Composite multibeam bathymetry surface of the southern Cascadia Margin offshore Oregon and northern California (ver. 2.0, April 2026)

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Frequently anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?

Title:
Composite multibeam bathymetry surface of the southern Cascadia Margin offshore Oregon and northern California (ver. 2.0, April 2026)
Abstract:
Data from various sources, including 2018-2022 multibeam bathymetry data collected by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), were combined to create a composite 30-m resolution multibeam bathymetry surface of southern Cascadia Margin offshore Oregon and northern California. The data are available as a GeoTIFF file.
Supplemental_Information:
Additional information about the USGS field activities from which some of these data were derived is available online at:
https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fan=2018-642-FA https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fan=2019-636-FA https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fan=2021-643-FA
Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
Although this Federal Geographic Data Committee-compliant metadata file is intended to document the data set in nonproprietary form, as well as in Esri format, this metadata file may include some Esri-specific terminology.
  1. How might this data set be cited?
    Dartnell, Peter, Rudebusch, Jane A., Conrad, James E., Watt, Janet T., and Hill, Jenna C., 20260402, Composite multibeam bathymetry surface of the southern Cascadia Margin offshore Oregon and northern California (ver. 2.0, April 2026): data release DOI:10.5066/P9C5DBMR, U.S. Geological Survey, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Santa Cruz, California.

    Online Links:

    This is part of the following larger work.

    Dartnell, Peter, Rudebusch, Jane A., Conrad, James E., Watt, Janet T., and Hill, Jenna C., 2021, Composite multibeam bathymetry surface and data sources of the southern Cascadia Margin offshore Oregon and northern California (ver. 2.0, April 2026): data release DOI:10.5066/P9C5DBMR, U.S. Geological Survey, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Santa Cruz, CA.

    Online Links:

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?
    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -125.570471
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -124.072995
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 43.415421
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 40.159820
  3. What does it look like?
    SouthernCascadia_30m_bathy_image.png (PNG)
    Quick view image of the southern Cascadia Margin composite multibeam bathymetry surface
  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
    Beginning_Date: 1994
    Ending_Date: 2023
    Currentness_Reference:
    ground condition at time data were collected.
  5. What is the general form of this data set?
  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?
    1. How are geographic features stored in the data set?
      This is a Raster data set. It contains the following raster data types:
      • Dimensions 47618 x 85490 x 1, type Grid Cell
    2. What coordinate system is used to represent geographic features?
      Grid_Coordinate_System_Name: Universal Transverse Mercator
      Universal_Transverse_Mercator:
      UTM_Zone_Number: 10
      Transverse_Mercator:
      Scale_Factor_at_Central_Meridian: 0.9996
      Longitude_of_Central_Meridian: -123.00000
      Latitude_of_Projection_Origin: 0.00000
      False_Easting: 500000.0
      False_Northing: 0.00
      Planar coordinates are encoded using coordinate pair
      Abscissae (x-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 30.0
      Ordinates (y-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 30.0
      Planar coordinates are specified in Meters
      The horizontal datum used is NAD83.
      The ellipsoid used is GRS80.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378137.00.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.257222101.
      Vertical_Coordinate_System_Definition:
      Altitude_System_Definition:
      Altitude_Datum_Name: instantaneous sea level
      Altitude_Resolution: 0.1
      Altitude_Distance_Units: meters
      Altitude_Encoding_Method:
      Explicit elevation coordinate included with horizontal coordinates
  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?
    value
    Raster values represent depth in meters. (Source: Producer defined)
    Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:
    The complete 30-m resolution "Cascadia_30m_bathy_UTM10_NAD83_v2.tif" grid was originally archived as a TIFF image with the following attributes. 
    Cell size = 30.0
Number of rows = 47618
Number of columns = 85490

Data type = floating point

Boundary
Xmin = -345378
Xmax = 2219321
Ymin = 3899099
Ymax = 5327639

Statistics
Minimum value = -3282.3
Maximum value = -1.0
Mean = -1488.5
Standard deviation = 1060.3

Coordinate system description
Projection  UTM
Zone  10
Datum  NAD83
Units  meter
    Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation: U.S. Geological Survey

Who produced the data set?

