National Park Service – Marine Habitat Mapping Grant at Gateway National Recreation Area

Single Source Award to Rutgers University, a Public and State controlled institution of higher learning

The Cooperator will:
1. Produce a map of the bathymetry and side scan imagery of the Sandy Hook Unit holdings on the bay side using GPS-referenced hull-mounted sonar and AUV-hosted side scan sonar seafloor mapping systems.
2. Produce a map derived from side scan, sediment samples, and imagery data on the bay side. A side scan sonar survey will collect high-resolution images and be used to create a map that characterizes bottom conditions at the time of the survey. This data will also locate and identify objects exposed at the bay and ocean bottom and be used to characterize features that show lithologic and biogeologic facies changes. The side scan imagery will be melded with water depths and used to construct a benthic map depicting changes in the bottom. The acoustic imagery will then be ground truthed by the benthic scientists using direct data gathered by Van Veen grab sampler. Data returned from the bottom sampling effort will then be superimposed on the acoustic data and the imagery refined to characterize the bottom.

3. Produce a map of anomalous physical objects (e.g. rocks, wrecks, relict anthropological structures, debris) that are not native to the surrounding bedform/sediment types and that hold interest for investigation as having potential anthropological, biological, or hazard significance on the bay side.
4. Produce a map of the distribution of benthic biological communities and their association with physical habitat features using the Coastal and Marine Ecological Standard (CMECS) on the bay side. To address characterization of these ecological habitats and the benthic macroinvertebrate communities, three replicate benthic samples will be taken at 22 sites to total 66 samples in Year Additionally, 11 stations with 3 replicates each will be sampled in Year 2 to check the veracity of habitat classifications made during analysis (see below). Grab sampling will follow the original sonar mapping effort, which will provide spatial sample effort strata based on backscatter classification. The biological sampling effort will then follow an area-weighted distribution in a stratified random design, (i.e. percent of total samples collected in any classified bottom type approximates the total percent coverage of that bottom) with locations within the area chosen by coin toss on grids, but stipulating first that a minimum of two samples be collected for any classified bottom type. This assumes that there will be a maximum of 11 bottom types classified. The samples will be immediately sieved over a 0.5 mm mesh screen. The residue remaining on the screen will be fixed in 3.7% formaldehyde solution in seawater, buffered with sodium borate and containing Rose Bengal to stain organisms. In addition to grab samples, 3 replicate Sediment Profile Imagery (SPI) camera samples will be taken at the same location/station as the grab sample in Year 1. The SPI camera penetrates the sediment surface approximately 20 cm depth, depending on sediment compaction, and photographs a vertical profile of the sediment. The grab sample will provide data representing benthic species composition and abundance, whereas the data derived from the SPI camera images will provide not only sediment-water interface information but additional information on organism-sediment relationships, such as depth of oxygen penetration into the sediment, bioturbation organisms and bioturbation depth plus the presence of macroalgae and seagrass. The SPI will also provide a permanent recorded image of the biological and physical conditions that are present. (These recorded images will aid the research team on sampling revisits post storm events). The additional grab sample taken at each station will be used for measurement of sediment grain-size properties, total organic carbon, and nitrogen as detailed below. Surface and bottom water salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, and pH at each station will be measured with a YSI hand-held meter (Yellow Springs Instruments, Yellow Springs OH) using a 20-m cable to lower the sensors to the appropriate depth.
5. Provide an estimate of percent change in bathymetry, bedform, and key biological structures at the daily, seasonal, event, and interannual scales at the more stable and biologically influenced bay side of the Sandy Hook Unit. The data acquired during the field mapping phase and subsequent analysis will provide the information for developing subjective routing patterns for the REMUS AUV. AUV survey will follow the initial mapping effort, and thus will be informed of potential hazards, in fact, some of these features can be put to use as landmarks for the purpose of image georectification described later. These routes will be determined by the structural composition and spatial distribution of defined sediment and benthic biotic types and the distribution of other resources, natural or anthropological. This routing will be used on a seasonal basis and after strong storms to potentially characterize changes in the sediment distributions, geomorphological features and benthic biological structures within the Sandy Hook Unit on the bay side.

