Bathymetry of Lake Superior has been compiled as a component of a NOAA project to rescue Great Lakes lake floor geological and geophysical data and make it more accessible to the public. This project is a cooperative effort between investigators at the NOAA National Geophysical Data Center's Marine Geology and Geophysics Division (NGDC/MGG), the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) and the Canadian Hydrographic Service(CHS). Bathymetric data have been collected from the Great Lakes in support of nautical charting for at least 150 years by the US Army Corp. of Engineers (before 1970), the NOAA National Ocean Service (NOS)(after 1970), and the Canadian Hydrographic Service. No time frame has been set for completing bathymetric contours of Lake Superior, though a 3 arc-second (~90 meter cell size) grid is available.

Great Lakes bathymetry has been compiled as a component of a NOAA project to synthesize Great Lakes lake floor geological and geophysical data and make it more accessible to the public. The project is a cooperative effort between investigators at the NOAA National Geophysical Data Center's Marine Geology, Geophysics Division (NGDC/MGG) and the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) with data development utilizing the entire historic sounding data base. The entire historic hydrographic sounding data base from the U.S. and Canada, originally collected for nautical charting purposes, was used to create a complete and accurate representation of Lake Ontario bathymetry. The U.S. data primarily came from the NOS Hydrographic Survey Data. These and other bathymetric sounding data collected by the U.S. National Ocean Service's (NOS) Coast Survey and the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers was employed to construct bathymetric contours at 1 meter intervals from 1-10 meters depth and 2 meter intervals at depths greater than 10 meters. Compilation map scales ranged from 1:10,000 to 1:50,000. Bathymetric sounding data collected by the Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS) were employed to construct bathymetric contours at 1 meter intervals and compilation map scales ranging from 1:1,000 to 1:30,000. Digitization of the bathymetric contours and merging of the bathymetric contour data sets was accomplished at the NGDC. Multibeam bathymetric data collected by the University of New Brunswick's Ocean Mapping Group (UNB-OMG), with support of the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) and the CHS, were kindly made available in gridded form. In the two areas where multibeam bathymetric data were available, no other bathymetric data were used in the compilations. In some areas all available Canadian and U. S. bathymetric sounding data, collected at different times on different survey expeditions, were used to derive the contours. The U.S. coastline used was primarily derived from the GLERL Medium Resolution Vector Shoreline dataset (Lee, 1998). Where move coverage was needed, the NOS Medium Resolution Vector Shoreline for the Conterminous U.S. (1994) dataset was used. Coastlines from the CHS bathymetric sounding data field sheets were used to complete the Canadian coastline. Images were constructed using the publicly-available software Generic Mapping Tools (GMT).

