2005 hydrographic survey of south San Francisco Bay, California

Abstract

An acoustic hydrographic survey of South San Francisco Bay (South Bay) was conducted in 2005. Over 20 million soundings were collected within an area of approximately 250 sq km (97 sq mi) of the bay extending south of Coyote Point on the west shore, to the San Leandro marina on the east, including Coyote Creek and Ravenswood, Alviso, Artesian, and Mud Sloughs. This is the first survey of this scale that has been conducted in South Bay since the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Ocean Service (NOS) last surveyed the region in the early 1980s. Data from this survey will provide insight to changes in bay floor topography from the 1980s to 2005 and will also serve as essential baseline data for tracking changes that will occur as restoration of the South San Francisco Bay salt ponds progress. This report provides documentation on how the survey was conducted, an assessment of accuracy of the data, and distributes the sounding data with Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) compliant metadata. Reports from NOS and Sea Surveyor, Inc., containing additional survey details are attached as appendices.