A 3-D GIS and Quantitative Backscatter Analysis in Support of STRATAFORM

Our long-term goal is to provide the fundamental mapping information and visualization tools necessary to support STRATAFORM's multidisciplinary effort to develop a more complete understanding of how short-term oceanographic and geological processes interact to produce the preserved geologic record on the shelf and slope portions of the continental margins. This effort began with detailed mapping of the bathymetry and backscatter of the STRATAFROM survey areas and is now continuing with the integration of the many data sets collected in the northern California STRATAFORM region into a GIS system that will allow all STRATAFORM researchers (and others) to interactively explore the complex relationships amongst seafloor, water-column, and subsurface parameters in an easy and intuitive fashion.