A bathymetric layer for Lake Superior of unknown origin.Date: 2007-10-16

THIS MAP IS NOT AUTHORITATIVE. SEE TERMS OF USE BELOW.This web map was developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Office for Coastal Management and is featured in the U.S. Great Lakes Collaborative Benthic Habitat Mapping Common Operating Dashboard in support of the Collaborative Benthic Habitat Mapping in the Nearshore Waters of the Great Lakes Basin Project. This multi-year, multi-agency project is funded through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) and focuses on new bathymetric data (airborne lidar and vessel based sonar) acquisition, validation, and benthic habitat characterization mapping of the nearshore waters (0-80 meters) in the U.S. Great Lakes. This project also contributes to the regional Lakebed 2030 campaign, which aims to have high-density bathymetric data available for the entirety of the Great Lakes by 2030. This web map contains data layers reflecting the current status of bathy data coverage in the nearshore (0-80 meters) of the U.S. Great Lakes, including acquisition (lidar and multibeam sonar), ground-truthing/validation, and benthic habitat mapping and characterization. Acquisition layers include coverage areas that have been acquired and are available for public use (green) as well as those that have been acquired, but are not yet available or are still in progress (orange). The nearshore water depth layers (0-25 and 25-80 meters) were created using the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Great Lakes Bathymetry (3-second resolution) grid extracts. The 0 to 25 meter nearshore water depth layer represents areas where bathymetric lidar data acquisition could ideally be conducted, depending on water condition and turbidity. The 25 to 80 meter layer shows locations where acoustic data acquisition can occur. See below for information on additional data layers. All data originally projected in the following coordinate system: EPSG:3175, NAD 1983 Great Lakes and St Lawrence Albers.This map will continue to be updated as new information is made available.Source Data for Bathy Coverage Layers - Acquired/Available:Topobathy and Bathy Lidar (NOAA's Data Access Viewer: https://coast.noaa.gov/dataviewer/#/; U.S. Interagency Elevation Inventory (USIEI): https://coast.noaa.gov/inventory/). Multibeam Sonar (National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Bathymetric Data Viewer: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/maps/bathymetry/; NOAA's Data Access Viewer: https://coast.noaa.gov/dataviewer/#/; U.S. Interagency Elevation Inventory (USIEI): https://coast.noaa.gov/inventory/; USGS ScienceBaseCatalog: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/656e229bd34e7ca10833f950)Source Data for Bathy Coverage Layers - GLRI AOIs (2020-2024):Acquisition: NOAA Office for Coastal ManagementValidation/CMECS Characterizations: NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS)Source Data for Bathy Coverage Layers - In Progress and Planned:NOAA Office of Coast Survey Plans: https://gis.charttools.noaa.gov/arcgis/rest/services/Hydrographic_Services/Planned_Survey_Areas/MapServer/0NOAA Office for Coastal ManagementSource Data for Nearshore Water Depths:NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Great Lakes Bathymetry (3-second resolution) grid extracts: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/maps/grid-extract/Source Data for Spatial Prioritization Layers:Great Lakes Spatial Priorities Study Results Jun 2021. https://gis.charttools.noaa.gov/arcgis/rest/services/IOCM/GreatLakes_SPS_Results_Jun_2021/MapServerMapping priorities within the proposed Wisconsin Lake Michigan National Marine Sanctuary (2018). https://gis.ngdc.noaa.gov/arcgis/rest/services/nccos/BiogeographicAssessments_WILMPrioritizationResults/MapServerThunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary Spatial Prioritization Results (2020). https://gis.ngdc.noaa.gov/arcgis/rest/services/nccos/BiogeographicAssessments_TBNMSPrioritizationResults/MapServerSource Data for Supplemental Data Layers:International Boundary Commission U.S./Canada Boundary (version 1.3 from 2018): https://www.internationalboundarycommission.org/en/maps-coordinates/coordinates.phpNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) HydroHealth 2018 Survey: https://wrecks.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/arcgis/rest/services/Hydrographic_Services/HydroHealth_2018/ImageServerNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Protected Areas (MPA) Inventory 2023-2024: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/69506National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Marine Sanctuary Program Boundaries (2021): https://services2.arcgis.com/C8EMgrsFcRFL6LrL/arcgis/rest/services/ONMS_2021_Boundaries/FeatureServerNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) U.S. Bathymetry Gap Analysis: https://noaa.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=4d7d925fc96d47d9ace970dd5040df0aU.S. Environment Protection Agency (EPA) Areas of Concern: https://services.arcgis.com/cJ9YHowT8TU7DUyn/arcgis/rest/services/epa_areas_of_concern_glahf_viewlayer/FeatureServerU.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Great Lakes Subbasins: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/530f8a0ee4b0e7e46bd300dd Latest update: February 20, 2025

