CICEET Progress Report for the period 3/15/05 Through 9/15/05

Project Title: Development of an integrated data acquisition and coastal marine GIS analysis system for habitat mapping and change detection in the Elkhorn Slough NERR
Principal Investigator(s): Rikk G. Kvitek
Project Start Date: 1 September 2002

Project Summary
Habitat change and loss due to anthropogenic and natural factors is the major environmental problem facing many coastal and estuarine resource management agencies. Harbor creation adjacent to the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve (ESNERR) has led to increased tidal scour that is rapidly eroding the banks, salt marsh and main channel of Elkhorn Slough, destroying freshwater wetlands, and inundating an active railroad line. There is also evidence that seismic activity may be contributing to the loss of salt marsh habitat and increased tidal scour. The purpose of this project is the development and implementation of an integrated system of RTK GPS telephony, acoustic remote sensing, and marine GIS tools for marine habitat mapping and change detection within the ESNERR. This collaborative work has been undertaken with 4 industry partners involved in the commercial development of new technologies in three main areas: 1) RTK GPS for hydrographic survey applications, 2) automated seafloor substrate classification and 3) tidally explicit marine GIS. Working with Trimble Navigation, are breaking new ground in RTK-based hydrographic surveying and on-the-fly tidal modeling. Working with Triton-Elics and Quester Tangent, we are developing automated habitat discrimination products for classifying subtidal estuarine habitats and plant communities using sidescan sonar data. We are also working closely with ESRI to provide the only estuarine data set to be used in the development of the ArcGIS Marine Data Model. The goal of this model is to create a Marine GIS capability for addressing the multiple dimensionality and dynamism of marine data, handling the temporal and dynamic properties of shoreline and coastal processes, dealing with the inherent fuzziness of ocean boundaries, and the need for spatial data structures that vary their relative positions and values over time.

These new technologies are being developed, integrated and applied to achieve the following research objectives at the ESNERR over the 2-year project period:

• Classify and map the distribution of marine habitats within the ESNERR
• Determine the spatial and temporal distribution of rates of sediment erosion, deposition and habitat change
• Determine the elevations and rates of subsidence of the Southern Pacific Railway across the salt marsh
• Test the hypothesis that subsidence during 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake has contributed to tidal flooding and marsh loss in the headword region of the Elkhorn Slough

The Seafloor Mapping Lab at CSUMB, making use of its existing RTK GPS, multibeam, sidescan and sub-bottom sonar survey systems, is responsible for all data collection.

Accomplishments
Progress On Tasks
Acoustic surveys
The third and final comprehensive multibeam bathymetry and sidescan sonar survey of the Elkhorn Slough was completed in August 2005. Processing and analysis of these data has been underway since that time and should be completed by the end of the calendar year. The results from this survey will be used in the final tidal scour change detection and tidal prism analyses, eagerly anticipated by the Elkhorn Slough Tidal Wetlands Management Plan Team. Results based on the initial surveys were presented in the previous progress report, and they will be updated with the new findings from August.

Difficulties Encountered
The only difficulty encountered during this period was the failure of the RTK corrections broadcast data link due to AT&T no longer supporting the CDPD cell phone modem protocol. This change did not pose a serious problem because we were able to post-process the kinematic GPS tide data collected on board the survey vessel with files from our GPS basestation at the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve. This approach retained the same accuracy and vertical reference as used in the previous RTK based-surveys. This experience speaks well for the practice of always logging basestation files and kinematic rove files for post-processing in the event of a data link failure.

Anticipated Success in Meeting Project Objectives
The project is on schedule, and all objectives should be achieved on time. This timeline takes into account the extension granted to allow for maximal temporal spacing of the final sonar survey needed to increase our change detection capability.

Tasks and activities for next reporting period

Tasks for the Next Reporting Period
completion of final change detection analysis, habitat map and tidal prism modeling.

Expenditures
Expenditures have been in the range anticipated for the work accomplished to date.