Bathymetric & Benthic Mapping 2
Introduction . Study Area . Land-Sea Interaction . Coral Monitoring . GIS . Bathymetry/Benthic
The US Geological Survey Coastal and Marine Geology Program (USGS CMG) is collaborating with Buccoo Reef Trust Geographical Information System Unit (BRT GIS) to conduct a submerged topography survey at Buccoo Reef, Tobago.
The survey will be conducted using the USGS Along Track Reef Imaging System (ATRIS) deployed on a BRT survey vessel. The ATRIS system incorporates a Marimatech Model Esea-103 fathometer and narrow-beamed dual transducers that operate between 200-208 KHz frequencies to determine accurate sea bottom echo signals. The single-beam hydrographic sounder is capable of measuring submerged topography at a very fine-scale spatial resolution. Accurate geo-positioning is determined in post-processing software with dual-frequency carrier-phase differential GPS measurements from the boat made relative to a GPS base station at a nearby location. Motion compensators are used to minimize the effect of pitch and roll on the accuracy of the depth measurements.
The USGS Florida Integrated Science Center at St. Petersburg, FL has sent two field personnel to Tobago in January 15-25th, 2008, to mount the system on a BRT survey vessel and train BRT personnel, including an OJT youth intern and a visiting intern, on the use of the field equipment to acquire submerged topography data.
The BRT field crew will conduct the survey to map the entire reef platform at 10-m resolution boat-track spacing in the winter and spring of 2008. The acquired GPS and echo sounder data will be processed in the USGS FISC St. Petersburgh office and sent over to BRT for QA/QC. It is expected that a final DEM product of the Buccoo Reef will be published by the USGS at end of 2008.
