Ground truth operation for seafloor characterization

Abstract

A compilation of airborne lidar bathymetry (ALB), multibeam echosounder (MBES), and swath interferometry datasets from the offshore of the Merrimack River, Massachusetts was used to develop ground-truth procedures that includeunderwater video and grab sampling from more than 150 stations. The sampling scheme was developed based largely on backscatter and bathymetry maps produced from the acoustic surveys conducted in 2004 and 2005. The sample collection was conducted during the summer of 2009 and 2010. The compilation provides a comprehensive seafloor datasets that includes grain-size analyses, seafloor morphology and vegetation coverage. The results of the sediment analyses will be combined with images from the seafloor video and the existing bathymetry and backscatter data into an ESRI ArcMap project that allows simple archiving and presentation of the project. Data for each ground-truth station includes: the location of the grab sample, underwater video imagery, frame images of from the underwater video, the percent clay-silt-sand-gravel, rockvegetation distributions, in addition to a description determined from the MBES backscatter. Here, we present the results using the ground-truth collection, the collection standards and procedure, data products, and archive structure of the compiled datasets.

Department

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

Publication Date

3-2011

Journal Title

Coastal Geotools 2011

Pages

90-91

Conference Date

21-24 March, 2011

Publisher Place

Myrtle Beach, SC, USA

Publisher

U.S. Geological Survey

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

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