Habitat Mapping

The SQUID-5 is a S tructure-from-Motion Q uantitative U nderwater I maging D evice with 5 cameras.

Learn about the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center Marine Facility’s vast array of field equipment, sampling devices, and mapping systems, and our capabilities. Our engineers, designers, mechanics, and technicians have also designed and developed some of the specialized field equipment we use in field operations in the nearshore, in the deep sea, and on land.

A Pacific Northwest icon, Puget Sound is the second-largest estuary in the United States. Its unique geology, climate, and nutrient-rich waters produce and sustain biologically productive coastal habitats. These same natural characteristics also contribute to a high quality of life that has led to growth in human population and urbanization. This growth has played a role in degrading the Sound...

We investigate mechanisms of sediment transport, resuspension dynamics in shoals, wave evolution in the shallows, wave attenuation in marshes, and transport of sediment between mudflats and marshes. We produce data sets for calibration of and comparison with sediment transport models, including wave parameters, suspended sediment concentration, and sediment flux.

Research on bed sediment grain size, bedform morphology, vegetation characteristics, and sediment resuspension and transport.

The USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center uses a wide variety of vessels, from kayaks to open-ocean ships, to conduct fieldwork. Most vessels are managed by our Marine Facility, or MarFac.