Dataset description: Contours--Offshore of Ventura, California
Geometry
This part of DS 781 presents data for the bathymetric contours of the Offshore of Ventura map area, California. The vector data file is included in "Contours_OffshoreVentura.zip," which is accessible from https://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/781/OffshoreVentura/data_catalog_OffshoreVentura.html. These data accompany the pamphlet and map sheets of Johnson, S.Y., Dartnell, P., Cochrane, G.R., Golden, N.E., Phillips, E.L., Ritchie, A.C., Kvitek, R.G., Greene, H.G., Krigsman, L.M., Endris, C.A., Seitz, G.G., Gutierrez, C.I., Sliter, R.W., Erdey, M.D., Wong, F.L., Yoklavich, M.M., Draut, A.E., and Hart, P.E. (S.Y. Johnson and S.A. Cochran, eds.), 2013, California State Waters Map Series-Offshore of Ventura, California: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 3254, pamphlet 42 p., 11 sheets, scale 1:24,000, https://doi.org/10.3133/sim3254.
Contours of the Offshore of Ventura map area, California, were generated from bathymetry data collected by California State University, Monterey Bay, Seafloor Mapping Lab (CSUMB) and by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Most of the offshore area was mapped by CSUMB in the summers of 2006 and 2007, using a 244-kHz Reson 8101 multibeam echosounder. The seafloor west of Ventura Harbor was mapped by the USGS in 2006 and 2010, using 117-kHz (2006) and 234.5-kHz (2010) SEA (AP) Ltd. SWATHplus-M phase-differencing sidescan sonars. These mapping missions combined to collect bathymetry from about the 10-m isobath to beyond the 3-nautical-mile limit of California's State Waters. A smooth arithmetic mean convolution function applying a weight of one-ninth to each cell in a 3-pixel by 3-pixel matrix was then applied iteratively to the grid ten times. Following smoothing, contour lines were generated at 10-m intervals, from -10 m to -100 m, and at 50-m intervals, from -100 m to -400 m, then the contours were clipped to the boundary of the map area.
