Seafloor character--Offshore of Bodega Head, California

The seafloor-character map was produced using video-supervised maximum likelihood classification of the bathymetry and intensity of return from sonar systems. The classification was supervised using signatures defined by hand-drawn polygons located through sediment samples and video-observation ground truthing applying methodology described in Cochrane (2008). The two variants used in this classification were backscatter intensity and derivative rugosity (from bathymetry data). Rugosity measures terrain ruggedness as the variation in three-dimensional orientation of grid cells within a neighborhood. Vector analysis is used to calculate the dispersion of vectors normal (orthogonal) to grid cells within the specified neighborhood. This method effectively captures variability in slope and aspect into a single measure. Ruggedness values in the output raster map can range from 0 (no terrain variation) to 1 (complete terrain variation). The calculation was performed using the Terrain Ruggedness (VRM) tool (for details, see Sappington and others, 2007). Classes I, II and III values were delineated using multivariate analysis. Class IV (mobile sedimentary features) values were determined on the basis of visual characteristics using both bathymetry and backscatter (slight depression in the seafloor, very high backscatter return). The resulting map (gridded at 2 m) was cleaned by hand to remove data-collection artifacts (for example trackline nadir). Editing was performed in Photoshop, with which individual pixels were selected and values adjusted to remove noise. Selection occurred without antialiasing, and the resulting grid was identical but for the edited pixels. The four seafloor classes were then colored to indicate which of the five California MLPA depth zones they are located in: Depth Zone 2 (intertidal to 30 m), Depth Zone 3 (30 to 100 m), Depth Zone 4 (100 to 200 m), or Depth Zone 5 (greater than 200 m). These were further subdivided into one of the following slope classes: Slope Class 1 (0 degrees - 5 degrees), Slope Class 2 (5 degrees - 30 degrees), Slope Class 3 (30 degrees - 60 degrees), or Slope Class 4 (60 degrees - 90 degrees). Depth Zone 1 (intertidal), Depth Zone 4-5 (greater than 100 m), and Slopes Classes 3-4 (greater than 30 degrees) are not present in the region covered by this block.

Added Distribution_Information section to metadata to facilitate data download.

Keywords section of metadata optimized for discovery in USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Data Catalog.

Added keywords from Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard (CMECS) to metadata.

Edited metadata to add keywords section with USGS persistent identifier as theme keyword. No data were changed.

Edited metadata to fix validation errors and to bring it up to FGDC CSDGM current standards based on data release policies for USGS Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program (CMHRP). No data were changed. The metadata available from a harvester may supersede metadata bundled within a download file. Users are advised to compare the metadata dates to determine which metadata file is most recent.