Single Source Award to Rutgers University, a Public and State controlled institution of higher learning

The Cooperator will:
1. Produce a map of the bathymetry and side scan imagery of the Sandy Hook Unit holdings on the bay side using GPS-referenced hull-mounted sonar and AUV-hosted side scan sonar seafloor mapping systems.
2. Produce a map derived from side scan, sediment samples, and imagery data on the bay side. A side scan sonar survey will collect high-resolution images and be used to create a map that characterizes bottom conditions at the time of the survey. This data will also locate and identify objects exposed at the bay and ocean bottom and be used to characterize features that show lithologic and biogeologic facies changes. The side scan imagery will be melded with water depths and used to construct a benthic map depicting changes in the bottom. The acoustic imagery will then be ground truthed by the benthic scientists using direct data gathered by Van Veen grab sampler. Data returned from the bottom sampling effort will then be superimposed on the acoustic data and the imagery refined to characterize the bottom.

3. Produce a map of anomalous physical objects (e.g. rocks, wrecks, relict anthropological structures, debris) that are not native to the surrounding bedform/sediment types and that hold interest for investigation as having potential anthropological, biological, or hazard significance on the bay side.
4. Produce a map of the distribution of benthic biological communities and their association with physical habitat features using the Coastal and Marine Ecological Standard (CMECS) on the bay side. To address characterization of these ecological habitats and the benthic macroinvertebrate communities, three replicate benthic samples will be taken at 22 sites to total 66 samples in Year Additionally, 11 stations with 3 replicates each will be sampled in Year 2 to check the veracity of habitat classifications made during analysis (see below). Grab sampling will follow the original sonar mapping effort, which will provide spatial sample effort strata based on backscatter classification. The biological sampling effort will then follow an area-weighted distribution in a stratified random design, (i.e. percent of total samples collected in any classified bottom type approximates the total percent coverage of that bottom) with locations within the area chosen by coin toss on grids, but stipulating first that a minimum of two samples be collected for any classified bottom type. This assumes that there will be a maximum of 11 bottom types classified. The samples will be immediately sieved over a 0.5 mm mesh screen. The residue remaining on the screen will be fixed in 3.7% formaldehyde solution in seawater, buffered with sodium borate and containing Rose Bengal to stain organisms. In addition to grab samples, 3 replicate Sediment Profile Imagery (SPI) camera samples will be taken at the same location/station as the grab sample in Year 1. The SPI camera penetrates the sediment surface approximately 20 cm depth, depending on sediment compaction, and photographs a vertical profile of the sediment. The grab sample will provide data representing benthic species composition and abundance, whereas the data derived from the SPI camera images will provide not only sediment-water interface information but additional information on organism-sediment relationships, such as depth of oxygen penetration into the sediment, bioturbation organisms and bioturbation depth plus the presence of macroalgae and seagrass. The SPI will also provide a permanent recorded image of the biological and physical conditions that are present. (These recorded images will aid the research team on sampling revisits post storm events). The additional grab sample taken at each station will be used for measurement of sediment grain-size properties, total organic carbon, and nitrogen as detailed below. Surface and bottom water salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, and pH at each station will be measured with a YSI hand-held meter (Yellow Springs Instruments, Yellow Springs OH) using a 20-m cable to lower the sensors to the appropriate depth.
5. Provide an estimate of percent change in bathymetry, bedform, and key biological structures at the daily, seasonal, event, and interannual scales at the more stable and biologically influenced bay side of the Sandy Hook Unit. The data acquired during the field mapping phase and subsequent analysis will provide the information for developing subjective routing patterns for the REMUS AUV. AUV survey will follow the initial mapping effort, and thus will be informed of potential hazards, in fact, some of these features can be put to use as landmarks for the purpose of image georectification described later. These routes will be determined by the structural composition and spatial distribution of defined sediment and benthic biotic types and the distribution of other resources, natural or anthropological. This routing will be used on a seasonal basis and after strong storms to potentially characterize changes in the sediment distributions, geomorphological features and benthic biological structures within the Sandy Hook Unit on the bay side.