UNCHARTED TERRITORY: REVIEWING THE USGS STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE (SOP) FOR FUTURE HYDROGRAPHIC MAPPING ENDEAVORS

In conjunction with state and federal partners, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) collected Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (IfSAR) data for the state of Alaska with plans to utilize the 5m digital elevation models to update the National Hydrography Dataset. Our project work contributed to the nationwide 3D Elevation Program, whose goal is to have 100% acquisition of LiDAR and IfSAR data by 2023 to provide the first-ever national baseline of consistent high-res topographic elevation data collected in a timeframe of less than a decade. Under the guidance of technical staff at the National Geospatial Technical Operations Center (NGTOC), we inspected and reviewed the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) used to assess the quality and acceptability of the Elevation Derived Hydrography (EDH) data. We assessed the effectiveness of the SOP and suggested improvements for its collection methods in order to develop new EDH tools for automated inspection. Our suggested improvements include organizing the SOP into a set of step by step instructions, adding visual examples of common error types seen in the data sets, and providing notes on where more instructions were needed for tools used to assess errors. We also share challenges caused by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the implementation of a fully remote format for communication, and the strategies that we used to overcome these. Both our feedback and the experience gained during the onboarding process will help the USGS streamline the introduction of new student contractors on the project in the future.