Bathymetry

The Remote Sensing Center has been working on bathymetry for over 20 years - primarily looking at spectral approaches (Stuffle, 1996; Lee, 2012 ), but more recently using wave kinematic techniques.   The idea is to use the well-known dispersion relationship between water depth and wave velocity to infer the depth.  this requires measurements over several tens of seconds, with a characteristic open ocean wavelength of about 10 seconds/

McCarthy (2010) used the WorldView-2’s 8-band MSI sensor.  The multiple wavelengths facilitated seperating the wave crests from the background ocean, and hence determining the peaks.  

All eight un-enhanced WorldView-2 bands are shown in the scenes above, focusing on the littoral region near Camp Pendleton, CA on 24 March 2010. From left to right: Coastal, Blue, Green, Yellow (top), and Red, Red Edge, NIR-1, NIR-2 (bottom).

Principal components for the same image. From left to right: Coastal, Blue, Green, Yellow (top), and Red, Red Edge, NIR-1, NIR-2 (bottom).

7/1/2017

Related Theses

Coastal Bathymetry Using Satellite Observation in Support of Intelligence Preparations of the Environment
Kenneth B. Myrick II, Space Systems Operations
September 2011
Thesis Advisor: Richard C. Olsen
Second Reader: Jamie MacMahan

Coastal Bathymetry Using 8-Color Multispectral Satellite Observation of Wave Motion (with movie)
Coastal Bathymetry Using 8-Color Multispectral Satellite Observation of Wave Motion (without movie)
Bradley L. McCarthy, Remote Sensing Intelligence
September 2010
Thesis Advisor: Richard C. Olsen
Second Reader: Fred A. Kruse

Depth Derivation from the WorldView-2 Satellite Using Hyperspectral Imagery

Michael J. Loomis, Jr., Meteorology and Physical Oceanography
March 2009
Thesis Advisor: Philip A. Durkee
Thesis Co-advisor: Richard C. Olsen