  1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)
    • Peter Dartnell
    • Jane A. Rudebusch
    • James E. Conrad
    • Janet T. Watt
    • Jenna C. Hill
  2. Who also contributed to the data set?
  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
    U.S. Geological Survey, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
    Attn: PCMSC Science Data Coordinator
    2885 Mission Street
    Santa Cruz, CA

    831-427-4747 (voice)
    pcmsc_data@usgs.gov

Why was the data set created?

In 2018 and 2019 the NOAA ships Rainier and Fairweather collected multibeam bathymetry data in five areas along the southern Cascadia Margin offshore northern California and southern Oregon as part of a cooperative project between the U.S. Geological Survey, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center and NOAA. Additional data collected by the project between 2021-2022 was subsequently added to the surface in the version 2.0 release along with other publicly available multibeam bathymetry data. The surface was generated to assist research projects studying offshore geohazards including mapping faults, submarine landslides, sediment transport pathways, and seafloor seeps. These data are not intended to be used for navigation.

How was the data set created?

  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?
  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?
    Date: 2020 (process 1 of 13)
    The Ocean Exploration Trust's Nautilus Exploration Program collected multibeam echosounder data along the southern Cascadia Margin between 2016 and 2020 (OET survey ID's NA072, NA078, NA080, NA082, and NA122). The U.S. Geological Survey Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center requested and received both raw line files and processed grids (these data are now available from NOAA, National Centers for Environmental Information, https://ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/bathymetry/multibeam.html). Raw survey line files were imported and processed in Caris HIPS and SIPS software (version 11). The data were gridded into 30-m surfaces and exported as GeoTIFF's or ASCIIRaster files and imported into ArcMap.
    Date: 2020 (process 2 of 13)
    Publicly available multibeam echosounder data available from NOAA, National Centers for Environmental Information were downloaded from https://ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/bathymetry/multibeam.html. Survey ID's include AT26-02, SKQ201607S, SKQ201804S, HLY18TB, MV1405, TN265, TN240, EX0907, RR1803, and SR1810. The raw survey and transit line files were imported and processed in Caris HIPS and SIPS software (version 11). The data were gridded into 30-m surfaces and exported as GeoTIFF or ASCIIRaster files and imported into ArcMap.
    Date: 2020 (process 3 of 13)
    California Seafloor Mapping Program multibeam echosounder data collected nearshore in the State waters of California and southern Oregon (Survey ID's H12130, H12131, H11985, H11983, H11982, H11981, H11980, H1197,9 H11978, H11977, H11976, H11975, H11974, H11973) were downloaded as BAG files from NOAA, NCEI, https://ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/bathymetry/relief.html. The BAG files were imported into ArcMap and resampled to 30-m resolution.
    Date: 2020 (process 4 of 13)
    A processed multibeam bathymetry grid from Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) was downloaded as an ASCIIRaster file from http://www3.mbari.org/data/mapping/NorCal_Oregon_Margin/eel_river.htm (EelriverA.asc.gz). The bathymetry data were imported into ArcMap and projected from geographic coordinates to UTM, zone 10, WGS84 coordinates. The UTM grid was reprojected to UTM, zone 10, NAD83 coordinates and resampled to 30-m resolution.
    Date: 2020 (process 5 of 13)
    Accessed processed multibeam bathymetry data collected by the USGS during field activity 2014-607-FA. Cochrane, G.R., Dartnell, P., Hemery, L.G., and Hatcher, G., 2017, Data release for USGS field activity 2014-607-FA, Oregon OCS seafloor mapping: selected lease blocks relevant to renewable energy (ver. 2.0, July 2017), U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/F7V40S8V
    Date: 2020 (process 6 of 13)
    Accessed from U.S. Geological Survey Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center archives, processed multibeam bathymetry data collected in 1994 by the R/V Pacific Hunter as part of the STRATAFORM Project. Mayer, L., and J. Hughes Clarke, (1995). STRATAFORM Cruise Report: R/V Pacific Hunter, Multibeam Survey, July14-28.
    Date: 2021 (process 7 of 13)
