Bathymetry and Backscatter from 2013 Interferometric Swath Bathymetry Systems Survey of Columbia River Mouth, Oregon and Washington

High-resolution swath bathymetry and backscatter were collected in the Mouth of the Columbia River (MCR) as part of the Office of Naval Research (ONR) funded River and Inlet Dynamics Experiment in 2013. The goal of the U.S. Geological Survey's component of the research was to evaluate the various hydrodynamic and sediment transport processes in the Columbia River estuary entrance using a combination of field observations coupled with Delft3D model simulations. The MCR is a dynamic estuary inlet with large waves, large tidal currents, and a significant river discharge, resulting in a strong estuarine circulation. The field component of the study consisted of an intensive in-situ experiment with bottom-mounted instrument tripods, mobile instrument platforms, GPS-equipped drifters, and collection of spatial maps of bed sediment grain-size and swath surveys of bathymetry and backscatter. The swath bathymetric surveys revealed ubiquitous seafloor bed forms throughout the estuary entrance. The bathymetric data are used to set bottom boundary conditions for the numerical models of hydrodynamics and to explore the characteristics of the seafloor roughness. Bottom roughness is an important boundary condition in hydrodynamic models of shallow environments and bed form size and roughness are poorly predicted. The purpose of this data release is to make available the methods, the meta-data, and the processed bathymetry and backscatter data from the May 13-25, 2013 Interferometric swath survey of the Mouth of the Columbia River.

2013年，作为美国海军研究办公室（Office of Naval Research, ONR）资助的河流与航道动力学实验项目的组成部分，研究团队于哥伦比亚河河口（Mouth of the Columbia River，简称MCR）采集了高分辨率条带测深与反向散射数据。本研究中美国地质调查局（U.S. Geological Survey）承担的研究目标为：结合现场观测与Delft3D模型模拟，评估哥伦比亚河河口航道处的各类水动力与泥沙输运过程。MCR属于动态河口航道，区域内波浪、潮流强劲，径流量可观，由此形成了显著的河口环流。本研究的现场实验部分包含高密度原位观测：布设海底仪器三脚架、移动观测平台与搭载GPS的漂流浮标，并采集了床沉积物粒度空间分布图以及测深与反向散射条带测量数据。条带测深调查结果显示，整个河口航道区域遍布海底床面形态。测深数据被用于设置水动力数值模型的海底边界条件，同时可用于探究海底粗糙度特征。在浅水环境的水动力模型中，海底粗糙度是一项关键边界条件，而当前床面形态尺寸与粗糙度的预测精度仍有待提升。本次数据发布的目的是公开2013年5月13日至25日哥伦比亚河河口干涉条带测量所获取的观测方法、元数据以及经过处理的测深与反向散射数据。