Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons^™

A Process For Producing Ice Coverage Marine Information Objects (Mios) In Iho S-57 Format, George Dias, David F. Coleman, Ahmed El-Rabbany, Benson Agi, Lee Alexander

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

While global warming may be opening up more Arctic waters in the summer, ice still infests key shipping lanes in the northern hemisphere during the winter months. To safely navigate these areas, mariners rely on daily ice coverage charts produced by national governmental agencies. Ice charts are primarily issued in paper format or as a fax. However, there is increased interest to ice coverage information on vessel navigation systems such as an Electronic Chart and Display Information Systems (ECDIS). However, to do so, the ice information must be provided as a separate layer of information to the Electronic Navigational Chart …

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 …

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.

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 …

Maximum A Posteriori Resampling Of Noisy, Spatially Correlated Data, John A. Goff, Chris Jenkins, Brian R. Calder

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

In any geologic application, noisy data are sources of consternation for researchers, inhibiting interpretability and marring images with unsightly and unrealistic artifacts. Filtering is the typical solution to dealing with noisy data. However, filtering commonly suffers from ad hoc (i.e., uncalibrated, ungoverned) application. We present here an alternative to filtering: a newly developed method for correcting noise in data by finding the “best” value given available information. The motivating rationale is that data points that are close to each other in space cannot differ by “too much,” where “too much” is governed by the field covariance. Data with large uncertainties …

In Situ Evidence For Renitrification In The Arctic Lower Stratosphere During The Polar Aura Validation Experiment (Pave), Jack E. Dibb, Eric Scheuer, Melody A. Avery, G W. Sachse

Earth Sciences

In-situ measurements of nitric acid (HNO₃), ozone (O₃), and nitrous oxide (N₂O) were made from the NASA DC-8 during the Polar Aura Validation Experiment in January/February 2005. In the lower stratosphere (9–12.5 km, potential temperature 300–350 K) characteristic compact relationships were observed between all three gases. The ratio HNO₃/O₃ averaged 3.5 (±0.7) ppt/ppb. Samples with enhanced HNO₃/O₃ (>4.0) were most abundant under the edge of the Arctic Polar vortex in airmasses with enhanced mixing ratios of both gases (>400 ppb O₃ and >2000 ppt HNO …

Observations Of Hono By Laser-Induced Fluorescence At The South Pole During Antci 2003, W Liao, A T. Case, J Mastromarino, D Tan, Jack E. Dibb

Earth Sciences

Observations of nitrous acid (HONO) by laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) at the South Pole taken during the Antarctic Troposphere Chemistry Investigation (ANTCI), which took place over the time period of Nov. 15, 2003 to Jan. 4, 2004, are presented here. The median observed mixing ratio of HONO 10 m above the snow was 5.8 pptv (mean value 6.3 pptv) with a maximum of 18.2 pptv on Nov 30th, Dec 1st, 3rd, 15th, 17th, 21st, 22nd, 25th, 27th and 28th. The measurement uncertainty is ±35%. The LIF HONO observations are compared to concurrent HONO observations performed by mist chamber/ion chromatography (MC/IC). The …

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.

Expedition 302 Summary, Jan Backman, Kathryn Moran, Larry A. Mayer

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

The first scientific drilling expedition to the central Arctic Ocean was completed in September 2004. Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 302, Arctic Coring Expedition (ACEX), recovered sediment cores to 428 meters below seafloor (mbsf) in water depths of ~1300 m, 250 km from the North Pole. Expedition 302’s destination was the Lomonosov Ridge, hypothesized to be a sliver of continental crust that broke away from the Eurasian plate at ~56 Ma. As the ridge moved northward and subsided, marine sedimentation occurred and continues to the present, resulting in what was anticipated from seismic data to be a continuous paleoceanographic record. …

Climate In The Balance, Cameron P. Wake

The University Dialogue

This essay explores how our climate system works, how humans are changing the climate system, and how we might face the challenges of reducing our negative impact on the climate system in the future.

A Multibeam Survey Of Mid-Seneca Lake: Bathymetry, Backscatter, And Invasive Species, Thomas C. Weber, Anthony P. Lyons

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

No abstract provided.

Automated Generation Of Geo-Referenced Mosaics From Video Collected By Deep Submergence Vehicles: An Example From Rosebud Vent (Galapagos Rift), Stace E. Beaulieu, Tim M. Shank, Adam Soule, D J. Fornari, Yuri Rzhanov, Larry A. Mayer

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

No abstract provided.

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

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

No abstract provided.

Mariner Perceptions Regarding The Display Of Uncertainty On Nautical Charting Products, Brian Heap

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

No abstract provided.

On The Use Of Historical Bathymetric Data To Determine Changes In Bathymetry: An Analysis Of Errors And Application To Great Bay Estuary, Nh, Martin Jakobsson, Andy Armstrong, Brian R. Calder, Lloyd C. Huff, Larry A. Mayer, Larry G. Ward

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

The depth measurements that are incorporated into bathymetric charts have associated errors with magnitudes depending on the survey circumstances and applied techniques. For this reason, combining and comparing depth measurements collected over many years with different techniques and standards is a difficult task which must be done with great caution. In this study we have developed an approach for comparing historical bathymetric surveys. Our methodology uses Monte Carlo modelling to account for the random error components inherited in the data due to positioning and depth measurement uncertainties.