THIS MAP IS NOT AUTHORITATIVE. SEE TERMS OF USE BELOW.This web map was developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Office for Coastal Management and is featured in the U.S. Great Lakes Collaborative Benthic Habitat Mapping Common Operating Dashboard in support of the Collaborative Benthic Habitat Mapping in the Nearshore Waters of the Great Lakes Basin Project. This multi-year, multi-agency project is funded through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) and focuses on new bathymetric data (airborne lidar and vessel based sonar) acquisition, validation, and benthic habitat characterization mapping of the nearshore waters (0-80 meters) in the U.S. Great Lakes. This project also contributes to the regional Lakebed 2030 campaign, which aims to have high-density bathymetric data available for the entirety of the Great Lakes by 2030. This web map contains data layers reflecting the current status of bathy data coverage in the nearshore (0-80 meters) of the U.S. Great Lakes, including acquisition (lidar and multibeam sonar), ground-truthing/validation, and benthic habitat mapping and characterization. Acquisition layers include coverage areas that have been acquired and are available for public use (green) as well as those that have been acquired, but are not yet available or are still in progress (orange). The nearshore water depth layers (0-25 and 25-80 meters) were created using the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Great Lakes Bathymetry (3-second resolution) grid extracts. The 0 to 25 meter nearshore water depth layer represents areas where bathymetric lidar data acquisition could ideally be conducted, depending on water condition and turbidity. The 25 to 80 meter layer shows locations where acoustic data acquisition can occur. The acquired data values are all in sq. km and were created by merging and dissolving all publicly available bathy lidar and multibeam sonar coverage polygons into single layer and erasing from the nearshore water depth layers (0-25, 25-80, and 0-80 meters). All polygon layers were clipped using the USGS Great Lakes subbasin polygon shapefile and the U.S./Canada boundary from the International Boundary Commission (version 1.3 from 2018). All data originally projected in the following coordinate system: EPSG:3175, NAD 1983 Great Lakes and St Lawrence Albers.This map will continue to be updated as new information is made available.See below for information on additional data layers. Source Data for Bathy Coverage Layers - Acquired/Available:Topobathy and Bathy Lidar (NOAA's Data Access Viewer: https://coast.noaa.gov/dataviewer/#/; U.S. Interagency Elevation Inventory (USIEI): https://coast.noaa.gov/inventory/). Multibeam Sonar (National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Bathymetric Data Viewer: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/maps/bathymetry/; NOAA's Data Access Viewer: https://coast.noaa.gov/dataviewer/#/; U.S. Interagency Elevation Inventory (USIEI): https://coast.noaa.gov/inventory/; USGS ScienceBaseCatalog: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/656e229bd34e7ca10833f950)Source Data for Bathy Coverage Layers - GLRI AOIs (2020-2024):Acquisition: NOAA Office for Coastal ManagementValidation/CMECS Characterizations: NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS)Source Data for Bathy Coverage Layers - In Progress and Planned:NOAA Office of Coast Survey Plans: https://gis.charttools.noaa.gov/arcgis/rest/services/Hydrographic_Services/Planned_Survey_Areas/MapServer/0NOAA Office for Coastal ManagementSource Data for Nearshore Water Depths:NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Great Lakes Bathymetry (3-second resolution) grid extracts: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/maps/grid-extract/Source Data for Spatial Prioritization Layers:Great Lakes Spatial Priorities Study Results Jun 2021. https://gis.charttools.noaa.gov/arcgis/rest/services/IOCM/GreatLakes_SPS_Results_Jun_2021/MapServerMapping priorities within the proposed Wisconsin Lake Michigan National Marine Sanctuary (2018). https://gis.ngdc.noaa.gov/arcgis/rest/services/nccos/BiogeographicAssessments_WILMPrioritizationResults/MapServerThunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary Spatial Prioritization Results (2020). https://gis.ngdc.noaa.gov/arcgis/rest/services/nccos/BiogeographicAssessments_TBNMSPrioritizationResults/MapServerSource Data for Supplemental Data Layers:International Boundary Commission U.S./Canada Boundary (version 1.3 from 2018): https://www.internationalboundarycommission.org/en/maps-coordinates/coordinates.phpNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) HydroHealth 2018 Survey: https://wrecks.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/arcgis/rest/services/Hydrographic_Services/HydroHealth_2018/ImageServerNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Protected Areas (MPA) Inventory 2023-2024: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/69506National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Marine Sanctuary Program Boundaries (2021): https://services2.arcgis.com/C8EMgrsFcRFL6LrL/arcgis/rest/services/ONMS_2021_Boundaries/FeatureServerNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) U.S. Bathymetry Gap Analysis: https://noaa.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=4d7d925fc96d47d9ace970dd5040df0aU.S. Environment Protection Agency (EPA) Areas of Concern: https://services.arcgis.com/cJ9YHowT8TU7DUyn/arcgis/rest/services/epa_areas_of_concern_glahf_viewlayer/FeatureServerU.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Great Lakes Subbasins: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/530f8a0ee4b0e7e46bd300dd Latest update: February 20, 2025

This data set contains bathymetry of the Great Lakes in metres (depth).

The Great Lakes Bathymetry Contours data set has been compiled as a component of a NOAA project to rescue Great Lakes lake floor geological and geophysical data and make it more accessible to the public. This bathymetry of the Great Lakes including Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, Lake Saint Clair, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, Lake Superior provides a detailed look at the lake floor topography and serves as a GIS base layer for many applications.

This project is a cooperative effort between investigators at the NOAA National Geophysical Data Center's Marine Geology and Geophysics Division (NGDC/MGG), the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) and the Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS). Bathymetric data have been collected from the Great Lakes in support of nautical charting for at least 150 years by the US Army Corp. of Engineers (before 1970), the NOAA National Ocean Service (NOS) (after 1970), and the Canadian Hydrographic Service.

