No hosting, no problem! How to submit to FathomNet Database using NOAA-NCEI’s data hosting infrastructure

FathomNet Database supports the aggregation of distributed labeled image sets, allowing researchers to either self-host annotated images and register those images, or upload those images via hosting on NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). These instructions detail the latter.

Note on Data Policy: NOAA-NCEI hosted imagery must adhere to their data use policy, and will be assigned a CC-BY 4.0 license.

Step 1: Prepare your images and submission CSV file

This step is similar in process to contributing annotated images by self-hosting. Here’s the important difference: When you make your submission comma-separated value (CSV) file, replace the image’s url address with the image’s filename, including the extension. See examples below of how the format for self-hosting images compares with the file format for NOAA-NCEI hosted images.

Self hosted CSV format example:

concept,image,x,y,width,height
Nanomia bijuga,http://dsg.mbari.org/path/image.png,10,20,30,40
Rock,http://dsg.mbari.org/path/image.png,21,22,23,24

NOAA-NCEI hosted CSV format example:

concept,image,x,y,width,height
Nanomia bijuga,image_1.png,10,20,30,40
Rock,image_2.png,21,22,23,24

• concept (or class, or name) — The name of the localized object. We recommend using scientific names where possible.

• Image — file name of the image that will be zipped in your submission file

• x — The x coordinate of the upper left corner of the bounding box in pixels

• y — The y coordinate of the upper left corner of the bounding box in pixels

• width — The width of the bounding box in pixels

• height — The height of the bounding box in pixels

  
  

Step 2: Combine your images and CSV file into a single zip file

• Put all your images together in a folder

• Put your CSV file in the same folder

• Zip up the entire folder

Here’s an example of what your zip file should look like:

• The folder name can be anything.

• The images can be named anything as long as they are unique names, they’re .jpg or .png format, and they match the image name entries in the csv file.

• There should only be one CSV file in this folder named something like “metadata.csv” and the CSV filename can be anything.

The instructions for uploading your localization annotations remain the same as those detailed here!

Comment below or email fathomnet@mbari.org if you have any questions.