Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

S-100 Overlays: A Brave New World?, Lee Alexander, C. Mcleay

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

Marine Information Overlay (MIO) is a generic term used to describe chart and navigation related information that supplement the content that is already contained in an ENC. This includes both static and dynamic information such as tide/water level, current flow, meteorological, oceanographic, and environmental protection. With the advent of S-100 and S-101, there is increased interest in providing a wide variety of ‘new’ overlay information. This paper provides a brief history of S-57 MIOs. Examples of navigational and non-navigation MIOs are given in terms of how currently used, by who, and for what purpose. Recommendations are provided for making a …

Pose Detection And Control Of Multiple Unmanned Underwater Vehicles Using Optical Feedback, Firat Eren, Shachak Pe'eri, Yuri Rzhanov, May-Win Thein, Barbaros Celikkol

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

This paper proposes pose detection and control algorithms in order to control the relative pose between two Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) using optical feedback. The leader UUV is configured to have a light source at its crest which acts as a guiding beacon for the follower UUV which has a detector array at its bow. Pose detection algorithms are developed based on a classifier, such as the Spectral Angle Mapper (SAM), and chosen image parameters. An archive look-up table is constructed for varying combinations of 5-degree-of-freedom (DOF) motion (i.e., translation along all three coordinate axes as well as pitch and …

Characterization Of Optical Communication In A Leader-Follower Unmanned Underwater Vehicle Formation, Firat Eren, Shachak Pe'eri, May-Win Thein

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

As part of the research to development an optical communication design of a leader-follower formation between unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), this paper presents light field characterization and design configuration of the hardware required to allow the use of distance detection between UUVs. The study specifically is targeting communication between remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). As an initial step in this study, the light field produced from a light source mounted on the leader UUV was empirically characterized and modeled. Based on the light field measurements, a photo-detector array for the follower UUV was designed. Evaluation of the communication algorithms to monitor …

Optimizing Resolution And Uncertainty In Bathymetric Sonar Systems, Val E. Schmidt, Thomas C. Weber, Xavier Lurton

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

Bathymetric sonar systems (whether multibeam or phase-differencing sidescan) contain an inherent trade-off between resolution and uncertainty. Systems are traditionally designed with a fixed spatial resolution, and the parameter settings are optimized to minimize the uncertainty in the soundings within that constraint. By fixing the spatial resolution of the system, current generation sonars operate sub-optimally when the SNR is high, producing soundings with lower resolution than is supportable by the data, and inefficiently when the SNR is low, producing high-uncertainty soundings of little value. Here we propose fixing the sounding measurement uncertainty instead, and optimizing the resolution of the system within …

Spectral Characterization Of The Nigerian Shoreline Using Landsat Imagery, Olumide Fadahunsi, Shachak Pe'eri, Christopher Parrish, Andy Armstrong, Lee Alexander

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

The challenges of shoreline mapping include the high costs of acquiring up-to-date survey data over the coastal area. As a result, in many developing countries, the shoreline has not been consistently mapped. The variety of methods used for this mapping and the large time differences between the surveys (on the order of decades) could result in inaccuracies in shoreline data. This study presents the development of a shoreline characterization procedure for the Nigerian coastline using satellite remote sensing technology. The study goal is to produce a complete, consistent and continuous shoreline map using publicly available data processed in a GIS …

Using A Cruise Report To Generate Xml Metadata, Briana M. Sullivan

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

Since 2005 metadata generation at the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping/Joint Hydrographic Center has slowly evolved from a painful and tedious process of copying and pasting, to generate hundreds of files, to using an automated system that generates 90% of the needed metadata from the data collected on cruises. However there remained one piece missing to the automated system- the wordy part of the metadata that deals with information such as the attribute accuracy report, abstract and the process description. This information cannot be mined from the raw survey data. This paper illustrates how to generate a template from …