In September 2018, the U.S. Geological Survey, in collaboration with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, conducted high-resolution geophysical mapping and sediment sampling to determine the distribution of historical mine tailings on the floor of Lake Superior. Large amounts of waste material from copper mining, locally known as “stamp sands,” were dumped into the lake in the early 20th century, with wide-reaching consequences that have continued into the present. Mapping was focused offshore of the town of Gay on the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan, where ongoing erosion and re-deposition of the stamp sands has buried miles of native, white-sand beaches. Stamp sands are also encroaching onto Buffalo Reef, a large area of cobble/boulder substrate that supports productive fisheries in the lake. The objectives of this cooperative mapping project are to develop a framework for scientific research and provide baseline information required for management of resources within the coastal zone of northern Michigan. High-resolution bathymetry and backscatter data reveal the irregular topography of the shallow, cobble-covered Buffalo Reef and the relatively smooth surface of finer-grained sediment that covers adjacent, deeper parts of the lake floor. Previous research used numerous sediment samples to determine the general distribution of mine tailings on the lake floor in this area, but little information exists on the extent and thickness of the surficial deposits. The main priority of this project is to image the near-surface stratigraphy, specifically the thickness of surficial sand and mud that threaten to cover the reef, with seismic-reflection profiling systems. In addition to continuous coverage of bathymetric and backscatter data, this report includes a dense grid of closely spaced seismic profiles, which will guide efforts to mitigate the environmental impacts of the shifting stamp sands.

THIS MAP IS NOT AUTHORITATIVE. SEE TERMS OF USE BELOW.This web map was developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Office for Coastal Management and is featured in the U.S. Great Lakes Collaborative Benthic Habitat Mapping Common Operating Dashboard in support of the Collaborative Benthic Habitat Mapping in the Nearshore Waters of the Great Lakes Basin Project. This multi-year, multi-agency project is funded through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) and focuses on new bathymetric data (airborne lidar and vessel based sonar) acquisition, validation, and benthic habitat characterization mapping of the nearshore waters (0-80 meters) in the U.S. Great Lakes. This project also contributes to the regional Lakebed 2030 campaign, which aims to have high-density bathymetric data available for the entirety of the Great Lakes by 2030. This web map contains data layers reflecting the current status of bathy data coverage in the nearshore (0-80 meters) of the U.S. Great Lakes, including acquisition (lidar and multibeam sonar), ground-truthing/validation, and benthic habitat mapping and characterization. Acquisition layers include coverage areas that have been acquired and are available for public use (green) as well as those that have been acquired, but are not yet available or are still in progress (orange). The nearshore water depth layers (0-25 and 25-80 meters) were created using the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Great Lakes Bathymetry (3-second resolution) grid extracts. The 0 to 25 meter nearshore water depth layer represents areas where bathymetric lidar data acquisition could ideally be conducted, depending on water condition and turbidity. The 25 to 80 meter layer shows locations where acoustic data acquisition can occur. See below for information on additional data layers. All data originally projected in the following coordinate system: EPSG:3175, NAD 1983 Great Lakes and St Lawrence Albers.This map will continue to be updated as new information is made available.Source Data for Bathy Coverage Layers - Acquired/Available:Topobathy and Bathy Lidar (NOAA's Data Access Viewer: https://coast.noaa.gov/dataviewer/#/; U.S. Interagency Elevation Inventory (USIEI): https://coast.noaa.gov/inventory/). Multibeam Sonar (National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Bathymetric Data Viewer: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/maps/bathymetry/; NOAA's Data Access Viewer: https://coast.noaa.gov/dataviewer/#/; U.S. Interagency Elevation Inventory (USIEI): https://coast.noaa.gov/inventory/; USGS ScienceBaseCatalog: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/656e229bd34e7ca10833f950)Source Data for Bathy Coverage Layers - GLRI AOIs (2020-2024):Acquisition: NOAA Office for Coastal ManagementValidation/CMECS Characterizations: NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS)Source Data for Bathy Coverage Layers - In Progress and Planned:NOAA Office of Coast Survey Plans: https://gis.charttools.noaa.gov/arcgis/rest/services/Hydrographic_Services/Planned_Survey_Areas/MapServer/0NOAA Office for Coastal ManagementSource Data for Nearshore Water Depths:NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Great Lakes Bathymetry (3-second resolution) grid extracts: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/maps/grid-extract/Source Data for Spatial Prioritization Layers:Great Lakes Spatial Priorities Study Results Jun 2021. https://gis.charttools.noaa.gov/arcgis/rest/services/IOCM/GreatLakes_SPS_Results_Jun_2021/MapServerMapping priorities within the proposed Wisconsin Lake Michigan National Marine Sanctuary (2018). https://gis.ngdc.noaa.gov/arcgis/rest/services/nccos/BiogeographicAssessments_WILMPrioritizationResults/MapServerThunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary Spatial Prioritization Results (2020). https://gis.ngdc.noaa.gov/arcgis/rest/services/nccos/BiogeographicAssessments_TBNMSPrioritizationResults/MapServerSource Data for Supplemental Data Layers:International Boundary Commission U.S./Canada Boundary (version 1.3 from 2018): https://www.internationalboundarycommission.org/en/maps-coordinates/coordinates.phpNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) HydroHealth 2018 Survey: https://wrecks.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/arcgis/rest/services/Hydrographic_Services/HydroHealth_2018/ImageServerNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Protected Areas (MPA) Inventory 2023-2024: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/69506National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Marine Sanctuary Program Boundaries (2021): https://services2.arcgis.com/C8EMgrsFcRFL6LrL/arcgis/rest/services/ONMS_2021_Boundaries/FeatureServerNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) U.S. Bathymetry Gap Analysis: https://noaa.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=4d7d925fc96d47d9ace970dd5040df0aU.S. Environment Protection Agency (EPA) Areas of Concern: https://services.arcgis.com/cJ9YHowT8TU7DUyn/arcgis/rest/services/epa_areas_of_concern_glahf_viewlayer/FeatureServerU.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Great Lakes Subbasins: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/530f8a0ee4b0e7e46bd300dd Latest update: February 20, 2025

