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Bathymetry of Lake Erie and Lake Saint Clair

Metadata Updated: November 12, 2020

Bathymetry of Lake Erie and Lake Saint Clair has been compiled as a component of a NOAA project to rescue Great Lakes lake floor geological and geophysical data and make it more accessible. This project is a cooperative effort between investigators at the NOAA National Geophysical Data Center's Marine Geology and Geophysics Division (NGDC/MGG), the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) and the Canadian Hydrographic Service(CHS). Bathymetric sounding data employed in compiling the one-meter bathymetry (National Geophysical Data Center, 1998) were collected over a 100-year period for purposes of navigation safety and nautical charting by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, the NOAA Coast Survey, and the Canadian Hydrographic Service. These bathymetric data, totaling several hundred thousand soundings, are separated four ways in existing archives: by whether they exist in digital form or reside only on paper sheets; and by whether they were collected by the U. S. or Canada. Final assembly of the new bathymetry has resulted from synthesis of bathymetric data from the four sources. Spacing of data control tracklines ranges from 500 to 2500 meters for the open lake and from 125 to 500 meters for nearshore areas. In preparation for bathymetric contouring, digital soundings were converted to metric units and computer plotted in color according to depth range. Contours in metric units were generated directly on overlays from paper sheets and then reduced to compilation scale and patched in. Compilation sheets were scanned and vectorized; and the resulting digital bathymetric contour data constitutes the primary product. The data were hand contoured by geomorphologists to capture and portray the maximum information available, resulting in a degree of detail not attainable with machine contouring and the density of available data. Bathymetric contours were prepared by geologists using sounding data contained in the paper archives at the scale of the survey sheets (scales ranging from 1: 100,000 to 1: 10, 000); or from sounding data contained in digital data bases at standard scales of either 1: 100,000 or 1: 50,000. Details concerning the methods of compilation are given in the western Lake Erie paper (Holcombe, et al., 1997). Bathymetric contours have been spatially reconciled with the NOAA Coast Survey nominal scale 1:80,000 digital vector shoreline, which by definition coincides with the Lake Erie low water datum, the zero-depth employed for bathymetric surveys and nautical charting.

Access & Use Information

License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

Downloads & Resources

Dates

Metadata Date May 21, 2020
Metadata Created Date November 12, 2020
Metadata Updated Date November 12, 2020
Reference Date(s) January 1, 1999 (publication)
Frequency Of Update asNeeded

Metadata Source

Harvested from NGDC MGG DEM

Graphic Preview

Thumbnail of DEM

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Date May 21, 2020
Metadata Created Date November 12, 2020
Metadata Updated Date November 12, 2020
Reference Date(s) January 1, 1999 (publication)
Responsible Party NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (Point of Contact)
Contact Email
Guid gov.noaa.ngdc.mgg.dem:312
Access Constraints Distribution liability: NOAA and NCEI make no warranty, expressed or implied, regarding these data, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty. NOAA and NCEI cannot assume liability for any damages caused by any errors or omissions in these data. If appropriate, NCEI can only certify that the data it distributes are an authentic copy of the records that were accepted for inclusion in the NCEI archives., Use liability: NOAA and NCEI cannot provide any warranty as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of furnished data. Users assume responsibility to determine the usability of these data. The user is responsible for the results of any application of this data for other than its intended purpose., Cite as: NOAA National Geophysical Data Center. 1999: Bathymetry of Lake Erie and Lake Saint Clair. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. https://doi.org/10.7289/V5KS6PHK . Accessed [date].
Bbox East Long -78.000000
Bbox North Lat 43.000000
Bbox South Lat 41.000000
Bbox West Long -84.000000
Coupled Resource
Frequency Of Update asNeeded
Graphic Preview Description Thumbnail of DEM
Graphic Preview File https://gis.ngdc.noaa.gov/arcgis/rest/directories/arcgisoutput/DEM_mosaics/DEM_global_mosaic_hillshade_ImageServer/_ags_fe155702_fe72_4b09_97eb_cbff7b25ec70.jpg
Graphic Preview Type JPG
Harvest Object Id d3b22279-4be6-4e17-aeff-59e48055b76a
Harvest Source Id 4969dc3d-1269-48b4-a254-dfee8489c5c9
Harvest Source Title NGDC MGG DEM
Licence Not to be used for navigation. Although these data are of high quality and useful for planning and modeling purposes, they are not suitable for navigation. For navigation, please refer to the NOS nautical chart series., Produced by the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Not subject to copyright protection within the United States.
Metadata Language
Metadata Type geospatial
Progress completed
Spatial Data Service Type ArcGIS Image Service
Spatial Reference System urn:ogc:def:crs:EPSG::4269
Spatial Harvester True

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