Los Angeles and San Diego Margin High-Resolution Multibeam Bathymetry and Backscatter Data

The U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the University of New Hampshire
and the University of New Brunswick mapped the nearshore regions off Los
Angeles and San Diego, California using multibeam echosounders. Multibeam
bathymetry and co-registered, corrected acoustic backscatter were collected in
water depths ranging from about 3 to 900 m offshore Los Angeles and in water
depths ranging from about 17 to 1230 m offshore San Diego. Continuous, 16-m
spatial resolution, GIS ready format data of the entire Los Angeles Margin and
San Diego Margin are available online as separate USGS Open-File Reports.

For ongoing research, the USGS has processed sub-regions within these datasets
at finer resolutions. The resolution of each sub-region was determined by the
density of soundings within the region. This Open-File Report contains the
finer resolution multibeam bathymetry and acoustic backscatter data that the
USGS, Western Region, Coastal and Marine Geology Team has processed into GIS
ready formats as of April 2004. The data are available in ArcInfo GRID and XYZ
formats. See the Los Angeles or San Diego maps for the sub-region locations.

These datasets in their present form were not originally intended for
publication. The bathymetry and backscatter have data-collection and processing
artifacts. These data are being made public to fulfill a Freedom of Information
Act request. Care must be taken not to confuse artifacts with real seafloor
morphology and acoustic backscatter.

[Summary provided by the USGS.]