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New Bathymetry of the Great Lakes: Huron and Superior
Collaborators
National Geophysical Data Center Lisa Taylor (NGDC
web site)
Texas A & M University Troy Holcombe (Ret.), (Texas
A & M web site)
University of Colorado Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental
Sciences William Virden, (CIRES web site)
Peter Vincent, contractor
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA web site) is actively engaged in a program to compile Great Lakes bathymetric data and make useful bathymetric products readily available to anyone, but especially to the communities concerned with Great Lakes science, pollution, coastal erosion, response to climate change, threats to lake ecosystems, and health of the fishing industry. This new bathymetry provides a more detailed portrayal of lakefloor topography, and reveals some lakefloor features seen for the first time.
This has been a decade-long project to fully utilize the existing sounding data held by both the United States (NOAA, National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC)) and Canada (Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS web site)) to produce high quality original bathymetric maps and data products covering the Laurentian Great Lakes. Poster bathymetry maps and CD Data ROMs have been published for lakes Michigan, Erie, and Ontario. Bathymetry of Lake Huron has been completed and a draft map has been produced and is being revised, with expected final publication in 2006 pending approval of feature names by the U.S. Board of Geographic Names. Contouring of Canadian sounding data from Lake Superior is continuing.
Bathymetry - what is it??
Bathymetry is the science of measuring and mapping the depths of a water body (oceans, seas, lakes) to show the topography of their basins. Bathymetric maps are two-dimensional representations of the 3-dimensional shape of these basins and provide the perspective and geospatial reference needed to understand the field relationships between sample locations and habitat types, depth of the water column, or proximity to major underwater features.
Color Rendering of the Bathymetry of Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair
Red = shallowest; dark-blue = deepest
+ NGDC
web site with links to Great Lakes Bathymetric Posters & CD-ROMs
Background
Detailed bathymetric data are the most basic and oldest form of information needed about a body of water. In fact, some of the earliest organized scientific surveys of the Great Lakes were to obtain soundings and were conducted by the predecessor to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the 1840's for nautical charting purposes. Many scientific articles about the Great Lakes incorporate a figure showing bathymetry.
Bathymetric information is specifically needed for habitat mapping. Some fisheries are depth dependent and one key statistic of interest to many fisheries scientists is the total bottom area between two depth contours, which can only be obtained from detailed processed bathymetric information. Bathymetric information is a necessary boundary for circulation and coastal forecasting models; and it is the only way to visualize underwater topography for educational purposes. Good bathymetric charts are in demand by sport and commercial fishing interests, museums, schools, and citizen groups. Engineering firms need bathymetric information for siting of pipes and cables. Almost any study of the Great Lakes has some use or need for good bathymetric information.
Geological and geophysical data collected in the Great Lakes during the last 150 years form extensive holdings in both the U.S. and Canadian government archives. Good quality data have been collected since about 1903, when the standard physical datum in use for bathymetric surveying was first established. It is estimated that total data holdings between the U.S. and Canada run to several million soundings. Since the early 1990s, this project has been developing highly detailed bathymetric maps for each of the Great Lakes. Our goal is to utilize the entire array of existing good quality Great Lakes bathymetric data, from both the United States and Canada, to make readily available visual and digital (CD-ROM) bathymetry data files for each of the Great Lakes’ basins.
Since the early 1990s, the following organizations have been cooperating on this joint project to develop highly detailed bathymetric maps of the Great Lakes:
- Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, Ann Arbor, MI (GLERL home)
- National Geophysical Data Center, Boulder, Colorado (NGDC web site)
- Canadian Hydrographic Service, Ottawa, Canada (CHS web site)
- Cooperative Institute for Limnology and Ecosystems Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (CILER web site)
- Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO (CIRES web site)
Project Methodology
- Compile bathymetric data from the best available sources that are readily available and complete bathymetric contours at 1-5 meter contour intervals;
- Scan the contours into a computer data base as vector and raster data files and generate final annotated bathymetric maps
- Package and publish the resulting imagery and data and make it readily and widely available on appropriate media.
Current Focus
- Finalize and publish (on-line) the complete bathymetric map of Lake Huron at 5-10 m contour resolution, with names approved by the Board of Geographic Names.
- Continue work towards goal of completing Lake Superior bathymetry: complete contouring and edge matching of selected Canadian Lake Superior sounding field sheets
- Complete revisions of Lake Ontario geomorphology manuscript based on reviewers comments and resubmit for NGDC Peer-reviewed On-line Research Series.
Funding
Partial funding for this project was provided by the Michigan Great Lakes Protection Fund (MGLPF web site) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Detroit District (USACE Detroit web site). Federal funds and resources are provided by the NOAA/OAR Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL home) and the NOAA/NESDIS/ National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC web site).
Project Accomplishments
- New bathymetric maps and digital data sets have been completed and are available for Lake Michigan , Lake Erie and St. Clair , and Lake Ontario. The maps are poster sized, while the data sets are contained in various formats on CD-ROMs.
- 4 peer reviewed publications
Products
Maps
Published maps and associated CD-ROM products are available via the National Geophysical Data Center Great Lakes Products web page.
Virden, W., J. Warren, T. Holcombe, D. Reid, and T. Berggren (1999).
Bathymetry of Lake Ontario. A color poster with descriptive text. U.S.
Dept of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National
Geophysical Data Center, Boulder, CO. Data Announcement 2000-MGG-01
+ preview and
ordering info NGDC web site
Holcombe, T., D. Reid, L. Taylor, P. Vincent, J. Warren (1998). Bathymetry
of Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair. A color poster with descriptive text.
U.S. Dept of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
National Geophysical Data Center, Boulder, CO. Report MGG-13.
+ preview and
ordering info NGDC web site
Holcombe, T.L., D.F. Reid, W.T. Virden, T.C. Niemeyer, R. De la Sierra,
and D.L. Divins (1996). Bathymetry of Lake Michigan. A color poster with
descriptive text and digital data available on CD-ROM. U.S. Dept of Commerce,
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Geophysical
Data Center, Boulder, CO. Report MGG-11.
+ preview and
ordering info NGDC web site
Publications
Holcombe, T. L., L. A. Taylor, J. S. Warren, P. A. Vincent, D. F. Reid, and C. E. Herdendorf. 2005. Lake floor geomorphology of Lake Erie. World Data Center A for Marine Geology and Geophysical Research Publication RP-3. NOAA NESDIS National Geophysical Data Center, Boulder, CO, 26 pp, January. + download file [pdf]
Holcombe, T. L., L. L. Taylor, D. F. Reid, J. S. Warren, P. A. Vincent,
and C. E. Herdendorf. (2003). Revised Lake Erie postglacial lake level
history based on new detailed bathymetry. Journal of Great Lakes Research
29(4):681-704 + download file
[pdf]
(winner of the 2005 Chandler-Misener Award from the International Association for Great Lakes Research)
Holcombe, T., J. Warren, D. Reid, W. Virden, and D. Divins (2001). Small Rimmed Depression In Lake Ontario: Impact Crater? J. Great Lakes Res., 27(4), 510-517. + download file [pdf]
Holcombe, T., J. Warren, L. Taylor, D. Reid, and C. Herdendorf (1997). Lakefloor geomorphology of Western Lake Erie. J. Great Lakes Res., 23 (2):190 (winner of the 1998 Chandler-Misener Award from the International Association for Great Lakes Research). Included a poster-size insert color bathymetric map of western Lake Erie.
Milestone
2005 3rd quarter 05-3-2: Complete and publish new 5-meter bathymetric map of Lake Huron. (David Reid, GLERL)
Last updated: 2005-12-06 mbl