Derivation and Integration of Shallow-Water Bathymetry: Implications for Coastal Terrain Modeling and Subsequent Analyses

Satellite and acoustic remote sensing enable the collection of high-resolution seafloor bathymetry data for integration with terrestrial elevations into coastal terrain models. A model of Tutuila Island, American Samoa, is created using depths derived from IKONOS satellite imagery to provide data in the near-shore gap between sea level and the beginning of sonar data at 10–15 m depth. A derivation method gauging the relative attenuation of blue and green spectral radiation is proven the most effective of several proposed in recent literature. The resulting coastal terrain model is shown to be accurate through statistical analyses and topographic profiles.