Academic Journal
Continuous, High-Resolution Mapping of Coastal Seafloor Sediment Distribution.
| Title: | Continuous, High-Resolution Mapping of Coastal Seafloor Sediment Distribution. |
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| Authors: | Innangi, Sara, Innangi, Michele, Di Febbraro, Mirko, Di Martino, Gabriella, Sacchi, Marco, Tonielli, Renato |
| Source: | Remote Sensing; Mar2022, Vol. 14 Issue 5, pN.PAG-N.PAG, 1p |
| Abstract: | Seafloor topography and grain size distribution are pivotal features in marine and coastal environments, able to influence benthic community structure and ecological processes at many spatial scales. Accordingly, there is a strong interest in multiple research disciplines to obtain seafloor geological and/or habitat maps. The aim of this study was to provide a novel, automatic and simple model to obtain high-resolution seafloor maps, using backscatter and bathymetric multibeam system data. For this purpose, we calibrated a linear regression model relating grain size distribution values, extracted from samples collected in a 16 km2 area near Bagnoli–Coroglio (southern Italy), against backscatter and depth-derived covariates. The linear model achieved excellent goodness-of-fit and predictive accuracy, yielding detailed, spatially explicit predictions of grain size. We also showed that a ground-truth sample size as large as 40% of that considered in this study was sufficient to calibrate analogous regression models in different areas. Regardless of some limitations (i.e., inability to predict rocky outcrops and/or seagrass meadows), our modeling approach proved to be a flexible tool whose main advantage is the rendering of a continuous map for sediment size, in lieu of categorical mapping approaches which usually report sharp boundaries or rely on a few sediment classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Subject Terms: | COASTAL sediments, COASTAL mapping, PARTICLE size distribution, BIOTIC communities, SEAGRASSES, MAPS |
| Geographic Terms: | ITALY |
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| ISSN: | 20724292 |
| DOI: | 10.3390/rs14051268 |
| Database: | Complementary Index |
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