Usage Of Videomosaic For Computer Aided Analysis Of North Sea Hard Bottom Underwater Video For Baseline Study Of Offshore Windmill Park, Aleksej Shashkov, Thomas Dahlgren, Marie-Lise Schlappy, Yuri Rzhanov

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

Windmill park on the open North Sea coast at Hävsul area in Norway is one of the first in the world to be build on such extreme high-energy coast. To determine possible environmental impact of this project, baseline study was performed in 2010-2011. Two areas, impacted (area where windmill park is planned to be build) and reference were chosen. For hard bottoms work class ROV was used to take underwater video, as no traditional sampling methods are suitable for such environment and depths. The system was equipped with powerful (400 Watt) xenon lights, USBL navigation and HDTV color camera. For …

Seafloor Characterization For Trawlability Using The Simrad Me70 Multibeam Echosounder In The Gulf Of Alaska, Jodi L. Pirtle, Thomas C. Weber, Chris Rooper, Christopher D. Wilson, Brian R. Calder

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

No abstract provided.

Use (And Potential Abuse) Of Uncertainty In Hydrography, Brian R. Calder

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

The evaluation and use of uncertainty as a component of hydrographic data processing systems has grown considerably in the last decade. Uncertainty models for sounding data are now common, and progress has been made in developing models, methods and implementations for preserving this uncertainty in intermediate hydrographic data products. Less progress has been made in dealing with expressing the uncertainty in hydrographic data products to the user, however, which we contend should be our ultimate aim.

We draw here a distinction between the uncertainty assessed for observed sounding (and auxiliary) data and uncertainty as expressed to the user, and observe …

Designing A Better Weather Display, Colin Ware, Matthew D. Plumlee

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

The variables most commonly displayed on weather maps are atmospheric pressure, wind speed and direction, and surface temperature. But they are usually shown separately, not together on a single map. As a design exercise, we set the goal of finding out if it is possible to show all three variables (two 2D scalar fields and a 2D vector field) simultaneously such that values can be accurately read using keys for all variables, a reasonable level of detail is shown, and important meteorological features stand out clearly. Our solution involves employing three perceptual "channels", a color channel, a texture channel, and …

Submarine Landslides On The Upper Southeast Australian Passive Continental Margin – Preliminary Findings, S L. Clarke, T Hubble, D Airey, Phyllis Yu, R Boyd, J Keene, N Exon, James V. Gardner

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

The southeast Australian passive continental margin is narrow, steep and sediment-deficient, and characterized by relatively low rates of modern sedimentation. Upper slope (<1200m) sediments comprise mixtures of calcareous and terrigenous sand and mud. Three of twelve sediment cores recovered from geologically-recent, submarine landslides located offshore New South Wales/Queensland (NSW/QLD) are interpreted to have sampled failure surfaces at depths of between 85 cm and 220 cm below the present-day seabed. Differences in sediment physical properties are recorded above and below the three slide-plane boundaries. Sediment taken directly above the inferred submarine landslide failure surfaces and presumed to be post-landslide, returned radiocarbon ages of 15.8 ka, 20.7 ka and 20.1 ka. The last two ages correspond to adjacent slide features, which are inferred to be consistent with their being triggered by a single event such as an earthquake. Slope stability models based on classical soil mechanics and measured sediment shearstrengths indicate that the upper slope sediments should be stable. However, multibeam sonar data reveal that many upper slope landslides occur across the margin and that submarine landsliding is a common process. We infer from these results that: a) an unidentified mechanism regularly acts to reduce the shear resistance of these sediments to the very low values required to enable slope failure, and/or b) the margin experiences seismic events that act to destabilise the slope sediments.

