OPR-L373-RA-18California Deepwater Investigation and Groundtruthing (CalDIG) ProjectOffshore South-Central CaliforniaNOAA Ship RAINIERH131522Crosslines are not assigned for Sheet H13152Santa Lucia Bank and VicinityCaliforniaUnited States800002018Benjamin K. Evans, CDR/NOAANavigable Area2018-08-232018-08-312018-10-28Multibeam Echo SounderMultibeam Echo Sounder BackscattermetersUTCPacific Hydrographic BranchThe purpose of this survey is to provide contemporary surveys to update National Ocean Service (NOS) nautical charts. All separates are filed with the hydrographic data. Any revisions to the Descriptive Report (DR) generated during office processing are shown in bold red italic text. The processing branch maintains the DR as a field unit product, therefore, all information and recommendations within the body of the DR are considered preliminary unless otherwise noted. The final disposition of surveyed features is represented in the OCS nautical chart update products. All pertinent records for this survey, including the DR, are archived at the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) and can be retrieved via http://www.ncei.noaa.gov/.ContractorThe survey area is referred to as "Santa Lucia Bank and Vicinity" (sheet 2) within the Project Instructions. The area encompasses approximately 892 square nautical miles and is 18.8 nautical miles west-southwest from Morro Bay, California.35.247372121.60338134.527447120.93602H13152 assigned survey limits (Chart 18700).file:///M:/OPRL373RA18/Surveys/H13152/Office_Processing/Reports_office/SupportFiles/A-2%20Assigned%20Survey%20Limits.pngData were acquired within survey limits as required in the Project Instructions and HSSD unless otherwise noted in this report. This survey is a part of the California Deepwater Investigation and Groundtruthing (CalDIG) project, which is a collaboration between NOAA's Office of Coast Survey (OCS), the Coastal and Marine Geology Program (CMGP) of the USGS, and the Environmental Studies Program of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). The primary purpose of the CalDIG project is to collect data for surficial geology, benthic habitats, sub-bottom faults, geologic hazards, and sedimentary processes. To accomplish this goal, USGS operated towed seismic survey equipment from RAINIER, while RAINIER personnel simultaneously acquired multibeam bathymetry, backscatter, and watercolumn data. Survey H13152 and the contents of this Descriptive Report refer only to the NOAA-acquired multibeam data; the seismic data acquired simultaneously will be managed and published by USGS. This project also supports the Expanding Pacific Research and Exploration of Submerged Systems (EXPRESS) campaign to explore deepwater areas off the U.S. Pacific Coast. Data collected throughout this survey will be used to determine the viability of potential lease locations for offshore wind energy production. Additionally, USGS will use the bathymetric and seismic data to investigate a field of potential gas seeps in the northeast portion of the survey area. The entire survey is adequate to supersede previous data.Pydro derived plot showing HSSD density compliance of H13152 finalized variable-resolution MBES data.file:///M:/OPRL373RA18/Surveys/H13152/Office_Processing/Reports_office/SupportFiles/A-3%20Data%20Density.pngAll waters in survey area.Complete Coverage MBES data, backscatter data and water column data. (refer to HSSD Section 5.2.2.3)All waters in survey area.The USGS will simultaneously collect high resolution, low energy multichannel seismic (MCS) and CHIRP subbottom data during acquisition requiring a survey speed of 6 knots. Complete multibeam echosounder (MBES) coverage was not acquired within the assigned survey area. Due to schedule constraints, an area of approximately 70 square nautical miles was not surveyed near the northeast boundary of the sheet. Additionally, an area of approximately 90 square nautical miles was not surveyed by RAINIER due to existing MBES coverage completed by the Scripps Institute of Oceanography. The USGS and BOEM teams prioritized maximal multibeam coverage and requested to minimize overlap between adjacent lines and omit holiday runs from the cruise. To best balance the goals of NOAA, USGS, and BOEM, the survey team accepted an increased probability of leaving holidays in exchange for multibeam coverage over a larger area. As a result, a waiver was granted from the NOAA Hydrographic Survey Division to dispense the requirement for crossline and holiday acquisition. This memo is included in Appendix II. The Pydro QC Tool Holiday Finder found 10 holidays within the H13152 surveyed area. All holidays were examined and determined to be small enough in size and sufficiently deep as to effectively rule out the possibility