Historical bathymetry and bathymetric change within San Francisco Bay, California: 1855 to 2005
Dates
Publication Date
2024-10-04
Citation
Foxgrover, A.C., Fregoso, T.A., and Jaffe, B.E., 2024, Historical bathymetry and bathymetric change within San Francisco Bay, California: 1855 to 2005: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P13H35QB.
Summary
Here we present a time series of San Francisco Bay bathymetric grids created from historical hydrographic surveys collected by the National Ocean Service (NOS) and its predecessor, the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, from the 1850s to 1980s and one additional survey of south San Francisco Bay collected in 2005 by Sea Surveyor, Inc. Using surface modeling software, the soundings from each survey were supplemented with hand-drawn contours and shorelines obtained from topographic sheets to generate bathymetric DEMs at a horizontal resolution of 25 or 50 meters. The DEMs are divided into four subembayments: Central, South, San Pablo, and Suisun Bays and each subembayment was surveyed either five or six times over the approximately [...]
Summary
Here we present a time series of San Francisco Bay bathymetric grids created from historical hydrographic surveys collected by the National Ocean Service (NOS) and its predecessor, the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, from the 1850s to 1980s and one additional survey of south San Francisco Bay collected in 2005 by Sea Surveyor, Inc. Using surface modeling software, the soundings from each survey were supplemented with hand-drawn contours and shorelines obtained from topographic sheets to generate bathymetric DEMs at a horizontal resolution of 25 or 50 meters. The DEMs are divided into four subembayments: Central, South, San Pablo, and Suisun Bays and each subembayment was surveyed either five or six times over the approximately 150-year timespan. The bathymetric DEMs are provided in GeoTIFF format, vertically referenced to the Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW) tidal epoch referenced at the time of data collection. The consecutive surveys, generally collected 20-30 years apart, were then adjusted to account for changes in sea level over the intervening time periods and differenced to reveal amounts of sediment deposition and erosion.
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Related External Resources
Type: Publication that references this resource
Fregoso, T.A., Foxgrover, A.C., and Jaffe, B.E., 2023, Sediment deposition, erosion, and bathymetric change in San Francisco Bay, California, 1971–1990 and 1999–2020 (ver. 1.1, June 2024): U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2023–1031
Analysis of historical bathymetric surveys enables us to reconstruct the surface of the bay floor through time and quantify spatial and temporal changes in deposition, erosion, and bathymetry over decadal time scales. These data provide insight on changes to San Francisco Bay in response to natural processes as well as anthropogenic activities and can inform numerous studies and applications such as sediment management practices, restoration projects, regional adaptation plans, contaminant transport research, and sea-level rise studies. These data are intended for science researchers, students, policy makers, and the general public. These data can be used with geographic information systems (GIS) or other software to identify changes in depth between the two time periods. These data are not intended to be used for navigational purposes.
Rights
This work is marked with Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/).
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Sample maps of San Francisco Bay bathymetry and bathymetric change