Bathymetric Surveys

What is Bathymetry?
Bathymetry is the measurement of the depths of water bodies from the water surface. Its the
marine equivalent to topography. Bathymetric surveys are generally conducted with a
transducer which both transmits a sound pulse from the water surface (usually attached to a
boat) and records that same signal when it bounces from the bottom of the water body. An
echosounder attached to the transducer filters and records the travel time of the pulse. At the
same time that the pulse occurs, a GPS unit can record the location of the reading. After many
of these readings are taken, corrections are made based on fluctuations in the water surface
elevation that may have occurred during the survey. The individual points are then mapped;
easily done in a GIS.
Bathymetric surveys are used to characterize contaminated sediment sites for a number of
reasons. The surveys record the sediment surface prior to remediation to assist in the
remediation process. Surveys taken over time assist project managers in determining the
transience of bottom sediments. This information can determine whether the contaminated

sediment is stable or is susceptible to re-suspension. Surveys can also check on the efficiency
of dredging operations.

FIELDS Use of Bathymetry

The FIELDS Team has been active in the generation of bathymetric profiles of contaminated
sediment sites since 1996. Bathymetric surveys have been an integral part of many FIELDS
assisted projects including Manistique Harbor, Pine River, Torch Lake, and Deer Lake.
The FIELDS Team has utilized survey boats with either an over-the-side or hull mounted
narrow beam (5 degree) transducer. The narrow beam averages over a smaller section of the
bottom decreasing error. The echosounder used by the FIELDS Team is capable of industrystandard bar check calibration for high quality measurements of sound velocity and boat
draft. In addition, a portable sound velocity unit was recently added to measure the water
column in case of temperature stratification. GPS is provided by a sub-meter differentially
corrected GPS unit mounted over the transducer. Coverage is assured using specialized survey
software (Coastal Oceanographics HYPACK) which generates planned lines according to the
accuracy needed. Water level corrections are obtained using either USGS gauges or a portable
measuring device surveyed into location with survey grade GPS. To minimize the error caused
by wave action, the FIELDS survey boat has been recently equipped with a heave/pitch/roll
sensor which sends information to the survey software for signal correction.
Once data is collected and edited for obvious errors in the survey software, the soundings are
converted to depth or elevation in either feet or meters and then exported to text files for
import into GIS. Then, using the FIELDS Tools in ArcView, the points are interpolated in order
to generate a surface map. If the file is very large (some files contain 40,000 points), the
FIELDS Team may interpolate the data in Dynamic Graphics EarthVision software using
EarthVisions proprietary minimum tension gridding.