Seafloor character, 2-m grid--Offshore of Coal Oil Point, California

This part of SIM 3302 presents data for the seafloor-character map (see sheet 5, SIM 3302) of the Offshore of Coal Oil Point map area, California. The raster data file is included in "SeafloorCharacter_OffshoreCoalOilPoint_2m.zip," which is accessible from http://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/781/OffshoreCoalOilPoint/data_catalog_OffshoreCoalOilPoint.html. These metadata describe the seafloor-character data collected at 2-m resolution. See "SeafloorCharacter_OffshoreCoalOilPoint_5m_metadata.txt" metadata for a description of the seafloor-character data collected at 5-m resolution.
The raster-format seafloor-character map shows five substrate classes of the Offshore of Coal Oil Point map area. The substrate classes mapped in this map area have been colored to indicate in which of the following California Marine Life Protection Act depth zones and slope classes they belong: Depth Zone 2 (intertidal to 30 m), Depth Zone 3 (30 to 100 m), Depth Zone 4 (100 to 200 m), Slope Class 1, 0 degrees to 5 degrees (flat), Slope Class 2, 5 degrees to 30 degrees (sloping), and Slope Class 3, 30 degrees to 60 degrees (steeply sloping). Depth Zone 1 (intertidal), Depth Zone 5 (greater than 200 m), and Slope Classes 4 and 5, greater than 60 degrees (vertical to overhang) are not present in this map area. The map is created using a supervised classification method described by Cochrane (2008), available at http://doc.nprb.org/web/research/research%20pubs/615_habitat_mapping_workshop/Individual%20Chapters%20High-Res/Ch13%20Cochrane.pdf.
Bathymetry data were collected at two different resolutions: at 2-m resolution, down to approximately 80-m water depth (2006-2008 USGS data, and 2007 CSUMB data); and at 5-m resolution, in the deeper areas (2009 Fugro Pelagos data). The final resolution of the seafloor-character map is determined by the resolution of both the backscatter and bathymetry datasets; therefore, separate seafloor-character maps were generated to retain the maximum resolution of the source data.
References Cited:
California Department of Fish and Game, 2008, California Marine Life Protection Act master plan for marine protected areas--Revised draft: California Department of Fish and Game, accessed April 5, 2011, at http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa/masterplan.asp.
Cochrane, G.R., 2008, Video-supervised classification of sonar data for mapping seafloor habitat, in Reynolds, J.R., and Greene, H.G., eds., Marine habitat mapping technology for Alaska: Fairbanks, University of Alaska, Alaska Sea Grant College Program, p. 185-194, accessed April 5, 2011, at http://doc.nprb.org/web/research/research%20pubs/615_habitat_mapping_workshop/Individual%20Chapters%20High-Res/Ch13%20Cochrane.pdf.
Sappington, J.M., Longshore, K.M., and Thompson, D.B., 2007, Quantifying landscape ruggedness for animal habitat analysis--A case study using bighorn sheep in the Mojave Desert: Journal of Wildlife Management, v. 71, p. 1,419-1,426.

Tags: Backscatter, Bathymetry, CMGP, California, Coal Oil Point, Ecosystem, Fisheries, Geology, Goleta, Intensity, Isla Vista, Multibeam, Ocean Floor Topography, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Pacific Ocean, Santa Barbara Channel, Santa Barbara County, Seafloor Character, U.S. Geological Survey, USGS, biota, oceans, oceans--bathymetryseafloortopography--bathymetry, oceans--bathymetryseafloortopography--seafloor-topography, westcoastoceans.org
Organization: Ocean Data Partners