    In 2018 and 2019 the NOAA ships Rainier and Fairweather mapped five regions along the southern Cascadia Margin (NOAA survey IDs H13117, H13118, H13206, W00474, and W00475) using Kongsberg EM-710 multibeam echosounders. These bathymetry surfaces are available from NOAA, National Centers for Environmental Information and were downloaded from https://ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/bathymetry/multibeam.html as BAG files. The BAG files were imported into Caris HIPS and SIPS, version 11 and converted to LAS files. The files were imported into ArcMap, version 10.8.1 and converted to grids.
    Date: 2021 (process 8 of 13)
    If needed, the previously described bathymetry grids were projected to a common horizontal datum (NAD83) using the "Project Raster" tool in ArcToolbox. Also, if needed, the grids were downsampled to 30-m spatial resolution using the "Resample" tool in ArcMap using the bilinear resampling technique. The grids were then merged together using the "Mosaic to New Raster" tool in ArcMap using the "first" mosaic operator. Priority was given to recent dedicated surveys, then older dedicated surveys followed by cleaner transit data and then noisier transit data. The merged grid was exported as a GeoTIFF file.
    Date: 2023 (process 9 of 13)
    In 2021 and 2022 the NOAA ship Fairweather mapped two regions along the southern Cascadia Margin (NOAA survey IDs H13549, H13691) using Kongsberg EM-710 multibeam echosounders. Bathymetry surfaces are available from NOAA, National Centers for Environmental Information at https://ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/bathymetry/multibeam.html as BAG files. The raw survey and transit line files were obtained from NOAA and imported and processed in Caris HIPS and SIPS software (version 11). The data were gridded into 30-m surfaces and exported as GeoTIFF rasters and then imported into Esri ArcGIS Pro (version 3.5.5).
    Date: 2026 (process 10 of 13)
    In 2022 and 2023 the NOAA ship Okeanos Explorer mapped three regions along the southern Cascadia Margin (NOAA survey IDs EX2208, EX2301, EX2307) using Kongsberg EM-304 multibeam echosounders. Bathymetry surfaces are available from NOAA, National Centers for Environmental Information at https://ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/bathymetry/multibeam.html as GeoTIFF files. The raw survey and transit line files were downloaded, then imported and processed in Caris HIPS and SIPS software (version 11). The data were processed gridded into 30-m surfaces and exported as GeoTIFF rasters and then imported into Esri ArcGIS Pro (version 3.5.5).
    Date: 2026 (process 11 of 13)
    In 2021 the Ocean Exploration Trust's E/V Nautilus mapped a region along the southern Cascadia Margin (NA130) using a Kongsberg EM-302 multibeam echosounder. Bathymetry data are available from NOAA, National Centers for Environmental Information at https://ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/bathymetry/multibeam.html as GSF files. The raw survey and transit line files were downloaded, then imported and processed in Caris HIPS and SIPS software (version 11). The data were processed gridded into 30-m surfaces and exported as GeoTIFF raster and then imported into Esri ArcGIS Pro (version 3.5.5).
    Date: 2026 (process 12 of 13)
    Publicly available multibeam echosounder data available from NOAA, National Centers for Environmental Information were downloaded from https://ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/bathymetry/multibeam.html. Survey ID's include AT42-16 and MGL2211. The raw survey and transit line files were imported and processed in Caris HIPS and SIPS software (version 11). The data were gridded into 30-m surfaces and exported as GeoTIFF files and imported into Esri ArcGIS Pro (version 3.5.5).
    Date: 2026 (process 13 of 13)
    The EX2208, EX2301, EX2307, H13549, H13691, NA130, AT42-16, and MGL2211 bathymetry grids were, if needed, projected to a common horizontal datum (NAD83) using the "Project Raster" tool in ArcToolbox. The grids were then merged together with the southern Cascadia composite 30-m resolution surface (version 1.0) using the "Mosaic to New Raster" tool in ArcGIS Pro using the "first" mosaic operator. Priority was given to these datasets as in all cases they were either newer, covered areas that did not exist in the version 1.0 dataset, and/or improved the quality of the data by being less noisy or reducing data artifacts. The merged grid was exported as a GeoTIFF file.
  3. What similar or related data should the user be aware of?

How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?

