Multibeam Mapping of the South Atlantic Bight: South Carolina 2005, a Proposed MPA on the Continental Shelf

The NOAA Fisheries laboratory in Panama City, Florida coordinated an acoustic survey at the new proposed Marine Protected Areas in the South Atlantic Bight area June 20- July 7th, 2005. This metadata record is the parent record for the multi-beam echosounder (MBES) survey at the South Carolina A proposed MPA, which includes the following products: 1) XYZ ascii table created from the grid, 2) colored coded shaded geotiffs from the grid, 3) backscatter mosaic, 4) XYA (amplitude) ascii table created from the mosaic, and 5) geotif of backscatter draped on the bathymetric grid. All products are available contacting the distributor. Some data sets are also posted on NOAA's Coral Reef Information System (CoRIS) at www.coris.noaa.gov. Another product that will not be distributed, but will be used as input to habitat classification software (QTC MultiView (website)), are raw data files logged to disk using the Simrad EM3002 MBES data acquisition software. These raw files contain packets of information (depth soundings, navigation, attitude, sound velocity profiles, UTC time) that the acquisition software logged sequentially in time. The raw data format is available from Kongsberg-Simrad (website). The MBES system was provided by Seafloor Systems Inc. and the support vessel was UNCW's 70-ft. R/V Cape Fear. This survey is part of an on-going partnership effort funded by the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP). This survey was funded by a CRCP grant to Andrew David, NOAA Fisheries - Panama City, and Andrew Shepard, NURC/UNCW (The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's Undersea Research Center at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington). In addition to partners above, other partners include UNCW's Spatial Analysis Lab, US Geological Survey, and the S. Atlantic fishery Management Council.

The primary objective of this joint mapping expedition is to create habitat maps for proposed marine protected areas in the South Atlantic Bight (SAB), prior to closure. These bathymetry data will help prepare habitat maps. The surveys will be followed by a ROV expedition later to ground-truth the newly acquired MBES-derived habitat maps. The map will serve as a baseline for assessing change of habitat condition over time, and for monitoring recovery of fish population in the closed area. The new proposed MPAs offer the rare opportunity to quantify habitat and fish assemblages before closure for direct comparison after closure. However, mapping is a prerequisite for any comprehensive research program.

The survey was supported by Seafloor Systems, Inc., Portland, (www.seafloorsystems.com) Oregon using a Simrad EM 3002 multi-beam system. The survey was funded by NOAA Fisheries (www.sefsc.noaa.gov) and overseen by the NOAA Undersea Research Center at UNCW.

XYZ ASCII file is a 3-column table of longitude, latitude and elevation. Each point is average center of 3 meter square grid cell. Colored, shaded geotif maps were created using these points and CARIS HIPS 5.4 software.

None

These data are not intended for navigational purposes. NOAA makes no warranty regarding these data,expressed or implied, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty. NOAA does not assume liability for any damages caused by any errors or omissions in these data, nor as a result of the failure of these data to function on a particular system. Although these data have been used by NOAA, these data and information are provided with the understanding that they are not guaranteed to be useable, timely, accurate, or complete. Users are cautioned to consider carefully the provisional nature of these data and information before using them for decisions that concern personal or public safety or the conduct of business that involves substantial monetary or operational consequences. Conclusions drawn from, or actions undertaken on the basis of such data and information are the sole responsibility of the user. Neither the U.S. Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, contractors, or subcontractors, make any warranty, express or implied, nor assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any data, software, information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, nor represent that its use would not infringe on privately owned rights. Trade, firm, or product names and other references to non-USGS products and services are provided for information only and do not constitute endorsement or warranty, express or implied, by UNCW, NOAA, the US Department of Commerce, or the U.S. Government, as to their suitability, content, usefulness, functioning, completeness, or accuracy.

Follow this URL:

http://data.nodc.noaa.gov/coris/data/NOAA/nmfs/sefsc/bathymetry/SAB/southcarolina/bathymetry2005

There are no constraints for use of geotiff files, which are available online and from the P.O.C.

Not for legal use

Colored, shaded geotifs for the survey area were created by Seafloor Systems Inc. using Caris HIPS 5.4 software. The raw survey data and processed XYZ data may also be available upon request from the P.O.C.

Attribute Accuracy: None

Horizontal Positional Accuracy: 1 meter

Vertical Positional Accuracy: 0.05% of water depth

The initial surveys produced an extremely large dataset (62 CDs) of raw data in Caris' cross-track format. To create the geotifs, this data set was reduced by post-survey processing including: corrections for sound velocity and tidal stage removal of outliers and data gaps, and calculation and assignment of mean values for 3m X 3m cells throughout the survey area.

Data are believed to be logically consistent, though no tests were performed.

None listed.

Waiting for direction from NOAA NMFS SEFSC for direction.

Data is located on a personal computer.