The erosion and active transport of legacy mine tailings (called “stamp sands”) are impacting native fish species and aquatic habitats on a shallow water rocky reef complex along the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan called Buffalo Reef. Stamp sands are spreading from an old mill site at the Town of Gay and settling on the reef. Multiple surveys have documented the underwater migration of toxic, metal-rich stamp sands and progressive burial of areas of hard/complex lakefloor, such as cobble fields. The finer-grained, muddy fraction of the mine tailings has been winnowed by waves and currents and transported to unknown locations in deeper waters offshore. High-resolution geophysical mapping of the bay in 2018 revealed a complex pattern of sandy bedforms on the lakefloor and a general trend of decreasing sediment thickness in areas more distal from the original source, suggesting a flux of sandy sediment from NE to SW across the bay. The present study used multi-beam echosounders deployed in August 2021 to update the high-resolution bathymetry and acoustic backscatter maps with the intent to document sand migration, and to describe habitat geomorphology and substrate variation.

THIS MAP IS NOT AUTHORITATIVE. SEE TERMS OF USE BELOW.This web map was developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Office for Coastal Management and is featured in the U.S. Great Lakes Collaborative Benthic Habitat Mapping Common Operating Dashboard in support of the Collaborative Benthic Habitat Mapping in the Nearshore Waters of the Great Lakes Basin Project. This multi-year, multi-agency project is funded through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) and focuses on new bathymetric data (airborne lidar and vessel based sonar) acquisition, validation, and benthic habitat characterization mapping of the nearshore waters (0-80 meters) in the U.S. Great Lakes. This project also contributes to the regional Lakebed 2030 campaign, which aims to have high-density bathymetric data available for the entirety of the Great Lakes by 2030. This web map contains data layers reflecting the current status of bathy data coverage in the nearshore (0-80 meters) of the U.S. Great Lakes, including acquisition (lidar and multibeam sonar), ground-truthing/validation, and benthic habitat mapping and characterization. Acquisition layers include coverage areas that have been acquired and are available for public use (green) as well as those that have been acquired, but are not yet available or are still in progress (orange). The nearshore water depth layers (0-25 and 25-80 meters) were created using the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Great Lakes Bathymetry (3-second resolution) grid extracts. The 0 to 25 meter nearshore water depth layer represents areas where bathymetric lidar data acquisition could ideally be conducted, depending on water condition and turbidity. The 25 to 80 meter layer shows locations where acoustic data acquisition can occur. See below for information on additional data layers. All data originally projected in the following coordinate system: EPSG:3175, NAD 1983 Great Lakes and St Lawrence Albers.This map will continue to be updated as new information is made available.Source Data for Bathy Coverage Layers - Acquired/Available:Topobathy and Bathy Lidar (NOAA's Data Access Viewer: https://coast.noaa.gov/dataviewer/#/; U.S. Interagency Elevation Inventory (USIEI): https://coast.noaa.gov/inventory/). Multibeam Sonar (National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Bathymetric Data Viewer: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/maps/bathymetry/; NOAA's Data Access Viewer: https://coast.noaa.gov/dataviewer/#/; U.S. Interagency Elevation Inventory (USIEI): https://coast.noaa.gov/inventory/; USGS ScienceBaseCatalog: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/656e229bd34e7ca10833f950)Source Data for Bathy Coverage Layers - GLRI AOIs (2020-2024):Acquisition: NOAA Office for Coastal ManagementValidation/CMECS Characterizations: NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS)Source