Performance and Progress Report - John Doe FIX: put in the authors ...

the nature of the seafloor (sand, silt, clay, etc.). The Office of Naval Research initially
funded this work (their interest is in remotely identifying seafloor properties for sonar
propagation and mine burial models), yet the application of this technique to fisheries
habitat studies is clear and there has been great interest in its use by a number of NOAA
labs and researchers. Further development and application of this research to the fisheries
habitat problem will be a focus of future research under this grant.
Recognizing that implementing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
(UNCLOS) could confer jurisdiction and management authority over large (and
potentially resource-rich) areas of the seabed beyond our current 200 nautical mile limit,
Congress (through NOAA) funded the Center to evaluate the content and completeness of
the nation’s bathymetric and geophysical data holdings in areas surrounding our
Exclusive Economic Zone, or EEZ. The initial portion of this complex study was carried
out in less than six months and a report was submitted to Congress on 31 May 2002
(http://www.ccom.unh.edu/unclos.htm Following up on the recommendations made in the
UNH study, Congress has funded the Center (through NOAA) to collect new multibeam
sonar data for research purposes and that will also support a potential submission under
UNCLOS Article 76. Since 2003, Center staff has participated in surveys in the Bering
Sea, the Gulf of Alaska, Atlantic margin, the high, ice-covered Arctic, and the Marianas,
collecting more than 850,000 sq. km of high-resolution mapping data that have provided
an unprecedented new view of the seafloor, revolutionized our understanding of many
margin processes, and could result in significant additions to a potential U.S. submission
under UNCLOS.
The research highlights outlined above represent just a few of the successes we have had,
but are representative of the clear impact that the lab is having on hydrographic and
ocean mapping science. Details are presented in the following progress report. It should
also be mentioned that the expertise of the lab is often sought by various lines and
divisions of NOAA (e.g., advice on protocols for mapping in support of both mid-water
targets and essential fish habitat for NMFS, mosaicing video imagery for the Monitor and
Macon projects for Sanctuaries, backscatter processing for the Coral Reefs Program of
CCMA, advice on multibeam sonar installations for OMAO, surveys in support of
ordinance and oil spill mapping for OR&R, etc.). Further evidence of our contribution to
state-of-the-art hydrographic research can be found in the steady stream of publications
produced by Center personnel in a variety of top journals. Of particular note is the
remarkable representation by the lab at recent U.S. Hydrographic Conferences --arguably
the premier international venue for the discussion of hydrographic science -- where
typically, Center personnel are authors of at least 25% of the papers presented.
JHC Performance Report 5 30 January 2007