| Title | Using autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) to map the fjordic habitats in the Chilean Patagonia: a tool for the development of marine protected areas |
| Download | Download (whole publication) |
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| Licence | Please note the adoption of the Open Government Licence - Canada
supersedes any previous licences. |
| Author | Boswarva, K L; Howe, J A; Fox, C; Abernathy, C; Brown, K E |
| Source | Program and abstracts: 2017 GeoHab Conference, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada; by Todd, B J ; Brown, C J; Lacharité, M; Gazzola, V; McCormack, E; Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 8295, 2017 p. 38, https://doi.org/10.4095/305421  Open Access |
| Links | GeoHab 2017
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| Year | 2017 |
| Publisher | Natural Resources Canada |
| Meeting | 2017 GeoHab: Marine Geological and Biological Habitat Mapping; Dartmouth, NS; CA; May 1-4, 2017 |
| Document | open file |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | on-line; digital |
| Related | This publication is contained in Program and abstracts: 2017
GeoHab Conference, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada |
| File format | pdf |
| Area | Patagonia; Chile |
| Subjects | marine geology; geophysics; mapping techniques; oceanography; marine environments; marine organisms; marine ecology; resource management; environmental studies; coastal environment; fiords; bathymetry;
seafloor topography; photography; geophysical surveys; acoustic surveys, marine; sonar surveys; side-scan sonar; planning; salmonids; Biology; Fisheries resources; Aquaculture |
| Program | Offshore Geoscience |
| Released | 2017 09 26 |
| Abstract | The Chilean Patagonia is a sparse environment with approximately one million inhabitants over 240,000 square kilometres. It has one of the world's most expansive coastlines with 84,000 km of inlets,
bays, fjords and channels. Recent interest from multiple stakeholders including marine renewables and salmonid fisheries has led to numerous infrastructural developments, increasing local populations and promoting economic growth. Chilean Patagonia
is now the second largest exporter of salmonids in the world. The expansion of aquaculture farms into pristine waters and the impacts on native species is of high concern and signifies a need to manage the marine environment throughout Chile through
mechanisms such as Marine Protected Areas. Current frameworks are restricted by the availability of physical and biological data. Due to remoteness and inaccessibility, limited underwater surveys have been conducted and the seabed is largely
unmapped. The capabilities of unmanned systems allow access to these previously unreachable areas, enabling thorough recording of habitat and biological diversity. A Gavia Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) equipped with a 500 kHz Geoswath
bathymetric sonar and high resolution colour camera will be deployed in multiple locations throughout Chilean Patagonia encompassing a suite of oceanographic conditions; from coastal to freshwater fjords. Data will be processed using Caris HIPS and
SIPS to identify backscatter, bathymetry, slope and rugosity. The in-built camera aims to produce high quality images of quantitative and qualitative ecological data. This data combined with supervised classification methodology will be used to
produce predictive habitat maps. These methods form a novel and innovative proxy for calculating large-scale spatial biodiversity and therefore a useful marine spatial planning tool, with global application. |
| Summary | (Plain Language Summary, not published)
The sixteenth annual GeoHab Conference was held this year (2017) at the Waterfront Campus of the Nova Scotia Community College in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia,
Canada. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 305421 |
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