survey
legid	Letter or number for survey leg/transect
legnotes	Notes as entered for that particular leg of the survey
legnumber	A unique identifier for the leg associated with the survey
linearity	A metric describing animal travel, calculated by dividing the distance between the first and last recorded sighting waypoints by the sum total of all distances between waypoints. Values range between 0 and 1, with a number closer to 1 representing a straight line and close to 0 representing no constant direction of the animal.?
longanimal	The calculated longitude of the animal (sighting) at the initial time of the sighting
longplatform	The Longitude of the platform in decimal degrees
longvessel	The longitude of the vessel(s) (NOT the survey platform) sighted during a survey
mitigation	Was mitigation implemented?
mitigationtype	Type of mitigation implemented
navydirectedleg	Marker identifying whether the platform was directed by the Navy to go to a certain location, fly at a certain altitude, or leave the immediate area
observer	The name of the observer who first sighted the animal
observeraft	Name of the observer in the aft position
observercenter	Name of the observer in the center position or belly window of the aircraft
observerforward	Name of the observer in the forward position
observerleft	Name of the observer on the left (port) side of the platform
observerrearleft	Name of the observer in the rear left seat of the aircraft
observerrearright	Name of the observer in the rear right seat of the aircraft
observerright	Name of the observer on the right (starboard) side of the platform
ocean	The ocean where the survey took place (Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, etc.)
opticstype	Indicates the type of optic used to fix a particular sighting (e.g., bigeyes, handheld binos, theodolite, naked eye). Useful when a platform uses several methods to sight animals
ordnance	Was live ordnance in use at the time of the sighting?
percentcloudcover	Cloud cover as represented by a percentage
percentcloudcoverleft	Cloud cover on the left (port) side of the platform as represented by a percentage
percentcloudcoverright	Cloud cover on the right (starboard) side of the platform as represented by a percentage
photoframes	The photo frames used for the sighting; or total frames taken
photographer	Name of the photographer
photos	Were photos taken as part of the sighting?
pic	Pilot in command
platformded	Indicates if the survey was a dedicated marine mammal survey, or if data was gathered opportunistically from a platform on a different mission
platformmodel	Model of a/c or vessel (e.g. Partenavia Observer, RHIB, etc.)
platformspeed	Speed of the platform at the time of the sighting
platformtype	Type of survey platform (e.g., "aerial", "vessel")
rangecomplex	The Range complex (or complexes) associated with the survey (JAX, SOCAL, Cherry Point, etc.)
reactioninit	The type of reaction at the initial time of the sighting relative to the observation platform
reactioninitcount	The general count of animals that initially reacted to the observation platform. May be a number or text (i.e., "whole group")
reactionlater	Identifies whether a reaction occurred as a response to the survey platform after the initial sighting of the group/individual
reactionlatercount	The number of animals that reacted to the observation platform after the sighting occurred
recorder	Name of the person recording data
recorderfocal	Name of the person recording focal follow data
reorientationrate	A magnitude of course changes along the trackline, calculated by summing all course changes (degrees) along the trackline divided by duration (minutes) of the trackline (Smultea and Wursig, 1995).
resolution	Bathymetric resolution in arc degrees at sighting position
shoredist	Distance to nearest shore
sic	Second (pilot) in command
sightingdetectionsensor	Sighting detection method (e.g. MMO, lookout, bridge, acoustic)
sightingendloe	Was Sighting 1. lost, or 2. Passed Beam (Lookout Effectiveness surveys only)
sightingmulti	Denotes if there are any additional species within a particular sighting (mixed group)
sightingnotes	Notes field to capture information not covered by existing attributes or other information of interest
sightingnumber	The sighting number for the particular survey day
sightingrelmovement	Relative movement of vessel and animal
sightingtimeend	The time at which the sighting was discontinued
sightingtrialloe	Whether sighting was successful Lookout Effectiveness Trial
slope	Bathymetric slope at sighting location (angle)
sonar	Was sonar active at the time of the sighting?
spcscode	Species code used in authentic data (e.g., TTUR=Tursiops truncatus)
spcsconfidence	Confidence level of the observer that he or she identified species correctly
spcshauledout	Indicates if a pinniped is hauled out
spcsitis	ITIS Taxonomic Serial Number added by OBIS-SEAMAP
spcsnmcom	Common name of the sighted species. Output should be singular (e.g. bottlenose dolphin)
spcsnmsci	Scientific name of the sighted species
sp_tsn	ITIS Taxonomic Serial Number added by OBIS-SEAMAP
surveyid	A survey identifier consisting of data collector, range complex, platform, year, month, and day. (Data Collector/Source)_(Range Complex)_(Platform Type or Details)_(Year)(Month)(Day) (eg. SES_SOCAL_Aerial_20120417)
surveypoint	A waypoint taken along a trackline OR a start/end point for a trackline
swell	Swell height
swelldirection	Direction of swell
tagging	Was a tag deployment attempted for the sighting?
theoconvhorz	Horizontal angle value from theodolite converted to a compass bearing
theoconvvert	Vertical angle value from theodolite converted to a declination angle
theorawhorz	Raw horizontal angular value from theodolite
theorawvert	Raw vertical angular value from theodolite
trkdist	Distance between two trackline points, in meters
vertangleorreticle	Reticle or declination angle
vertsun	Vertical glare calculation on NOAA large vessel surveys
vesselsize	0-99 ft = small, 100-300 ft = medium, >301 ft = large
vesseltype	Type of vessel observed (e.g. frigate, sailboat, submarine)
video	Was video taken during the sighting?
videographer	Name of the videographer
visibility	The estimated distance at which an animal could potentially be sighted
visibilityleft	Sighting visibility in KM on the left (port) side of the platform
visibilityright	Sighting visibility in KM on the right (starboard) side of the platform
waveheight	Wave height
winddirection	Wind direction relative to true north
windspeed	Wind speed
geom	Geometry field added by OBIS-SEAMAP