Multi-sensor mapping of nearshore seafloor habitat for San Diego region

Summary form only given. A major California regional program to map seafloor habitat from the Mexican border to Dana Point between high tide and 20 fathoms was completed in 2003. The California Coastal Conservancy sponsors this program in association with Sandag. This presentation presents results of the Phase II survey vessel and airborne operations for data acquisition, and presents results in format from Phase I seafloor classification system. These results provide the first comprehensive detailed map offshore San Diego using modern technologies. Three complementary survey technologies were integrated to obtain seafloor and intertidal data over the 135-km stretch of coastline: multibeam echosounder data acquisition, hydrographic LIDAR data acquired by USACE and provided by Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and Digital Multi-spectral Camera (DMSC) imagery acquired and interpreted by Ocean Imaging. The maps were delivered in GIS format for presentation to the public via the Internet. A primary application for these results will be for planning sand replenishment projects. However the data are high-resolution and comprehensive and can be used by fishermen and fisheries scientists, divers, and coastal scientists for a wider range of purposes.