| CZM | Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management |
| EPA | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |
| FA | field activity |
| FGDC | Federal Geographic Data Committee |
| DEM | digital elevation model |
| GeoTIFF | georeferenced tagged image file format |
| GIS | geographic information system |
| GPS | Global Positioning System |
| HTML | hypertext markup language |
| JPEG | Joint Photographic Experts Group |
| kHz | kilohertz |
| MassGIS | Massachusetts Office of Geographic Information Systems |
| MLLW | mean lower low water |
| MOF | Marine Operations Facility |
| MV | motor vessel |
| MVCO | Martha’s Vineyard Coastal Observatory |
| OSV | ocean survey vessel |
| NOAA | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |
| PDF | portable document format |
| PNG | portable network graphics |
| RTK–GPS | Real Time Kinematic Global Positioning System |
| RV | research vessel |
| SEA | Systems Engineering and Assessment, Ltd. |
| SEG–Y | Society of Exploration Geophysicists Y format for seismic data |
| USGS | U.S. Geological Survey |
| UTM | Universal Transverse Mercator |
| WGS 84 | World Geodetic System 1984 |
| WHOI | Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution |
| XML | extensible markup language |
U.S. Department of the Interior |
U.S. Geological Survey