Rethinking The Patch Test For Phase Measuring Bathymetric Sonars, Janice Eisenberg, Michael Davidson, Jonathan Beaudoin, Steve Brodet

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

While conducting hydrographic survey operations in the Florida Keys, NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson served as a test platform for the initial operational implementation of an L-3 Klein HydroChart 5000 Swath Bathymetry Sonar System1 , a hull-mounted phase measuring bathymetric sonar (PMBS). During the project it became apparent that the traditional patch test typically utilized for multibeam echosounder (MBES) systems was poorly suited to the HydroChart – and perhaps other PMBS systems as well. These systems have several inherent characteristics that make it difficult to isolate and subsequently solve for biases under the traditional patch test paradigm: presence of a nadir …

Simulating An Airborne Lidar Bathymetry (Alb) System, Shachak Pe'eri, Amaresh M. Kumar, Brian R. Calder

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

This study’s focus is on the horizontal and vertical uncertainties associated with ALB measurements due to scattering through the water column. A lidar simulator was constructed and we present its design and preliminary results.

Bathymetric Attributed Grids (Bags): Discovery Of Marine Datasets And Geospatial Metadata Visualization, Kurt Schwehr, Andy Armstrong, Rick T. Brennan, David Fischman, Jon Sellars, Shep M. Smith Lt

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

No abstract provided.

Enhancing Ais To Improve Whale-Ship Collision Avoidance And Maritime Security, Philip A. Mcgillivary, Kurt Schwehr, Kevin Fall

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

Whale-ship strikes are of growing worldwide concern due to the steady growth of commercial shipping. Improving the current situation involves the creation of a communication capability allowing whale position information to be estimated and exchanged among vessels and other observation assets. An early example of such a system has been implemented for the shipping lane approaches to the harbor of Boston, Massachusetts where ship traffic transits areas of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary frequently used by whales. It uses the Automated Identification Systems (AIS) technology, currently required for larger vessels but becoming more common in all classes of vessels. …

Charts Data Fusion: Multi-Sensor Imagery Co-Registration, Shachak Pe'eri, Yuri Rzhanov

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

The compact hydrographic airborne rapid total survey (CHARTS) is a USACE sensor system that includes a SHOALS-3000 (3-kHz bathymetric laser and a 20-kHz topographic laser), CASI-1500 hyperspectral scanner, and a DuncanTech (DT)- 4000 digital RGB camera. The datasets produced from each sensor in CHARTS contributes a specific aspect according to its physical capabilities and limitations. Fusion of data products from a multi-sensor collection has the potential to perform a comprehensive survey and to produce tools for geo-analysis, especially for coastal research. A basic requirement in the data fusion is the co-registration between the datasets. Data from GPS/INS was intentionally ignored …

Environmental Response Management Application (Erma) - Web-Based Gis Data Display And Management System For Oil Spill Planning And Environmental Response, Michele Jacobi, Rob Braswell, Amy A. Merten, Nancy E. Kinner, Kurt Schwehr

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration (ORR) in a partnership with the University of New Hampshire Coastal Response Research Center (CRRC), is leading an effort to develop an Open Source GIS system that is accessible to both the command post and to assets in the field during a response. The ERMA (Environmental Response Management Application) system is an integrated data management platform that uses MapServer and Open Layers software to combine real-time and static regional geospatial data sets. Data available include: weather and forecasts, ESI maps, IOOS buoys, modeled spill trajectories, real-time tracks of vessels, response plans, navigational charts, bathymetry, …

Coastal Situational Awareness Via Nowcoast’S Web Mapping Services And Map Viewer, John G.W. Kelley, Jason Greenlaw, Micah Wengren, Sree Dadisetty

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

NowCOAST is a GIS-based Web mapping portal developed by the National Ocean Service’s (NOS) Coast Survey Development Laboratory that provides users with situational awareness of current and future environmental conditions for U.S. coastal areas. nowCOAST accomplishes this by integrating selected near-real-time data, satellite imagery, warnings, and forecasts of meteorological, oceanographic, and river conditions from NOAA’s Weather, Ocean, and Satellite Services, NOAA’s Research, other federal agencies, and regional ocean observing systems. nowCOAST makes the observations, imagery, warnings, and forecasts available to users via on-map display and geo-referenced hyperlinks. Coastal users can display nowCOAST products via its Web map viewer (http://nowcoast.noaa.gov) or …

Right Whale Ais Project (Rap): Acoustic Detections In The Boston Approaches, Kurt Schwehr, Lee Alexander

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

No abstract provided.

