One meter mosaic of acoustic backscatter data acquired using a SWATHplus-H interferometric sonar in Barnegat and Little Egg Inlets, New Jersey by the U.S. Geological Survey in 2012, and 2013 (GeoTIFF image, UTM 18N, WGS 84)

In 2011, the US Geological Survey in partnership with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection began a multidisciplinary research project to better understand the water quality in Barnegat Bay, New Jersey. This back-barrier estuary is flushed by only three inlets and is experiencing degraded water quality, algal blooms, loss of seagrass, and increases in oxygen stress, macro algae, stinging nettles, and brown tide. The scale of the estuary and the scope of the problems within it necessitate a multidisciplinary approach that includes establishing the regional geology, its physical characteristics, and modeling how the estuary's morphology interacts to affect its water quality.
Scientists from USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Program offices in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, and St. Petersburg, Florida, began mapping the seafloor of the Barnegat Bay-Little Egg Harbor estuary in November 2011 and completed in September 2013. With funding from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and logistical support from the USGS New Jersey Water Science Center, they collected data with a suite of geophysical tools, including swath bathymetric sonar for measuring seafloor depth, a sidescan sonar for collecting acoustic-backscatter data (which provides information about seafloor texture and sediment type), subbottom profiler for imaging sediment layers beneath the floor of the estuary, and sediment samples with bottom photographs for ground validation of the acoustic data.
More information about the individual surveys conducted as part of the Barnegat Bay Project can be found on the Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center Field activity webpages:
2011-041-FA: http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/operations/ia/public_ds_info.php?fa=2011-041-FA
2012-003-FA: http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/operations/ia/public_ds_info.php?fa=2012-003-FA
2013-014-FA: http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/operations/ia/public_ds_info.php?fa=2013-014-FA
2013-030-FA: http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/operations/ia/public_ds_info.php?fa=2013-030-FA

2011年，美国地质调查局（US Geological Survey, USGS）与新泽西州环境保护部（New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection）合作启动一项多学科研究项目，以深入解析新泽西州巴内加特湾（Barnegat Bay）的水质现状。该后障壁河口（back-barrier estuary）仅通过三处入水口完成水体交换，当前正面临水质退化、藻华暴发、海草床流失、氧气胁迫加剧、大型藻类滋生、刺荨麻泛滥以及褐潮等一系列环境问题。鉴于该河口的规模与内部问题的复杂性，亟需采用多学科研究手段，包括明确区域地质特征与物理属性，以及模拟河口地貌相互作用对水质的影响机制。

来自美国地质调查局马萨诸塞州伍兹霍尔（Woods Hole）及佛罗里达州圣彼得斯堡海岸与海洋地质项目办公室的科研人员，于2011年11月启动巴内加特湾-小蛋港河口（Barnegat Bay-Little Egg Harbor estuary）的海底测绘工作，并于2013年9月完成全部作业。本次研究获得新泽西州环境保护部的资金支持，以及美国地质调查局新泽西水科学中心的后勤保障。科研团队使用多套地球物理工具开展数据采集：包括用于测量海底深度的条带测深声呐（swath bathymetric sonar）、用于采集声学背散射数据（acoustic-backscatter data，可反映海底纹理与沉积物类型）的侧扫声呐（sidescan sonar）、用于成像河口底部沉积层的浅地层剖面仪（subbottom profiler），以及配套海底照片的沉积物样本，用于对声学数据进行地面验证。

有关巴内加特湾项目中各项独立调查的更多详情，可访问伍兹霍尔海岸与海洋科学中心野外活动官方网页：
2011-041-FA: http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/operations/ia/public_ds_info.php?fa=2011-041-FA
2012-003-FA: http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/operations/ia/public_ds_info.php?fa=2012-003-FA
2013-014-FA: http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/operations/ia/public_ds_info.php?fa=2013-014-FA
2013-030-FA: http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/operations/ia/public_ds_info.php?fa=2013-030-FA