W&M’s VIMS & Batten School partner with NOAA to expand access to shallow water mapping data in the Chesapeake Bay

New program turns marine debris removal and other local vessel activity into valuable bathymetric data collection

Virginia Institute of Marine Science

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E.C. Hogg (front) and Ralph Bonniville (back) are TRAP participants who gather bathymetric data.

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Credit: John Wallace, W&M's VIMS & Batten School

GLOUCESTER POINT, VA. — A new partnership between William & Mary’s VIMS & Batten School and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) turns routine vessel operations and lost crab trap removal into a new source of valuable bathymetric data.

Bathymetry describes the depth and shape of the seafloor relative to a known elevation reference and is essential to understanding and managing coastal environments. Accurate bathymetric data are foundational to a wide range of scientific, planning and management applications, including coastal resilience, hurricane and storm surge forecasting, sediment transport, habitat mapping, fisheries management and navigation safety. Bathymetry data is a valuable tool, particularly in shallow, nearshore areas that are difficult and expensive to map using traditional methods.

The collaboration was formalized through the recognition of VIMS & the Batten School as a “Trusted Node,” a designation by NOAA and the International Hydrographic Organization acknowledging reliable partners for collecting, processing and submitting bathymetric data for public use. Only 16 other organizations worldwide have been awarded this status.

The partnership builds on work already underway at VIMS & the Batten School’s Center for Coastal Resources Management (CCRM), where researchers have been collecting bathymetric data through the Shallow-Water Hydrographic Observation and Assessment Logging program. In addition to gathering depth information during vessel-based research activities, CCRM has collaborated with participants in the National Trap Removal, Assessment & Prevention (TRAP) Program to also record bathymetric data. 

Funded through a 2023 award from the NOAA Marine Debris Program and administered by CCRM, the TRAP Program aims to remove derelict fishing gear from U.S. coastal waters. In the Chesapeake Bay and along Virginia’s Eastern Shore, CCRM outfits commercial fishers with side-scan sonar equipment to find and remove derelict crab traps during the offseason. This work provides watermen with an additional source of income while also advancing debris-removal efforts and generating valuable bathymetric data. 

“This project is expanding bathymetric data collection across the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the United States, including in shallow areas of six feet or less where accurate data have historically been scarce,” said CCRM Director Kirk Havens, who also noted the project’s remarkable return on investment. “By accessing past derelict trap removal depth data and equipping current TRAP participants with low-cost sonar units to passively collect bathymetric information, we have generated millions of new bathymetric data points at little to no additional cost to CCRM or NOAA. This demonstrates successful proof-of-concept for further crowdsourced data collection by TRAP participants here and nationwide.”

The data generated by VIMS & the Batten School and their TRAP partners is being processed and released in batches, and will be publicly available through NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information Bathymetric Data Portal. The new dataset can be accessed by researchers, agencies and coastal managers and can be used to enhance navigational safety to support commerce. 

“Accurate, shallow-water bathymetry is the missing puzzle piece for many of our coastal models and navigational charts,” said Rear Admiral (lower half) Christiaan van Westendorp, director of The Office of Coast Survey, NOAA’s ocean mapping and nautical charting program. “Through harnessing commercial mariners' presence and expertise, we unlock a new data stream and are able to better identify recent seafloor changes in areas notoriously difficult to survey. We look forward to transforming their contributions into actionable knowledge that protects lives and coastal economies." 

Researchers with the U.S. Geological Survey Coastal National Elevation Database Applications Project have already expressed interest in using the data to support shallow water void gap-filling in future regional high-resolution topobathymetric modeling efforts in the Chesapeake Bay region.

 

A boat track line map showing where bathymetry data was recorded by commercial fishers during derelict trap removal efforts in Virginia.

Credit

CCRM, W&M's VIMS & Batten School