Uncertainty Representation In Hydrographic Surveys And Products, Brian R. Calder

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

No abstract provided.

Very Shallow Water Bathymetry Retrieval From Hyperspectral Imagery At The Virginia Coast Reserve (Vcr'07) Multi-Sensor Campaign, Charles M. Bachmann, Marcos J. Montes, Robert A. Fusina, Christopher Parrish, Jon Sellars, Alan Weidemann, Wesley Goode, C Reid Nichols, Patrick Woodward, Kevin Mcilhany, Victoria Hill, Richard Zimmerman, Daniel Korwan, Barry Truitt, A. Schwarzschild

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

A number of institutions, including the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), have developed look up tables for remote retrieval of bathymetry and in-water optical properties from hyperspectral imagery (HSI) [6]. For bathymetry retrieval, the lower limit is the very shallow water case (here defined as < 2m), a depth zone which is not well resolved by many existing bathymetric LIDAR sensors, such as SHOALS [4]. The ability to rapidly model these shallow water depths from HSI directly has potential benefits for combined HSI/LIDAR systems such as the Compact Hydrographic Airborne Rapid Total Survey (CHARTS) [10]. In this study, we focused on the validation of a near infra-red feature, corresponding to a local minimum in absorption (and therefore a local peak in reflectance), which can be correlated directly to bathymetry with a high degree of confidence. Compared to other VNIR wavelengths, this particular near-IR feature corresponds to a peak in the correlation with depth in this very shallow water regime, and this is a spectral range where reflectance depends primarily on water depth (water absorption) and bottom type, with suspended constituents playing a secondary role.

Optical Image Blending For Underwater Mosaics, Fan Gu, Yuri Rzhanov

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

Typical problems for creation of consistent underwater mosaic are misalignment and inhomogeneous illumination of the image frames, which causes visible seams and consequently complicates post-processing of the mosaics such as object recognition and shape extraction. Two recently developed image blending methods were explored in the literature: "gradient domain stitching" and "graph-cut" method, and they allow for improvement of illumination inconsistency and "ghosting" effects, respectively. However, due to the specifics of underwater imagery, these two methods cannot be used within a straightforward manner. In this paper, a new improved blending algorithm is proposed based on these two methods. By comparing with …

Self-Positioning Smart Buoys, The 'Un-Buoy' Solution: Logistic Considerations Using Autonomous Surface Craft Technology And Improved Communications Infrastructure, Joseph A. Curcio, Philip A. Mcgillivary, Kevin Fall, Andrew Maffei, Kurt Schwehr, Bob Twiggs, Chris Kitts, Phil Ballou

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

Moored buoys have long served national interests, but incur high development, construction, installation, and maintenance costs. Buoys which drift off-location can pose hazards to mariners, and in coastal waters may cause environmental damage. Moreover, retrieval, repair and replacement of drifting buoys may be delayed when data would be most useful. Such gaps in coastal buoy data can pose a threat to national security by reducing maritime domain awareness. The concept of self-positioning buoys has been advanced to reduce installation cost by eliminating mooring hardware. We here describe technology for operation of reduced cost self-positioning buoys which can be used in …

Experiments For Multibeam Backscatter Adjustments On The Noaa Ship Fairweather, Luciano E. Fonseca, Brian R. Calder

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

A series of experiments were conducted to adjust and normalize the acoustic backscatter acquired by Reson 8111 and 8160 systems. The dependency of the backscatter on the receiver gain, transmit power, pulse width and acquisition mode was analyzed. Empirical beam patterns are calculated as the difference between the backscatter measured by the sonars and the expected backscatter. Expected acoustic backscatter is estimated based on a mathematical model.

