The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is producing detailed geologic maps of the coastal sea floor. Imagery, originally collected by NOAA for charting purposes, provides a fundamental framework for research and management activities along this part of Long Island Sound, shows the composition and terrain of the seabed, and provides information on sediment transport and benthic habitat. Interpretive data layers were derived from the multibeam echo-sounder data and sidescan-sonar data collected north of Orient Point, New York. During April 2010, bottom photographs and surficial sediment data were acquired as part of a USGS ground-truth reconnaissance survey. For more information on the ground-truth survey see http://quashnet.er.usgs.gov/data/2010/10010/.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is producing detailed geologic maps of the coastal sea floor. Imagery, originally collected by NOAA for charting purposes, provides a fundamental framework for research and management activities along this part of Long Island Sound, shows the composition and terrain of the seabed, and provides information on sediment transport and benthic habitat. Interpretive data layers were derived from the multibeam echo-sounder data and sidescan-sonar data collected north of Plum Island, New York. During November 2009, bottom photographs and surficial sediment data were acquired as part of a ground-truth reconnaissance survey. For more information on the ground-truth survey see https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fa=2009-059-FA.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CT DEEP), has produced detailed geologic maps of the coastal sea floor. Bathymetry, originally collected by NOAA for charting purposes, provides a fundamental framework for research and management activities in Long Island Sound, shows the terrain of the seabed, and provides information on sediment transport and benthic habitat. During April 2009 NOAA completed hydrographic survey H12012 offshore in the northeastern Sound, and during April 2010 and May 2010 bottom photographs and surficial sediment data were acquired as part of two ground-truth reconnaissance surveys of this area. Two interpretive data layers were derived from the multibeam echo-sounder and the ground-truth data used to verify them. For more information on the ground-truth surveys see: https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fan=2010-010-FA and https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fan=2010-015-FA.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is producing detailed geologic maps of the coastal sea floor. Bathymetry and sidescan-sonar imagery, originally collected by NOAA for charting purposes, provides a fundamental framework for research and management activities in Long Island Sound, shows the composition and terrain of the seabed, and provides information on sediment transport and benthic habitat. During October 2008 NOAA completed hydrographic survey H11251 offshore of Rocky Point, New York and during November 2009, bottom photographs and surficial sediment data were acquired as part of a ground-truth reconnaissance survey of this area. Interpretive data layers were derived from the multibeam echo-sounder and sidescan-sonar data and the ground-truth data used to verify them. For more information on the ground-truth survey see http://quashnet.er.usgs.gov/data/2009/09059/

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CT DEEP), is producing detailed geologic maps of the coastal sea floor. Bathymetry and sidescan-sonar imagery, originally collected by NOAA for charting purposes, provide a fundamental framework for research and management activities in Long Island Sound, shows the composition and terrain of the seabed, and provides information on sediment transport and benthic habitat. During April-May 2009 NOAA completed hydrographic survey H12013 offshore of the entrance to the Connecticut River, and during November 2009 and April 2010 bottom photographs and surficial sediment data were acquired as part of two ground-truth reconnaissance surveys of this area. Two interpretive data layers were derived from the multibeam echo-sounder and the ground-truth data used to verify them. For more information on the ground-truth surveys see: http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/operations/ia/public_ds_info.php?fa=2009-059-FA and http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/operations/ia/public_ds_info.php?fa=2010-010-FA

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is producing detailed geologic maps of the coastal sea floor. Bathymetry, originally collected by NOAA for charting purposes, provides a fundamental framework for research and management activities along this part of Rhode Island Sound, shows the composition and terrain of the seabed, and provides information on sediment transport and benthic habitat. Interpretations were derived from the multibeam echo-sounder data collected in Rhode Island Sound. During June 2011, bottom photographs and surficial sediment data were acquired as part of a ground-truth reconnaissance survey of these areas. For more information on the ground-truth survey see .

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is producing detailed geologic maps of the coastal sea floor. Bathymetric and sidescan-sonar data, originally collected by NOAA for charting purposes, provide a framework for research and management activities along western Block Island Sound, show the composition and terrain of the seabed, and provide information on sediment transport and benthic habitat. During June 2013, bottom photographs and surficial sediment data were acquired as part of a ground-truth reconnaissance survey of this area. Interpretations were derived from the multibeam-echosounder, sidescan-sonar, sedimentary, and photographic data collected in Block Island Sound. For more information on the ground-truth survey see https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fan=2013-005-FA.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is producing detailed geologic maps of the coastal sea floor. Bathymetric and sidescan-sonar data, originally collected by NOAA for charting purposes, provide a framework for research and management activities along western Block Island Sound, show the composition and terrain of the seabed, and provide information on sediment transport and benthic habitat. During June 2013, bottom photographs and surficial sediment data were acquired as part of a ground-truth reconnaissance survey of this area. Interpretations were derived from the multibeam-echosounder, sidescan-sonar, sedimentary, and photographic data collected in Block Island Sound. For more information on the ground-truth survey see https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fan=2013-005-FA.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is producing detailed geologic maps of the coastal sea floor. Bathymetric and sidescan-sonar data, originally collected by NOAA for charting purposes, provide a fundamental framework for research and management activities along this part of Block Island Sound, show the composition and terrain of the seabed, and provide information on sediment transport and benthic habitat. During June 2012, bottom photographs and surficial sediment data were acquired as part of a ground-truth reconnaissance survey of this area. Interpretations were derived from the multibeam-echosounder, sidescan-sonar, sedimentary, and photographic data collected in Block Island Sound. For more information on the ground-truth survey see .

The USGS, in cooperation with NOAA, is producing detailed maps of the seafloor off southern New England. The current phase of this cooperative research program is directed toward analyzing how bathymetric relief relates to the distribution of sedimentary environments and benthic communities. As part of this program, digital terrain models (DTMs) from bathymetry collected as part of NOAA's hydrographic charting activities are converted into ESRI raster grids and imagery, verified with bottom sampling and photography, and used to produce interpretations of seabed geology and hydrodynamic processes. Although each of the 7 continuous-coverage, completed surveys individually provides important benthic environmental information, many applications require a geographically broader perspective. For example, the usefulness of individual surveys is limited for the planning and construction of cross-Sound infrastructure, such as cables and pipelines, or for the testing of regional circulation models. To address this need, we integrated the 7 contiguous multibeam bathymetric DTMs into one dataset that covers much of Block Island Sound. The new dataset is adjusted to mean lower low water, is provided in UTM Zone 19 NAD83 and geographic WGS84 projections, and is gridded to 4-m resolution. This resolution is adequate for seafloor-feature and process interpretation, but small enough to be queried and manipulated with standard GIS programs and to allow for future growth. Natural features visible in the grid include boulder lag deposits of submerged moraines, sand-wave fields, and scour depressions that reflect the strength of the oscillating tidal currents. Bedform asymmetry allows interpretations of net sediment transport. Together the merged data reveal a larger, more continuous perspective of bathymetric topography than previously available, providing a fundamental framework for research and resource management activities off this portion of the Rhode Island coast.Interpretations were derived from the multibeam echo-sounder data and the ground-truth data used to verify them. For more information on the ground-truth surveys see http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/operations/ia/public_ds_info.php?fa=2011-006-FA