Empire Wind Digital Aerial Wildlife Surveys for BOEM Lease Area OCS-A 0512, Equinor Wind US LLC, November 2017-October 2018

APEM Limited

Dataset credit

APEM Inc. and Normandeau Associates Inc.

Contacts

RoleNameOrganization 
Primary contact Laura Jervis APEM Limited
Primary contact Michelle Fogarty Equinor
Data entry Ei Fujioka Duke University

Citation

Phillips, D. 2020. Empire Wind Digital Aerial Wildlife Surveys for BOEM Lease Area OCS-A 0512, Equinor Wind US LLC, November 2017-October 2018. Data downloaded from OBIS-SEAMAP (http://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/2067) on yyyy-mm-dd.

Abstract

Equinor Wind US, LLC were committed to undertaking a Construction and Operation Plan (COP) of their lease area located in the New York Bight (OCS-A 0512), now called Empire Wind. To facilitate this, 12 surveys were undertaken by APEM Inc. and Normandeau Associates, Inc. (Normandeau-APEM Team) between November 2017 and October 2018 to provide baseline information for consideration in the assessment of potential impacts. Additional surveys were collected between February 2019 and December 2019 and can be accessed https://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/2159.

Purpose

Equinor initiated monthly offshore high resolution aerial surveys of marine mega-fauna in the New York Bight offshore wind lease area plus a 4 km (2.5 mile) buffer. The surveys used APEM Inc.'s ultra-high resolution aerial digital still imagery to characterize birds present in the lease area and gather additional information on other marine fauna. These surveys provided the baseline information required for conducting impact assessments. The dataset is comprised of observations and survey track line information collected from one survey per month from November 2017 until October 2018 inclusive (12 surveys in total).

APEM Inc. and Normandeau Associates, Inc. (Normandeau–APEM team) extracted and identified avian and other marine species and provided quality control (QC) of the results.

Supplemental information

[2021-08-23] No-animal objects (e.g. boats) were given species names and codes. These wrong assignments are corrected.

Each record represents 1 individual (except for Fish Shoals which is one entry per 1 shoal encompassing uncounted number of fish).

Locations of digital snapshots are available as a static point layer.

References

Phillips, D. 2020. Empire Wind Digital Aerial Wildlife Surveys for BOEM Lease Area OCS-A 0512, Equinor Wind US LLC, November 2017-October 2018. Data downloaded from OBIS-SEAMAP (http://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/2067) on yyyy-mm-dd.

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)
snagidUnique ID for target
surveySurvey identifier in format Equinor_YYYY MMM
datetakenDate image taken, in local time (EST) (displayed as dd/mm/yyyy)
timetakenTime image taken, in local time (EST) (hh:mm:ss)
idtype1st level of identification
idsubtype2nd level of identification Target group type if identified Unid. Type = Target has been reviewed and cannot be identified to a subtype
idspecies3rd level of identification Common Name if identified 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
idconfidspConfidence 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
surfaceDepth rating. blank = not rated
headingdegDirection of target (degrees)
listedYes = Species/Species Group status is listed
parentimagImage name where target is located
latitudeLatitude in decimal degrees
longitudeLongitude in decimal degrees
sargassumSargassum is present in image with target. 1 = present; 0 = not present; blank = not evaluated
scientificScientific name if species is identified
familyFamily if species is identified
lineidSurvey line number
visibilityVisibility (greater than, km)
seastateSea State (mean values) 0 Calm (Glass) 1 Calm (Rippled) 2 Smooth 3 Slight 4 Moderate
glintGlint Percentage (highest %)
turbidityTurbidity (mean values) 0 Clear 1 Slightly Turbid 2 Moderately Turbid 3 Highly Turbid
precipduraPrecipitation duration in time (minutes)
cloudOkta scale (used for Nov-17 and Dec-17 - 0 to 8 with 0 denoting completely clear, and 8 denoting completely overcast) Clear = 0 Few = 1 to 2 Scattered = 3 to 4 Broken = 5 to 7 Overcast = 8 Clound Cover Percentage (used for Jan-18 to Oct-18 - highest %) 0-10% Clear 11-15% Scattered 51-94% Broken 95-100% Overcast
airtemp_cAir Temperature (°Celsius)
pressurePressure (hPA/inHg)
windspeedWind Speed (kts)
winddirectWind Direction (degrees or compass direction)
geomGeometry field added by OBIS-SEAMAP
OBIS-SEAMAP ID2067
Seabirds2,139
Marine mammals150
Sea turtles37
Rays and sharks519
Other species918
Non spatial0
Non species27
Total3,790
Date, Begin2017-11-28
Date, End2018-10-26
Temporal prec.111111
Latitude40.16 - 40.42
Longitude-73.64 - -73.04
Coord. prec.4 decimal digits
PlatformPlane
Data typeAnimal sighting
EffortYES (ID: 2068)
Traveled (km)11,915
Effort hours53
Contr. through
Registered2020-06-18
Updated2022-06-03
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