TY - GEN
T1 - Combining data collection from unmanned surface vehicles with geospatial analysis
T2 - Oceans 2007 MTS/IEEE Conference
AU - Casper, Andrew F.
AU - Hall, Michael L.
AU - Dixon, Barnali
AU - Steimle, Eric T.
PY - 2007/12/1
Y1 - 2007/12/1
N2 - Tidal rivers and accompanying coastal environments represent critical links between the open estuary and the local tributary and watershed. In Florida, these coastal ecosystems are multi-use systems. They are often a primary source of water for agricultural, industrial, and human consumption all while functioning as commercial and recreational shipping thoroughfares and receiving storm water runoff and NPDES discharges. In addition to their importance for those direct human uses, their quality and characteristics directly affect the spawning, nursery, and juvenile habitats for numerous commercial and sport fisheries. Thus monitoring and assessment, especially identifying spatial patterns or trends in water chemistry (e.g. temperature, conductivity, salinity, turbidity, chlorophyll, dissolved organic matter and dissolved gasses), of these tidal environments can represent a complex sampling and analysis challenge. There is a perception that sampling and analyzing parameters at regularly spaced intervals over the surface area of a river system will be representative of general trends. However, standard sampling strategy assumes both that parameters will change in a consistent longitudinal and downstream manner and that the average of a parameter is the level where negative impacts occur. Using an innovative combination of unmanned surface vehicles (USV) and geospatial analytical techniques, we will show that this perception is not an entirely accurate or complete view.
AB - Tidal rivers and accompanying coastal environments represent critical links between the open estuary and the local tributary and watershed. In Florida, these coastal ecosystems are multi-use systems. They are often a primary source of water for agricultural, industrial, and human consumption all while functioning as commercial and recreational shipping thoroughfares and receiving storm water runoff and NPDES discharges. In addition to their importance for those direct human uses, their quality and characteristics directly affect the spawning, nursery, and juvenile habitats for numerous commercial and sport fisheries. Thus monitoring and assessment, especially identifying spatial patterns or trends in water chemistry (e.g. temperature, conductivity, salinity, turbidity, chlorophyll, dissolved organic matter and dissolved gasses), of these tidal environments can represent a complex sampling and analysis challenge. There is a perception that sampling and analyzing parameters at regularly spaced intervals over the surface area of a river system will be representative of general trends. However, standard sampling strategy assumes both that parameters will change in a consistent longitudinal and downstream manner and that the average of a parameter is the level where negative impacts occur. Using an innovative combination of unmanned surface vehicles (USV) and geospatial analytical techniques, we will show that this perception is not an entirely accurate or complete view.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=50449095729&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=50449095729&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/OCEANS.2007.4449189
DO - 10.1109/OCEANS.2007.4449189
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:50449095729
SN - 0933957351
SN - 9780933957350
T3 - Oceans Conference Record (IEEE)
BT - Oceans 2007 MTS/IEEE Conference
Y2 - 29 September 2007 through 4 October 2007
ER -