Abstract
Wreck superstructure can extend into the water column and pose a danger to navigation if the least depth is not accurately portrayed to mariners. NOAA has several methods available to acquire a wreck least depth: lead line, wire drag, diver investigation, side scan shadow length, single beam bathymetry, and multibeam bathymetry. Previous studies have demonstrated that the bottom detection algorithm can fail to locate a wreck mast that is evident in the water column data. Modern multibeam sonars can record water column data in addition to bottom detections. NOAA’s current Hydrographic Specifications do not require water column collection; the best practice is to collect additional bathymetry data during wreck developments. Several multibeam bathymetry and multibeam water column datasets collected by NOAA vessels are evaluated and the wreck least depth results are compared to previous international field trials. A workflow to extract filtered and sidelobe suppressed water column point clouds is presented using currently available software packages. This paper explores the challenges encountered with water column data collection and processing and finds that analysis of water column data provides an improvement to finding wreck least depths, in some cases.
Department
Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping
Publication Date
3-2015
Journal Title
U.S. Hydrographic Conference
Conference Date
March 16-19, 2015
Publisher Place
National Harbor, Maryland, USA
Publisher
International Hydrographic Organization
Document Type
Conference Proceeding
Recommended Citation
K. Wyllie, Weber, T. C., and Armstrong, A. A., “A Review of Wreck Least Depths”, U.S. Hydrographic Conference 2015. National Harbor, MD, 2015.