  1. How well have the observations been checked?
    The attribute table in the bathymetry source shapefile (SouthernCascadia_bathy_sources_v2.shp) also included in this data release provides mean differences and standard deviations calculated between each dataset and an adjacent, overlapping dataset. In general there is good agreement in depth values between adjacent datasets.
  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?
    The composite multibeam bathymetry surface was generated from a combination of dedicated multibeam surveys, processed bathymetry surfaces received from other institutions, as well as transit data (ancillary data collected while a ship was underway). The bathymetry data were collected over a span of nearly 30 years using a variety of models of multibeam echosounders, GPS systems, position and motion compensation systems, sound velocity profilers, and tide measurements. The attribute table in the bathymetry source shapefile (SouthernCascadia_bathy_sources_v2.shp), also included in this data release provides links to the survey page for each dataset. Some of the datasets provide metadata and reports that describe mapping procedures and data quality including uncertainty measurements and comparisons with other bathymetry data. The horizontal accuracy of bathymetry data in this data release may be lower than stated in the reports due to further processing of the data.
  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
    The composite multibeam bathymetry surface was generated from a combination of dedicated multibeam surveys, processed bathymetry surfaces received from other institutions, as well as transit data (ancillary data collected while a ship was underway). The bathymetry data were collected over a span of nearly 30 years using a variety of models of multibeam echosounders, GPS systems, position and motion compensation systems, sound velocity profilers, and tide measurements. The attribute table in the bathymetry source shapefile (SouthernCascadia_bathy_sources_v2.shp), also included in this data release provides links to the survey page for each dataset. Some of the datasets provide metadata and reports that describe mapping procedures and data quality including uncertainty measurements and comparisons with other bathymetry data. The vertical accuracy of bathymetry data in this data release may be lower than stated in the reports due to further processing of the data.
  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
    Dataset is considered complete for the information presented, as described in the abstract. Users are advised to read the rest of the metadata record carefully for additional details.
  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?
    No formal logical accuracy tests were conducted.

How can someone get a copy of the data set?

Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?
Access_Constraints No access constraints
Use_Constraints USGS-authored or produced data and information are in the public domain from the U.S. Government and are freely redistributable with proper metadata and source attribution. Please recognize and acknowledge the U.S. Geological Survey as the originators of the dataset and in products derived from these data. Portions of the map used data provided by the Ocean Exploration Trust's (OET) Nautilus Exploration Program, Cruises NA072, NA078, NA080, NA082, NA122, and NA130. This composite bathymetry grid is intended for research purposes only, studying the seafloor morphology of the southern Cascadia margin. The bathymetry grid is not intended to be used for navigation.
  1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)
    U.S. Geological Survey - CMGDS
    2885 Mission Street
    Santa Cruz, CA

    1-831-427-4747 (voice)
    pcmsc_data@usgs.gov
  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set? These data are available in GeoTIFF format, including a tif world file (.tfw) and CSDGM FGDC-compliant metadata.
  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?
    Unless otherwise stated, all data, metadata and related materials are considered to satisfy the quality standards relative to the purpose for which the data were collected. Although these data and associated metadata have been reviewed for accuracy and completeness and approved for release by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), no warranty expressed or implied is made regarding the display or utility of the data on any other system or for general or scientific purposes, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty.
  4. How can I download or order the data?
    • Availability in digital form:
      Data format: Downloadable zip file contains the TIFF (.tif), and the projection file (.tfw). in format GeoTIFF (version ArcGIS Pro (version 3.5.5)) Size: 100.6
      Network links: https://doi.org/10.5066/P9C5DBMR
    • Cost to order the data: None.

  5. What hardware or software do I need in order to use the data set?
    The downloadable data file has been compressed with the "zip" command and can be unzipped with Winzip (or other tool) on Windows systems. To utilize these data, the user must have software capable of uncompressing the WinZip file and importing and viewing a GeoTIFF file.

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 02-Apr-2026
Metadata author:
U.S. Geological Survey, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
Attn: PCMSC Science Data Coordinator
2885 Mission Street
Santa Cruz, CA

831-427-4747 (voice)
pcmsc_data@usgs.gov
Metadata standard:
Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)
This page is <https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/catalog/pcmsc/DataReleases/CMGDS_DR_tool/DR_P9C5DBMR/SouthernCascadia_30m_bathy_UTM10N_NAD83_metadatav2.faq.html>
Generated by mp version 2.9.51 on Fri Apr 10 16:37:27 2026