Capacity Building In Ocean Bathymetry: The Nippon Foundation Gebco Training Programme At The University Of New Hampshire, Srinivas Karlipata, Dave Monahan, H M. Caceres, Taisei Morishita, Abubakar Mustapha, Walter Reynoso Peralta, Shereen Sharma, Clive Angwenyi

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

A successful Capacity Building project in hydrography is underway at the University of New Hampshire. Organised by the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans and sponsored by the Nippon Foundation, the programme trains hydrographers and other marine scientists in bathymetric mapping. Participants are formally prepared to produce bathymetric maps when they return to their home countries through a combination of graduate level courses and workshops, practical field training, participation in deep ocean research cruises, working visits to other laboratories and institutions, focused lectures from visiting experts, and the preparation of a bathymetry map of their area from public domain data. …

Measurement Of In Situ Acoustic Properties For The Onr Geoclutter Program, Annual Report, Geoclutter Program, Larry A. Mayer, Barbara J. Kraft, Luciano E. Fonseca

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

No abstract provided.

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, …

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 …

Applying The Test Of Appurtenance Globally: A New Inventory Of Wide Margin States From Public Domain Data, Dave Monahan, Robert Van De Poll, Sara Cockburn

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

No abstract provided.

U.S. Law Of The Sea Cruise To Map The Foot Of The Slope And 2500-M Isobath Of The Northeast U.S. Atlantic Continental Margin: Legs 4 And 5. Cruise Report, Doug Cartwright, James V. Gardner

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

U.S. Law of the Sea cruise to map the foot of the slope and 2500-m isobath of the Northeast US Atlantic continental margin: Legs 4 and 5

CRUISES PF05-1 and 2

April 25 to June 30, 2005

Norfolk, VA to Port Canaveral, FL

The Open Navigation Surface Project, Brian R. Calder, Shannon Byrne, Bill Lamey, Rick T. Brennan, James D. Case, David Fabre, Barry Gallagher, R Wade Ladner, Friedhelm Moggert, Mark Paton

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

Many hydrographic and oceanographic agencies have moved or are moving towards gridded bathymetric products. However, there is no accepted format to allow these grids to be exchanged while maintaining data and metadata integrity. This paper describes the Open Navigation Surface (ONS) Project, which aims to fill this gap. The ONS Project is an open-source software project designed to provide a freely available, portable source-code library to encapsulate gridded bathymetric surfaces with associated uncertainty values. The data file format is called a Bathymetric Attributed Grid (BAG). The BAG is developed and maintained by the ONS Working Group (ONSWG), and the source …

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 …

A Sensor Fusion Approach To Coastal Mapping, Maryellen Sault, Christopher Parrish, Stephen A. White, Jon Sellars, Jason Woolard

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

NOAA’s National Geodetic Survey (NGS) is responsible for mapping the national shoreline. This shoreline provides the critical baseline for demarcating the United States’ marine territorial limits, including its Exclusive Economic Zone; and is used in updating NOAA nautical charts and management of coastal resourses. NGS conducted a data fusion research project in collaboration with the Joint Airborne Lidar Bathymetric Technical Center of Expertise (JALBTCX) and other NOAA partners. In March and April of 2004, hyperspectral imagery, topographic lidar data, and highresolution digital color imagery were collected simultaneously aboard the NOAA Citation for coastal project areas in Florida and California. The …

New Views Of The U.S. Continental Margins, James V. Gardner, Larry A. Mayer, Andy Armstrong

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

No abstract provided.

An Estimate Of The Gas Transfer Rate From Oceanic Bubbles Derived From Multibeam Sonar Observations Of A Ship Wake, Thomas C. Weber, Anthony P. Lyons, David L. Bradley

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

Measurements of gas transfer rates from bubbles have been made in the laboratory, but these are difficult to extrapolate to oceanic bubbles where populations of surfactants and particulate matter that inhibit gas transfer are different. Measurements at sea are complicated by unknown bubble creation rates that make it difficult to uniquely identify and observe the evolution of individual bubble clouds. One method that eliminates these difficulties is to measure bubbles in a ship wake where bubble creation at any given location is confined to the duration of the passing ship. This method assumes that the mechanisms slowing the gas dissolution …

Future Edition Of Iho S-57 (4.0), Lee Alexander, Michael Brown, Barrie Greenslade, Anthony Pharaoh

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

No abstract provided.

An In-Depth Look At Shallow Water Multibeam, Dave Monahan

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

No abstract provided.

Protocols For Calibrating Multibeam Sonar, Kenneth G. Foote, Dezhang Chu, Terence R. Hammer, Kenneth Baldwin, Larry A. Mayer, Lawrence C. Hufnagle Jr., J Michael Jech

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

Development of protocols for calibrating multibeam sonar by means of the standard-target method is documented. Particular systems used in the development work included three that provide the water-column signals, namely the SIMRAD SM2000/90- and 200-kHz sonars and RESON SeaBat 8101 sonar, with operating frequency of 240 kHz. Two facilities were instrumented specifically for the work: a sea well at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and a large, indoor freshwater tank at the University of New Hampshire. Methods for measuring the transfer characteristics of each sonar, with transducers attached, are described and illustrated with measurement results. The principal results, however, are …

Exploring Causal Influences, Eric M. Neufeld, Sonje K. Kristtorn, Qingjuan Guan, Manon Sanscartier, Colin Ware

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

Recent data mining techniques exploit patterns of statistical independence in multivariate data to make conjectures about cause/effect relationships. These relationships can be used to construct causal graphs, which are sometimes represented by weighted node-link diagrams, with nodes representing variables and combinations of weighted links and/or nodes showing the strength of causal relationships. We present an interactive visualization for causal graphs (ICGs), inspired in part by the Influence Explorer. The key principles of this visualization are as follows: Variables are represented with vertical bars attached to nodes in a graph. Direct manipulation of variables is achieved by sliding a variable value …