Ground Penetrating Radar and Global Positioning System Data collected in 2021 from Pinellas County Barrier Islands, Florida

In 2021, scientists from the USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center (SPCMSC) conducted ground penetrating radar (GPR) and sediment sampling surveys on barrier islands located along the central Florida (FL) Gulf Coast (CFGC), Pinellas County, FL. This study investigated the past evolution of the CFGC from field sites at Anclote Key, Caladesi and Honeymoon Islands, and Fort DeSoto to quantify changes that occurred along these barrier systems prior to the 20th century.

This data release serves as an archive of raw and processed GPR trace data, processed elevation-corrected profile images, and geospatial data collected from back-barrier environments at Anclote Key, Caladesi Island, Honeymoon Island, Cabbage Key, Mullet Key, and St. Jean Key from February 17-March 8, 2021 (USGS Field Activity Number 2021-308-FA). Sediment data collected during the same survey will be made available as a separate data release). GPR data can be used to map shallow subsurface sediments such as erosional surfaces or washover deposits and can also be used to image deeper stratigraphic features that may aid in linking terrestrial geology to nearshore and offshore geologic features. This dataset was used to support analyses provided in Ciarletta and others (2023) and will also be used to calibrate a model of barrier island development, quantifying historic sediment fluxes within the Pinellas barrier island system. Data acquisition and processing methods are described in USGS Data Series 1078 (Forde and others, 2018).

Ciarletta, D.J., Miselis, J.L., Bernier, J.C., Forde, A.S., and Mahan, S.A., 2023, Reconstructing the geomorphic evolution and sediment budget history of a dynamic barrier island: Anclote Key, Florida, in Wang, P., Royer, E., and Rosati, J.D., (eds.), Proceedings of the Coastal Sediments 2023, New Orleans, Louisiana, April 11-15, 2023: World Scientific Publishing, p. 1-11, https://doi.org/10.1142/9789811275135_0001.

Forde, A.S., Bernier, J.C., and Miselis, J.L., 2018, Ground penetrating radar and differential global positioning system data collected in April 2016 from Fire Island, New York: U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 1078, https://doi.org/10.3133/ds1078.