Monterey Bay

The goal of adaptive sampling in the ocean is to predict the types and locations of additional ocean measurements that would be most useful to collect. Quantitatively, what is most useful is defined by an objective function and the goal is then to optimize this objective under the constraints of the available observing network. Examples of objectives are better oceanic understanding, to improve forecast quality, or to sample regions of high interest. This work provides a new path-planning scheme for the adaptive sampling problem. We ...

The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) has developed an AUV docking station for a 21-inch (54 cm) diameter AUV. The system was designed for operation with cabled undersea observatories in water depths up to 4 km deep and has been demonstrated in the open ocean, though at much shallower depths. The program demonstrated successful autonomous homing and docking, data downloads, uploading of new mission plans, battery recharging, and complete power cycling of the AUV. We describe the design, and at-sea tests.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) has developed an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) for high resolution seafloor mapping. This vehicle is equipped with a 200 kHz multibeam sonar, 110/410 kHz sidescan sonar, and a 2-16 kHz subbottom profiler. From a 50 m altitude, the AUV achieves 1-meter lateral and 0.1-meter vertical bathymetric resolution and <1- meter resolution sidescan imagery.

Recently Dietz et al. (1988) have made some headway toward development of a chronology for the central California coast. Based on their assessment of radiocarbon dates, obsidian hydration readings, and grave lots from the Monterey Bay area, they proposed a chronological framework in which the 10,000 years of Monterey Bay area prehistory are assigned to five periods, each of which is marked by distinct artifacts. Projectile point types are included in the chronology but, due to the constraints of the project in which the authors were involved, the point types are not fully defined. In this paper we build on that foundation by advancing the beginning of a projectile point typology for the Monterey Bay area. Specifically, we formalize two projectile point types that are readily definable in local collections: the Ano Nuevo Long-stemmed and the Rossi Square-stemmed. The morphological distinctiveness of these points has been recognized in preliminary, site-specific typologies (Gerow [196...

We recorded the courtship and spawning behavior of a protogynous fish, the California sheephead, Semicossyphus pulcher, throughout their spawning season at Bird Rock, Santa Catalina Island, California. We made additional observations at the Monterey Bay Aquarium and confirmed the details of behavior seen in the field. Large males held spawning territories in which females congregated approximately 1 h before sunset. Courtship commenced shortly before sunset and involved the male approaching each female, making lateral contact and leading her in a circular pattern. Smaller males attempted to court females within the territories, prompting large males to abort spawns and engage in chasing behavior with small males. Females visited several territorial males throughout the day, indicating that they are not part of a strict harem. Both field and aquarium observations confirm that the mating system can be successfully predicted from the size advantage model. Current regulations on the sheephead fishery, which allow for the removal of large, rare males, could have significant effects on the social structure, reproductive output, and mating processes of local populations. Moreover, understanding the mating system of the California sheephead illustrates the need for creating management strategies that better complement the unique life histories of marine fishes with alternative reproductive strategies.

Chemosynthetic biological communities and authigenic mineral formation are common along continental margins worldwide where they indicate the availability of reduced compounds on or immediately below the seafloor. Some of these sites, historically termed "cold seeps", are associated with obvious hydrocarbon venting (e.g., Gulf of Mexico, Santa Barbara Basin, and Eel River Basin), whereas fluid flow at other sites has been inferred by the presence of chemosynthetic communities and authigenic mineral deposits on the seafloor (e.g., Monterey Bay). Authigenic mineral deposits include carbonate-group minerals, most commonly aragonite, Mg-calcite, and dolomite, which form via microbially mediated anaerobic oxidation of methane. However, depending on the chemistry of the expelled fluids, minerals other than carbonate (i.e., barite) may form deposits on the seafloor. To develop a more comprehensive understanding of the complex geochemical, physical, and biological interactions at ...

Sidescan-sonar imaging systems with digital capabilities have now been available for approximately 20 years. In this paper we present several of the various digital image processing techniques developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and used to apply intensity/radiometric and geometric corrections, as well as enhance and digitally mosaic, sidescan-sonar images of the Monterey Bay region. New software run by a WWW server was designed and implemented to allow very large image data sets, such as the digital mosaic, to be easily viewed interactively, including the ability to roam throughout the digital mosaic at the web site in either compressed or full 1-m resolution. The processing is separated into the two different stages: preprocessing and information extraction. In the preprocessing stage, sensor-specific algorithms are applied to correct for both geometric and intensity/radiometric distortions introduced by the sensor. This is followed by digital mosaicking of the track-line strips into quadrangle format which can be used as input to either visual or digital image analysis and interpretation. An automatic seam removal procedure was used in combination with an interactive digital feathering/stenciling procedure to help minimize tone or seam matching problems between image strips from adjacent track-lines. The sidescan-sonar image processing package is part of the USGS Mini Image Processing System (MIPS) and has been designed to process data collected by any ‘generic’ digital sidescan-sonar imaging system. The USGS MIPS software, developed over the last 20 years as a public domain package, is available on the WWW at: http://terraweb.wr.usgs.gov/trs/software.html.

Current ocean color sensors, for example SeaWiFS and MODIS, are well suited for sampling the open ocean. However, coastal environments are spatially and optically more complex and require more frequent sampling and higher spatial resolution sensors with additional spectral channels. We have conducted experiments with data from Hyperion and airborne hyperspectral imagers to evaluate these needs for a variety of

Across the western United States, researchers are increasingly working with beaver (Castor canadensis) for process-based stream and watershed restoration. One recently-developed geographic information system-based tool, the Beaver Restoration Assessment Tool (BRAT), analyzes opportunities for beaverassisted restoration (BAR) at a landscape-scale. However, this tool benefits significantly from human dimensions-inclusive, basin-centralized beaver knowledge for proper interpretation. Unfortunately, this information is scattered or absent in most semi-arid and arid southern California basins. This study thus sought to gather and produce this information through an explorative, benefits-maximizing approach to landscape-scale BAR opportunities assessment in one of these basins, the Salinas River. 49.2 km of beaver dam field surveys, an emailed survey and interviews completed by 39 riparian organizations and residents, and a BRAT model run produced: an ANOVA-driven statistical determinatio...

Physical (temperature and salinity) and biological (zooplankton) properties were sampled over a 15 mo period in 1988 and 1989 to monitor nearshore environmental variability in northern Monterey Bay, California, USA. During the upwelling seasons of 1988 and 1989, there were two distinct bodies of water along the sampling transect. The offshore water body was characterized by recently upwelled water (typically