Data for Bathy Coverage Layers - In Progress and Planned:NOAA Office of Coast Survey Plans: https://gis.charttools.noaa.gov/arcgis/rest/services/Hydrographic_Services/Planned_Survey_Areas/MapServer/0NOAA Office for Coastal ManagementSource Data for Nearshore Water Depths:NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Great Lakes Bathymetry (3-second resolution) grid extracts: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/maps/grid-extract/Source Data for Spatial Prioritization Layers:Great Lakes Spatial Priorities Study Results Jun 2021. https://gis.charttools.noaa.gov/arcgis/rest/services/IOCM/GreatLakes_SPS_Results_Jun_2021/MapServerMapping priorities within the proposed Wisconsin Lake Michigan National Marine Sanctuary (2018). https://gis.ngdc.noaa.gov/arcgis/rest/services/nccos/BiogeographicAssessments_WILMPrioritizationResults/MapServerThunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary Spatial Prioritization Results (2020). https://gis.ngdc.noaa.gov/arcgis/rest/services/nccos/BiogeographicAssessments_TBNMSPrioritizationResults/MapServerSource Data for Supplemental Data Layers:International Boundary Commission U.S./Canada Boundary (version 1.3 from 2018): https://www.internationalboundarycommission.org/en/maps-coordinates/coordinates.phpNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) HydroHealth 2018 Survey: https://wrecks.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/arcgis/rest/services/Hydrographic_Services/HydroHealth_2018/ImageServerNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Protected Areas (MPA) Inventory 2023-2024: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/69506National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Marine Sanctuary Program Boundaries (2021): https://services2.arcgis.com/C8EMgrsFcRFL6LrL/arcgis/rest/services/ONMS_2021_Boundaries/FeatureServerNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) U.S. Bathymetry Gap Analysis: https://noaa.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=4d7d925fc96d47d9ace970dd5040df0aU.S. Environment Protection Agency (EPA) Areas of Concern: https://services.arcgis.com/cJ9YHowT8TU7DUyn/arcgis/rest/services/epa_areas_of_concern_glahf_viewlayer/FeatureServerU.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Great Lakes Subbasins: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/530f8a0ee4b0e7e46bd300dd Latest update: February 20, 2025

These files contain classified topographic and bathymetric lidar data as unclassified valid topographic data (1), valid topographic data classified as ground (2), low points or noise (7), valid bathymetric data (11). Classes 1, 2 and 7 are defined in accordance with the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) classification standards, while class 11 is specific to the NOAA CSC. These data were collected by the Compact Hydrographic Airborne Rapid Total Survey (CHARTS) system along the coast of Michigan and New York. CHARTS integrates topographic and bathymetric lidar sensors, a digital camera and a hyperspectral imager on a single remote sensing platform for use in coastal mapping and charting activities. Data coverage generally extends along the coastline from the waterline inland 500 meters (topography) and offshore 1,000 meters or to laser extinction (bathymetry). Native lidar data is not generally in a format accessible to most Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Specialized in-house and commercial software packages are used to process the native lidar data into 3-dimensional positions that can be imported into GIS software for visualization and further analysis. Horizontal positions, provided in decimal degrees of latitude and longitude, are referenced to the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD83). Vertical positions are referenced to the NAD83 (GRS80) ellipsoid and provided in meters.The 3-D position data are sub-divided into a series of LAS files, each covering approximately 5 kilometers of shoreline. LiDAR data was collected at a nominal point spacing (NPS) of 2.0 meters. The format of the file is LAS version 1.2.

