Habitat and Hydrology: Assessing Biological Resources of the Suwannee River Esturaine System U.S.Geological Survey USGS Open-File Report 2007-1382 By Ellen A. Raabe(1), Randy E. Edwards(1), Carole C. McIvor(1), Jack W. Grubbs(2), and George D. Dennis(3) (1) USGS FISC, St. Petersburg, FL (2) USGS FISC, Tallahassee, FL (3) USGS FISC, Gainesville, FL (presently U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Vero Beach, FL) TABLE OF CONTENTS: Disclaimer System Requirements Project Summary DVD Organization Getting Started Acknowledgments Contacts References DISCLAIMER This DVD-ROM publication was prepared by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof nor any employee makes any warranty expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed in this report or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference therein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States or any agency thereof. Although all data and software published on this DVD-ROM have been used by the USGS, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by the USGS as to the accuracy of the data and related materials and (or) the functioning of the software. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by the USGS in the use of these data, software, or related materials. Cartographic features, such as political boundaries and shoreline, are not necessarily authoritative. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS This disc is readable on any computing platform that has standard DVD driver software installed. The minimum software requirements are a Web browser, Adobe Acrobat Reader, and a text editor. A GIS or image processing software program (such as Arc Map) will allow user to open and view GeoTIFF files. PROJECT SUMMARY The U.S. Geological Survey conducted a pilot integrated-science study during 2002 and 2003 to map, describe, and evaluate benthic and emergent habitats in the Suwannee River Estuary on the Gulf Coast of Florida. Categories of aquatic, emergent, and terrestrial habitats were determined from hyperspectral imagery and integrated with hydrologic data to identify estuarine fish habitats. Maps of intertidal and benthic habitat were derived from 12-band, 4-m resolution hyperspectral imagery acquired in September 2002. Hydrologic data were collected from tidal creeks during the winter of 2002-03 and the summer-fall of 2003. Fish were sampled from tidal creeks during March 2003 using rivulet nets, throw traps, and seine nets. Habitat characteristics, hydrologic data, and fish assemblages were compared for tidal creeks north and south of the Suwannee River. Tidal creeks north of the river had more shoreline edge and shallow habitat than creeks to the south. Tidal creeks south of the river were generally of lower salinity (fresher) and supported more freshwater marsh and submerged aquatic vegetation. The southern creeks tended to be deeper but less sinuous than the northern creeks. Water quality and inundation were evaluated with hydrologic monitoring in the creeks. In-situ gauges, recording pressure and temperature, documented a net discharge of brackish to saline groundwater into the tidal creeks with pronounced flow during low tide. Groundwater flow into the creeks was most prominent north of the river. Combined fish-sampling results showed an overall greater abundance of organisms and greater species richness in the southern creeks nominally attributed a greater range in water quality. Fish samples were dominated by juvenile spot, grass shrimp, bay anchovy, and silverside. The short time frame for hydrologic monitoring and the one-time fish-sampling effort were insufficient for forming definitive conclusions. However, the combination of hyperspectral imagery and hydrologic data identified a range of habitat characteristics and differences in tidal-creek morphology. This endeavor related nearshore benthic habitat and hydrologic conditions with habitat suitability and fish assemblages and provides a template for similar applications in shallow and nearshore estuarine environments. DVD ORGANIZATION There are five top-level directories and two top-level files contained on this DVD-ROM. The top-level files are: 1.) start_here.html - This file is intended to be the starting point for DVD-ROM access. 2.) readme.txt - This file contains a description of this DVD-ROM. The top-level directories are: 1.) Directory html\ - This directory contains html files needed to properly display the content of the disk. One subdirectory contains all images used to create the display (for example: the USGS logo). 2.) Directory OFR-2007-1382\ - This directory contains Open-File Report 2007-1382 stored as interactive PDF and 508 compliant files. 3.) Directory Derived_Maps\ - This directory contains three maps of derived features as GeoTIFF map files in two projection subdirectories. Map types are: [1]Three basic categories: suw_casi_basic.tif, [2]Habitat categories: suw_casi_fullclass, and [3] Tidal flood zones: suw_casi_flood.tif. Subdirectories are: \UTM - contains files in Universal Transverse Mercator (WGS 84) projection, and \State_Plane - contains files in State Plane (NAD 83) projection. 4.) Directory Hyperspectral\ - This directory contains three GeoTIFF files of hyperspectral imagery: [1]false color mosaic of CASI Bands 9,7, and 5: suw_casi_false.tif, [2]natural color mosaic of CASI bands 6,3, and 1: suw_casi_nat.tif, and [3] All 12 CASI Bands: suw_casi_12b_mosaic.tif 5.) Directory Metadata\ - This directory contains a general metadata file saved in xml file and txt formats. GETTING STARTED To access the information contained on this disc, use a Web browser to open the file start_here.html. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This is the final report for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Venture Capital effort on the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge (LS NWR) FY2002-2003 (Dennis et al., 2001). This effort combined personnel and resources from Geology, Biology, and Water Resources of the USGS Florida Integrated Science Centers (FISC) and was conducted in cooperation with FDEP and USFWS Lower Suwannee NWR. In cooperation with an FDEP project (Borstad Associates, 2002a) airborne hyperspectral imagery was collected over the Lower Suwannee River NWR to establish methods in characterizing shallow benthic habitats in a dynamic estuarine system. 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