A 3-D GIS and Quantitative Backscatter Analysis in Support of STRATAFORM
Abstract
LONG-TERM GOALS. Our long-term goal is to provide the fundamental mapping information and visualization tools necessary to support STRATAFORM's multidisciplinary effort to develop a more complete understanding of how short-term oceanographic and geological processes interact to produce the preserved geologic record on the shelf and slope portions of the continental margins. This effort began with detailed mapping of the bathymetry and backscatter of the STRATAFROM survey areas and is now continuing with the integration of the many data sets collected in the northern California STRATAFORM region into a GIS system that will allow all STRATAFORM researchers (and others) to interactively explore the complex relationships amongst seafloor, water-column, and subsurface parameters in an easy and intuitive fashion. SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIVES. The fundamental objective of the STRATAFORM Swathmapping Program is to provide complete (100%) bathymetric and sidescan imagery coverage of the Northern California and N.J. Margin STRATAFORM field areas. This has allowed STRATAFORM investigators to evaluate the geologic processes of the shelf and slope over a continuum of scales. Complete coverage also has provided STRATAFORM investigators with the knowledge that their studies are based on a complete picture of morphological relationships rather than the interpolation of sparsely spaced data. In doing this, we have produced a bathymetric, geomorphological, and potentially lithological framework upon which all subsequent work can be built.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 30, 1999
- Accession Number
- ADA636449
Entities
People
- Larry Mayer
Organizations
- University of New Hampshire