of any hazards to navigation. Note that four marked holidays arose from the voids left between crosslines and the Scripps survey area. Example of holidays due to sea state and <10% coverage overlap. Inset shows location of holidays on H13152 survey area.file:///M:/OPRL373RA18/Surveys/H13152/Office_Processing/Reports_office/SupportFiles/A-4%20Holidays.pngHoliday width and water depth for H13152 (Chart 18700)file:///M:/OPRL373RA18/Surveys/H13152/Office_Processing/Reports_office/SupportFiles/A-4%20Holiday%20Width%20and%20Depth.pngH13152 MBES coverage (transparent), Scripps coverage (opaque), and assigned survey limits (Chart 18700).file:///M:/OPRL373RA18/Surveys/H13152/Office_Processing/Reports_office/SupportFiles/A-4%20Survey%20Coverage.pngS22101109.450000056.25001109.450000056.2505.070000842.932018-08-312018-09-022018-09-062018-09-072018-09-132018-09-152018-09-162018-09-172018-09-182018-09-192018-09-202018-09-222018-09-232018-09-242018-09-28The listed dates are incorrect. The DR incorrectly lists Sept 22, Sept 23, Sept 24 and Sept 28 (DN 265, 266, 267, 271) when in fact the survey dates were Oct 22, Oct 23, Oct 24, and Oct 28 (DN 295, 296, 297, and 301)Refer to the Data Acquisition and Processing Report (DAPR) for a complete description of data acquisition and processing systems, survey vessels, quality control procedures and data processing methods. Additional information to supplement sounding and survey data, and any deviations from the DAPR are discussed in the following sections.S22170.44.7NOAA Ship RAINIER anchored near Santa Rosa Island, California.file:///M:/OPRL373RA18/Surveys/H13152/Office_Processing/Reports_office/SupportFiles/B-1%20S221.pngAll data for H13152 were acquired by NOAA Ship RAINIER. The vessel acquired depth soundings, backscatter, and sound speed profiles. Kongsberg MaritimeEM 710MBESApplanixPOS MV 320 v5Positioning and Attitude SystemTeledyne RESONSVP 70Surface Sound Speed SystemLockheed MartinSippican Deep BlueTemperature SensorRefer to the Data Acquisition and Processing Report (DAPR) for a comprehensive description of data acquisition and processing systems, survey vessels, quality control procedures, and data processing methods. Additional information to supplement sounding and other survey data and any deviations from the DAPR are discussed in this report. Though they were not required for this survey, four crosslines were acquired by RAINIER while running lines associated with the USGS seismic survey. They do not cover all depths of the survey area; however, the acquired crossline data is adequate for verifying and evaluating the internal consistency of survey data. NOAA Ship RAINIER acquired 56.25 nautical miles of multibeam crosslines. The Compare Grids function in Pydro Explorer analyzed finalized VR surfaces of H13152 crossline-only data and mainscheme-only data. In the difference surface, 99.5% of nodes met IHO allowable Total Vertical Uncertainty (TVU) standards. Overview of crosslines on H13152file:///M:/OPRL373RA18/Surveys/H13152/Office_Processing/Reports_office/SupportFiles/B-2%20Crosslines.pngH13152 crossline comparison distribution.file:///M:/OPRL373RA18/Surveys/H13152/Office_Processing/Reports_office/SupportFiles/B-2%20Crosslines%20Error.pngH13152 crossline absolute difference statistics.file:///M:/OPRL373RA18/Surveys/H13152/Office_Processing/Reports_office/SupportFiles/B-2%20Crossline%20Absolute%20Difference.png00.082867ERS via VDATUMS221N/AN/A0.05Expendable Bathythermographs (XBT) were used for sound speed profiles throughout the survey in lieu of CTD and MVP casts due to the survey depth and risk of entanglement in the towed USGS gear. An uncertainty value of 4 m/s was used for processing total propagated uncertainty. Total Propagated Uncertainty (TPU) values for survey H13152 were derived from a combination of fixed values for equipment and vessel characteristics, as well as from field assigned values for sound speed uncertainties. Tidal zoning uncertainty of 0.082867 meters was provided in the Project Instructions as part of the VDatum. See the 2018 DAPR for further information. In addition to the usual a priori estimates of uncertainty, some real-time and post-processing uncertainty sources were also incorporated into the depth estimates of this survey. Real-time uncertainties from Kongsberg MBES sonars were recorded and applied in post-processing. Applanix TrueHeave (POS) files, which record estimates of heave uncertainty, were applied during post-processing. Finally, the postprocessed uncertainties associated with vessel roll, pitch, yaw, and position were applied in CARIS HIPS using SBET and RMS files generated using POSPac MMS software. Uncertainty values of the submitted finalized grid was calculated in CARIS using "Greater of the Two" of uncertainty and standard deviation (scaled to 95%). Grid QA v5 within Pydro QC Tools 2 was used to analyze H13152 TVU compliance.Pydro-derived plot showing TVU compliance of H13152 finalized multibeam resolution MBES data.file:///M:/OPRL373RA18/Surveys/H13152/Office_Processing/Reports_office/SupportFiles/B-2%20TVU%20Uncertainty.pngThe zoning TPU assigned in the PI was 0.083m and the actual applied value in the HIPS Compute TPU field was 0.083018m. One junction comparison was completed for survey H13152. Survey H13151 was acquired concurrently with this survey. Overview of H13152 coverage and H13151 coverage.file:///M:/OPRL373RA18/Surveys/H13152/Office_Processing/Reports_office/SupportFiles/B-2%20Junction%20Overview.PNGH13151800002018NOAA Ship RAINIERNWThe junction with survey H13151 encompasses 11.43 square nautical miles along the north boundary of survey H13152. The Compare Grids functions of Pydro Explorer derived a difference surface from the variable-resolution CUBE surface of each survey for comparison. Analysis of the difference surface indicated that survey H13151 is an average of 0.08 meters deeper than survey H13152 with a standard deviation of 1.02 meters.H13152 and H13151 junction difference surface.file:///M:/OPRL373RA18/Surveys/H13152/Office_Processing/Reports_office/SupportFiles/B-2%20Junction%20Difference.pngPydro derived plot showing percentage-pass value of the junction between surveys H13152 and H13151.file:///M:/OPRL373RA18/Surveys/H13152/Office_Processing/Reports_office/SupportFiles/B-2%20Junction%20Percentage%20Pass.pngPydro derived plot showing absolute difference statistics of the junction between surveys H13152 and H13151. file:///M:/OPRL373RA18/Surveys/H13152/Office_Processing/Reports_office/SupportFiles/B-2%20Junction%20Absolute%20Difference.pngPydro derived plot showing node depth vs. allowable error fraction between surveys H13152 and H13151. file:///M:/OPRL373RA18/Surveys/H13152/Office_Processing/Reports_office/SupportFiles/B-2%20Junction%20Node%20Depth%20v%20Error%20Fraction.pngSonar system quality control checks were conducted as detailed in the quality control section of the DAPR.Sig Mini-SparkerAs a joint USGS/BOEM/NOAA mission, other pieces of equipment were being towed during the survey. The Sig Mini-Sparker was used concurrently and spikes were observed in the Sound Velocity Profile collected while in use. The spikes were smoothed using the "magic wand" tool in Sound Speed Manager. Kongsberg EM710The sonar was operating at the deeper end of its depth range and high wave conditions led to blowouts throughout the survey.Sea StateThroughout the survey, the ship was subject to sustained high sea states, including both long-period swell and locally generated wind waves. The result was increased bubble sweep-down that led to blowouts and higher than normal noise levels. At least every 4 hours54 sound speed profiles were acquired for this survey at discrete locations within the survey area at a minimum of every four hours, when significant changes in surface sound speed were observed, or when operating in a new area. Sound speed profiles were acquired using the Lockheed Martin Sippican Deep-Blue Expendable Bathythermographs (XBTs). All casts were concatenated into a master file and applied to MBES data using the "Nearest in Distance within Time" (4 hours) profile selection method. Sound velocity profiles were processed with the MK21 software produced by Lockheed Martin. XBT cast locations displayed with H13152 coverage. file:///M:/OPRL373RA18/Surveys/H13152/Office_Processing/Reports_office/SupportFiles/B-2%20Cast%20Locations.PNGAll equipment and survey methods were used as detailed in the DAPR.Detect FliersPydro QC Tools 2 v2.6.7 Detect Fliers v5 was used to find fliers in the finalized variable resolution surface. Detect Fliers parameters included Gaussian Curvature, Adjacent Cells, Edge Slivers, and Isolated Nodes. Flier height was not restricted. Obvious noise was rejected by the hydrographer in CARIS subset editor. After data cleaning, Detect Fliers was run again and found 15 fliers in the surface. These were investigated and found to be false positives. The results of the Detect Fliers tool are included as a .000 file in the Separates section of this report.All data reduction procedures conform to those detailed in the DAPR.All sounding systems were calibrated as detailed in the DAPR.Raw Backscatter data were logged as .all files for delivery to NOAA's Pacific Hydrographic Branch. Backscatter data were processed by the field unit and mosaics were generated. One processed 16-meter mosaic was generated for the H13152 survey area. The processed mosaic paired .all files with HDCS data. CARISHIPS/SIPS10.3.3FledermausFledermaus Geocoder Toolbox (FMGT)7.8.1NOAA Extended Attribute File V_5_7H13152_MB_VR_MLLWCARIS VR Surface (CUBE)Variable Resolution342.01322.0NOAA_VRComplete MBESH13152_MB_VR_MLLW_FinalCARIS VR Surface (CUBE)Variable Resolution342.01322.0NOAA_VRComplete MBESSubmitted surfaces were generated using the recommended parameters for depth-based (Ranges) CARIS variable-resolution bathymetric grids as specified in HSSD 2018. No soundings were designated in this survey and no dangers to navigation (DTONs) were detected throughout the survey area. The listed grids above contain incorrect depth range information. Both grids contain depths ranging from 341m to 1305m.Additional information discussing the vertical or horizontal control for this survey can be found in the accompanying HVCR.Mean Lower Low WaterERS via VDATUMOPR_L373_RA_18_20181115b_xyNAD83-MLLW_geoid12b.csarNorth American Datum 1983Projected UTM 10Post Processed Real-Time-Extended (PP-RTX) processing methods were used in the Applanix POSPac MMS 8.2.1 software to produce Smoothed Best Estimate Trajectories (SBET) for post-processing horizontal correction. H13152 survey data was compared with Electronic Navigation Chart (ENC) US3CA85M using a variable resolution CUBE surface, selected soundings, and contours created in CARIS. US3CA85M216116202017-10-172018-10-11falseSurveyed contours followed the same general trend as the charted depth curves on US3CA85M Edition 20, with deviations both inshore and offshore on the order of 1 to 3 kilometers. In all cases, survey contours are considerably more detailed than the charted depth curves, but the chart was found to be generally correct. Example of contour deviations seen throughout the H13152 survey area. Inset shows location of image within the survey area and legend shows color coding of surveyed contours. file:///M:/OPRL373RA18/Surveys/H13152/Office_Processing/Reports_office/SupportFiles/D-1%20Chart%20Comparison.pngNo Maritime Boundary Points were assigned for this survey.As per HSSD Section 7.3.1, charted features within survey area were assigned for information only, and thus were not compiled in a final feature file. Four charted underwater cables were investigated and no evidence was found in the multibeam data. No uncharted features exist for this survey.No shoals or potentially hazardous features exist for this survey.No channels exist for this survey. There are no designated anchorages, precautionary areas, safety fairways, traffic separation schemes, pilot boarding areas, or channel and range lines within the survey limits.No bottom samples were required for this survey.Shoreline was not assigned in the Hydrographic Survey Project Instructions or Statement of Work.No Aids to Navigation (ATONs) exist for this survey.No overhead features exist for this survey.Submarine features exist for this survey, but no evidence of cables was identified in H13152 MBES data. There are four charted submarine cables in the Electronic Nautical Chart (ENC) and Raster Nautical Chart (RNC) that run through the survey. One runs northeast-southwest through the middle of the survey and the remaining three run approximately north south on the east side of the survey area.Charted submarine cables within assigned survey area on RNC Chart 18700.file:///M:/OPRL373RA18/Surveys/H13152/Office_Processing/Reports_office/SupportFiles/D-1%20Submarine%20Cables.pngNo platforms exist for this survey.No ferry routes or terminals exist for this survey.A field of "pock-marks" in the northeast corner of the survey was observed in the data.Example of "pock-marks" observed in H13152.file:///M:/OPRL373RA18/Surveys/H13152/Office_Processing/Reports_office/SupportFiles/D-1%20Pock%20Marks.pngNo present or planned construction or dredging exist within the survey limits.No new surveys or further investigations are recommended for this area.No new insets are recommended for this area.As Chief of Party, field operations for this hydrographic survey were conducted under my direct supervision, with frequent personal checks of progress and adequacy. I have reviewed the attached survey data and reports.All field sheets, this Descriptive Report, and all accompanying records and data are approved. All records are forwarded for final review and processing to the Processing Branch.The survey data meets or exceeds requirements as set forth in the NOS Hydrographic Surveys Specifications and Deliverables, Field Procedures Manual, Letter Instructions, and all HSD Technical Directives. These data are adequate to supersede charted data in their common areas. This survey is complete and no additional work is required with the exception of deficiencies noted in the Descriptive Report.Benjamin K. Evans, CDR/NOAACommanding Officer2019-01-29Andrew Clos, LT/NOAAField Operations Officer2019-01-29James B. JacobsonChief Survey Technician2019-01-29Samuel H. Umfress, ENS/NOAASheet Manager2019-01-29