Back to Search
Start Over
Continuous, High-Resolution Mapping of Coastal Seafloor Sediment Distribution.
- Source :
-
Remote Sensing . Mar2022, Vol. 14 Issue 5, pN.PAG-N.PAG. 1p. - Publication Year :
- 2022
-
Abstract
- Seafloor topography and grain size distribution are pivotal features in marine and coastal environments, able to influence benthic community structure and ecological processes at many spatial scales. Accordingly, there is a strong interest in multiple research disciplines to obtain seafloor geological and/or habitat maps. The aim of this study was to provide a novel, automatic and simple model to obtain high-resolution seafloor maps, using backscatter and bathymetric multibeam system data. For this purpose, we calibrated a linear regression model relating grain size distribution values, extracted from samples collected in a 16 km2 area near Bagnoli–Coroglio (southern Italy), against backscatter and depth-derived covariates. The linear model achieved excellent goodness-of-fit and predictive accuracy, yielding detailed, spatially explicit predictions of grain size. We also showed that a ground-truth sample size as large as 40% of that considered in this study was sufficient to calibrate analogous regression models in different areas. Regardless of some limitations (i.e., inability to predict rocky outcrops and/or seagrass meadows), our modeling approach proved to be a flexible tool whose main advantage is the rendering of a continuous map for sediment size, in lieu of categorical mapping approaches which usually report sharp boundaries or rely on a few sediment classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 20724292
- Volume :
- 14
- Issue :
- 5
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Remote Sensing
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 155734655
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14051268