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, MCR) 采集了高分辨率条带测深 (swath bathymetry) 与反向散射 (backscatter) 数据。
本研究中美国地质调查局 (U.S. Geological Survey) 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的各类水动力与泥沙输运过程。
哥伦比亚河河口属于动态河口航道，兼具强浪、大潮流与显著径流量特征，由此形成了强烈的河口环流。
本研究的现场观测部分包含一场高强度原位实验，采用了底置三脚架式仪器、移动观测平台、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条带测深与反向散射测绘数据。
条带测深结果显示，河口航道全域广泛分布海底床形地貌。
测深数据可用于设置水动力数值模型的底部边界条件，同时用于探究海底粗糙度特征。在浅水环境的水动力模型中，海底粗糙度是关键边界条件，而床形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在于公开2013年5月13日至25日哥伦比亚河河口干涉式条带测量所获取的实验方法、元数据 (meta-data) 以及经过处理的测深与反向散射数据。