High-resolution (1m) bathymetric data from Monterey Canyon, offshore California

The processed bathymetric grids were generated from high-resolution, multibeam bathymetric surveys of the Monterey Canyon floor. Two sites were surveyed 6 times each between October 2015 and April 2017 with an MBARI mapping AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle) as part of the Monterey Canyon Coordinated Canyon Experiment (CCE). The CCE was set up to measure the passage of sediment gravity flows down Monterey Canyon and their effect on the bathymetry. Repeat surveys captured changes in bathymetry during the experiment. The AUV carried a Reson 7125 multibeam echo-sounder (vertical precision of 0.15 m and horizontal resolution of 1.0 m). An inertial navigation system combined with a Doppler velocity logger allowed the AUV to fly pre-programmed grids at 3 knots, while maintaining an altitude of 50 m above the seafloor, to obtain a nominal line spacing of 130 m. These data files have been cleaned, and tide corrected. A significant effort was made to co-register all the surveys together at each site (CCE_Shallow and CCE_DEEP) using MBnavadjust, part of MBSystem. The shallow surveys were conducted in water depths between 200-500 m and the deep surveys were in water depths of 1350-1880 m. The data files are in netCDF grid format with horizontal 1 m resolution and are projected into UTM zone 10N. The grid files are compatible with GMT programs and MBSystem. For more information about the grids review the "Science Report" under Documents. Funding for this part of the project was provided to investigators Charles Paull and David Caress by The David and Lucile Packard Foundation.