Significant Tectonic And Climatic Events For The Yakutat Block Collision, Gulf Of Alaska: Pleistocene Glacial Intensification In The St. Elias Mountains And The Relationship Between The Fairweather And Transition Faults, Sean P.S. Gulick, Bryce A. Willems, Jeffrey T. Freymueller, Ross D. Powell, John M. Jaeger, Jay Kalbas, John M. Jaeger, Terry L. Pavlis, Lindsay A, Lowe, Larry A. Mayer, James V. Gardner

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

No abstract provided.

Uvsd: Software For Detection Of Color Underwater Features, Yuri Rzhanov, Anton Mamaenko, M Yoklavich

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

Underwater Video Spot Detector (UVSD) is a software package designed to analyze underwater video for continuous spatial measurements (path traveled, distance to the bottom, roughness of the surface etc.) Laser beams of known geometry are often used in underwater imagery to estimate the distance to the bottom. This estimation is based on the manual detection of laser spots which is labor intensive and time consuming so usually only a few frames can be processed this way. This allows for spatial measurements on single frames (distance to the bottom, size of objects on the sea-bottom), but not for the whole video …

Seafloor Characterization Through The Application Of Avo Analysis To Multibeam Sonar Data, Luciano E. Fonseca, Larry A. Mayer, Barbara J. Kraft

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

In the seismic reflection method, it is well known that seismic amplitude varies with the offset between the seismic source and detector and that this variation is a key to the direct determination of lithology and pore fluid content of subsurface strata. Based on this fundamental property, amplitude-versus-offset (AVO) analysis has been used successfully in the oil industry for the exploration and characterization of subsurface reservoirs. Multibeam sonars acquire acoustic backscatter over a wide range of incidence angles and the variation of the backscatter with the angle of incidence is an intrinsic property of the seafloor. Building on this analogy, …

The Use Of Multi-Beam Sonars To Image Bubbly Ship Wakes, R Lee Culver, Thomas C. Weber, David L. Bradley

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

During the past five years, researchers at Penn State University (PSU) have used upward-looking multi-beam (MB) sonar to image the bubbly wakes of surface ships. In 2000, a 19-beam, 5° beam width, 120° sector, 250 kHz MB sonar integrated into an autonomous vehicle was used to obtain a first-of-a-kind look at the three-dimensional variability of bubbles in a large ship wake. In 2001 we acquired a Reson 8101 MB sonar, which operates at 240 kHz and features 101-1.5º beams spanning a 150º sector. In July 2002, the Reson sonar was deployed looking upward from a 1.4 m diameter buoy moored …

Investigation Of Bottom Fishing Impacts On Benthic Structure Using Multibeam Sonar, Sidescan And Video, Mashkoor A. Malik, Larry A. Mayer

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

Bottom fishing gear is known to alter benthic structure, however changes in the shape of the sea floor are often too subtle to be detected by acoustic remote sensing. Nonetheless, long linear features were observed during a recent high-resolution multibeam sonar survey of Jeffreys Ledge, a prominent fishing ground in Gulf of Maine, located about 50 km from Portsmouth, NH. These marks, which have a relief of only few centimeters, are presumed to be caused by bottom dredging gear used in the area for scallop and clam fisheries. The extraction of these small features from a noisy data set (including …

Geocoder: An Efficient Backscatter Map Constructor, Luciano E. Fonseca, Brian R. Calder

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

The acoustic backscatter acquired by multibeam and sidescan sonars carries important information about the seafloor morphology and physical properties, providing valuable data to aid the difficult task of seafloor characterization, and important auxiliary information for a bathymetric survey. One necessary step towards this characterization is the assemblage of more consistent and more accurate mosaics of acoustic backscatter. For that, it is necessary to radiometrically correct the backscatter intensities registered by these sonars, to geometrically correct and position each acoustic sample in a projection coordinate system and to interpolate properly the intensity values into a final backscatter map. Geocoder is a …