ME70 Water Column Sonar Data Collected During SH1709

Description

Many species of rockfishes live in complex rocky habitats, have been over-fished, and are difficult or impossible to accurately survey using conventional bottom-trawl gear. Our ability to count these species in rocky habitats and to delineate the distribution and extent of these habitats is critical to the estimation of absolute abundance of these species for stock assessments. To that end, NMFS is pursuing the Untrawlable Habitat Strategic Initiative (UHSI) field research in the Southern California Bight. Associated with the goals of the UHSI, NMFS also recognizes the need for more high-resolution mapping of the seafloor in order to delineate and quantify rockfish habitats. Research planned for October 2017 on the B. Shimada represents year-2 of the UHSI project in Southern California. We are using the results from our year-1 study off the R. Lasker in October 2016 in Southern California to inform the experiments we will conduct in this second year from the B. Shimada . We also will continue our plan to map the seafloor at priority sites in and around the Channel Islands. During this mission, we will 1) rendezvous with R/V Velero IV (contracted through NMFS) and use NMFS’s Seabed autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) as part of an underwater experiment to observe and quantify the behavior of rockfishes in reaction to mobile survey vehicles; 2) acquire high-resolution bathymetric data around the northern Channel Islands using the vessel’s ME70 sonar; 3) survey rockfishes and habitats visually using the AUV; 4) deploy and retrieve small drop cameras to observe fishes on the seafloor. This is a multi-year collaboration among researchers from the NMFS SWFSC, NWFSC, SEFSC, and AFSC, and complements ongoing similar surveys being conducted in the Gulf of Mexico as well as ongoing seafloor mapping and habitat surveys being conducted by NOAAs Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. The results of this mission will lead to more accurate estimates of demersal fish populations and associated habitats in deep-water, thereby supporting NOAA’s objectives to achieve sustainable fisheries and improve our understanding of marine ecosystems. Our findings will improve stock assessments of species in untrawlable habitats, and will assist in the interpretation and understanding of the use of deepwater habitats by demersal fishes.

Resources

Name Format Description Link
0 Interactive map viewer to allow discovery and access to water column sonar data https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/maps/water-column-sonar/index.html?surveys=SH1709&instruments=ME70
0 AWS Cloud Storage to provide additional public access to water column sonar data through the NOAA Open Data Dissemination project (NODD) https://registry.opendata.aws/ncei-wcsd-archive/
0 Web page containing information on the water column sonar data archive. https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/wcd/
0 Information for contacts at NCEI. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/contact
0 Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). 2024. GCMD Keywords, Version 19. Greenbelt, MD: Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). URL (GCMD Keyword Forum Page): https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD+Keywords https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD%2BKeywords
0 Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). 2024. GCMD Keywords, Version 19. Greenbelt, MD: Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). URL (GCMD Keyword Forum Page): https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD+Keywords https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD%2BKeywords
0 Publication of Sea Areas is maintained by IHO. https://iho.int/
0 Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). 2024. GCMD Keywords, Version 19. Greenbelt, MD: Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). URL (GCMD Keyword Forum Page): https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD+Keywords https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD%2BKeywords
0 Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). 2024. GCMD Keywords, Version 19. Greenbelt, MD: Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). URL (GCMD Keyword Forum Page): https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD+Keywords https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD%2BKeywords

Tags

  • water column
  • vertical location
  • acoustic scattering
  • water column mapping system
  • north pacific ocean
  • benthic
  • ecosystems
  • nesdis
  • biosphere
  • bathymetry
  • in situ/laboratory instruments
  • oceans
  • national geophysical data center
  • noaa
  • marine ecosystems
  • aquatic sciences
  • u.s. department of commerce
  • profilers/sounders
  • earth science
  • acoustic sounders
  • doc/noaa/nesdis/ngdc
  • bathymetry/seafloor topography
  • aquatic ecosystems
  • doc/noaa/nesdis/ncei
  • fisheries
  • pelagic
  • wcms
  • seafloor topography
  • national centers for environmental information
  • ocean acoustics

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