MCA CHP 2024: King William Banks Seabed Backscatter and Sample Data

Acoustic Backscatter mosaics, H575 Seabed samples and Images, and Natural Feature Shapefiles collected for the King William Banks area. The data was gathered by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency's Civil Hydrography Programme using the vessel MV Northern Storm and a Kongsberg EM 2040D multibeam echosounder. Records were verified by the UK Hydrographic Office and the dataset is managed by the British Geological Survey.

Use Cases

• Classify seabed sediment types based on acoustic backscatter mosaics.
• Validate remote sensing data with physical H575 seabed samples and images.
• Map natural seabed features using the provided shapefiles.
• Assess habitat suitability by correlating backscatter intensity with sample data.

Strengths

• Data is verified by the authoritative UK Hydrographic Office.
• Includes multiple complementary data types: mosaics, physical samples, images, and shapefiles.
• Collection method is specified: Kongsberg EM 2040D multibeam echosounder on MV Northern Storm.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and file sizes are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

British Geological Survey (BGS), collected under the Maritime and Coastguard Agency Civil Hydrography Programme.

Collection Method

Acoustic survey and physical sampling from the vessel MV Northern Storm.

Time Range

2024

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-09 08:29:49.768291; freshness should be verified.

Geography

King William Banks (UK waters).