THIS MAP IS NOT AUTHORITATIVE. SEE TERMS OF USE BELOW.This web map was developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Office for Coastal Management and is featured in the U.S. Great Lakes Collaborative Benthic Habitat Mapping Common Operating Dashboard in support of the Collaborative Benthic Habitat Mapping in the Nearshore Waters of the Great Lakes Basin Project. This multi-year, multi-agency project is funded through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) and focuses on new bathymetric data (airborne lidar and vessel based sonar) acquisition, validation, and benthic habitat characterization mapping of the nearshore waters (0-80 meters) in the U.S. Great Lakes. This project also contributes to the regional Lakebed 2030 campaign, which aims to have high-density bathymetric data available for the entirety of the Great Lakes by 2030. This web map contains data layers reflecting the current status of bathy data coverage in the nearshore (0-80 meters) of the U.S. Great Lakes, including acquisition (lidar and multibeam sonar), ground-truthing/validation, and benthic habitat mapping and characterization. Acquisition layers include coverage areas that have been acquired and are available for public use (green) as well as those that have been acquired, but are not yet available or are still in progress (orange). The nearshore water depth layers (0-25 and 25-80 meters) were created using the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Great Lakes Bathymetry (3-second resolution) grid extracts. The 0 to 25 meter nearshore water depth layer represents areas where bathymetric lidar data acquisition could ideally be conducted, depending on water condition and turbidity. The 25 to 80 meter layer shows locations where acoustic data acquisition can occur. See below for information on additional data layers. All data originally projected in the following coordinate system: EPSG:3175, NAD 1983 Great Lakes and St Lawrence Albers.This map will continue to be updated as new information is made available.Source Data for Bathy Coverage Layers - Acquired/Available:Topobathy and Bathy Lidar (NOAA's Data Access Viewer: https://coast.noaa.gov/dataviewer/#/; U.S. Interagency Elevation Inventory (USIEI): https://coast.noaa.gov/inventory/). Multibeam Sonar (National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Bathymetric Data Viewer: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/maps/bathymetry/; NOAA's Data Access Viewer: https://coast.noaa.gov/dataviewer/#/; U.S. Interagency Elevation Inventory (USIEI): https://coast.noaa.gov/inventory/; USGS ScienceBaseCatalog: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/656e229bd34e7ca10833f950)Source Data for Bathy Coverage Layers - GLRI AOIs (2020-2024):Acquisition: NOAA Office for Coastal ManagementValidation/CMECS Characterizations: NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS)Source Data for Bathy Coverage Layers - In Progress and Planned:NOAA Office of Coast Survey Plans: https://gis.charttools.noaa.gov/arcgis/rest/services/Hydrographic_Services/Planned_Survey_Areas/MapServer/0NOAA Office for Coastal ManagementSource Data for Nearshore Water Depths:NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Great Lakes Bathymetry (3-second resolution) grid extracts: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/maps/grid-extract/Source Data for Spatial Prioritization Layers:Great Lakes Spatial Priorities Study Results Jun 2021. https://gis.charttools.noaa.gov/arcgis/rest/services/IOCM/GreatLakes_SPS_Results_Jun_2021/MapServerMapping priorities within the proposed Wisconsin Lake Michigan National Marine Sanctuary (2018). https://gis.ngdc.noaa.gov/arcgis/rest/services/nccos/BiogeographicAssessments_WILMPrioritizationResults/MapServerThunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary Spatial Prioritization Results (2020). https://gis.ngdc.noaa.gov/arcgis/rest/services/nccos/BiogeographicAssessments_TBNMSPrioritizationResults/MapServerSource Data for Supplemental Data Layers:International Boundary Commission U.S./Canada Boundary (version 1.3 from 2018): https://www.internationalboundarycommission.org/en/maps-coordinates/coordinates.phpNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) HydroHealth 2018 Survey: https://wrecks.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/arcgis/rest/services/Hydrographic_Services/HydroHealth_2018/ImageServerNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Protected Areas (MPA) Inventory 2023-2024: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/69506National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Marine Sanctuary Program Boundaries (2021): https://services2.arcgis.com/C8EMgrsFcRFL6LrL/arcgis/rest/services/ONMS_2021_Boundaries/FeatureServerNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) U.S. