Crowd the Bay: Crowdsourcing Bathymetry for a Changing Coastline in Tampa Bay, Florida, USA

Le résumé fourni par la source

Seafloor mapping in nearshore and coastal regions is essential for safe navigation, environmental management, and coastal resilience-but is often costly and difficult to obtain. Crowdsourced bathymetry (CSB) offers a low-cost, community-driven solution that complements traditional mapping methods and aligns with NOAA's layered approach to collecting spatially and temporally relevant data in dynamic coastal environments. This paper highlights the development and implementation of Crowd the Bay, a regional CSB program led by the Center for Ocean Mapping and Innovative Technologies (COMIT) in Tampa Bay, Florida. Crowd the Bay demonstrates the operational viability and scientific utility of CSB data to support nautical charting and hazard identification. Here, two case studies are presented in Tampa Bay, Boca Ciega Bay and Bunces Pass, that illustrate how CSB data resolve shoaling features that align with NOAA's BlueTopo${ }^{\text{TM }}$dataset. The paper also explores how CSB data, through spatial and temporal coverage, can inform NOAA's Hydrographic Health Model by contributing to assessments of navigational risk and survey prioritization. Ultimately, CSB represents a cost-effective, scalable tool for enhancing hydrographic knowledge and maritime safety in complex, rapidly changing coastal systems.

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