TY070 facies interpretation from 2004 sidescan

Temporal survey of dredged material disposal site ‘TY070’ (approx 8 x 4 km) off North Tyne, to assess utility of techniques for Seabed mapping and monitoring. Pilot survey in 2001 using sidescan, AGDS, drop camera, grabs and trawls. 100 % sidescan Mosaics in 2002, 2003, 2004. Multibeam surveys in 2003, 2004. AGDS surveys in 2003, 2003. Outputs from each year acoustic surveys were used to delineate ‘acoustically distinct areas’ which were then ground-truthed using grabs, trawls & video (& sediment profile imagery in 2003). AGDS data (RoxAnn & QTC) subject to supervised & unsupervised classification for conparison across years [Supervised classification for QTC only, for 2001, 2002 & 2003. Supervision based on sediment classification, Faunal classes, and sediment/bedform types identified from sidescan mosaic]. Polygonised map submitted is for the 2004 survey, showing Seabed character (substrate & bedform) interpreted from sidescan Mosaics. Habitat/biotope classification not attempted.