Dataset description: Underwater video observations offshore of Tacoma, Washington
Geometry
This part of USGS Data Series 935 (Cochrane, 2014) presents observations from underwater video collected in the Offshore of Tacoma, Washington, map area, a part of the Southern Salish Sea Map Series. To validate the interpretations of sonar data in order to turn it into geologically and biologically useful information, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) towed a camera sled over specific locations throughout the Tacoma map area to collect video and photographic data that would 'ground truth' the seafloor. The ground-truth survey conducted in the Tacoma map area occurred in 2009 and 2011 on the R/V Karluk (USGS field activity K109PS, and K0111PS) and on the Washington State Department of Fish and Game R/V Molluscan in 2011 and 2012 (USGS field activity M0111PS, M0112PS, and M0212PS). The camera sled was towed 1 to 2 m above the seafloor at speeds of between 1 and 2 nautical miles/hour. The surveys for this map area includes approximately 30 hours (47 trackline km) of video.
