Remote Acoustic Habitat Assessment Techniques Used to Characterize the Quality and Extent of Oyster Bottom in the Chesapeake Bay

Abstract

Underwater acoustic technologies may be used for remote sensing of estuarine and coastal benthic habitat in addition to more traditional methods of assessing the seabed. These systems use reflected sound energy to identify surface objects, texture, and subbottom density discontinuities, and to classify benthic habitat. We evaluated the ability of subbottom profiling systems, side scan sonar, and acoustic seabed classification systems (ASCS) to assess oyster habitat in the Chesapeake Bay. Our criteria were the systems' abilities to assess the quality and quantity of oyster shell resources and to integrate with Geographical Information Systems (GIS) technology for the charting of the seabed. Although all systems examined have previously been used for benthic habitat assessment, we found that ASCS offered the most promise as a stand alone system for mapping complex and heterogeneous habitat typical of oyster bottoms. The results from this study suggest that ASCS technology is highly suited for the identification and charting of oyster shell as well as distinguishing among different combinations of shell and fine sediments. Such systems also offer excellent linkage with GIS display and analysis capability.