Nearshore Multibeam and Single-beam Bathymetry Data: Madeira Beach, Florida, February 2017

In February 2017, the United States Geological Survey Saint Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center (USGS SPCMSC) conducted multibeam and single-beam bathymetric surveys of the nearshore waters off the coast of Madeira Beach, Florida. These data were collected as part of a regional study designed to better understand coastal processes on barrier islands and sandy beaches. Results from this study will be incorporated with observations from other regional studies in order to validate operational water level and coastal change hazards models being expanded nationwide. Madeira Beach is located on one of eleven barrier islands in Pinellas County in west-central Florida along the Gulf of Mexico. These barrier islands support highly developed and densely populated coastal communities, year-round tourist population, and undeveloped natural habitats within local and state parks. A measure of the nearshore bathymetry is useful for better understanding the interaction of the hydrodynamics and morphodynamics offshore and in the surf zone that ultimately control the beach response.

This USGS data release provides processed multibeam bathymetry (MBES) and processed single-beam bathymetry (SBES) data collected under the USGS field activity number (FAN) 2017-305-FA. This FAN has four subFANs, each representing one survey research vessel (RV): the RV Sallenger (17TST01), the RV Jabba Jaw (17TST02), the RV Shark (17TST03), and the RV Chum (17TST04). The point data (x,y,z) are provided in two datums: 1) the International Reference Frame of 2008 (ITRF08) and ellipsoid height; and 2) the North American Datum 1983 in the CORS96 realization (NAD83 (CORS96)) for the horizontal, and the North American Vertical Datum 1988 (NAVD88) with respect to GEOID12B for the vertical. Additional files include a single-beam trackline shapefile (.shp), and a 20-meter cell size single-beam digital elevation model (DEM, .tif). For further information regarding data collection and/or processing please see the metadata associated with this data release.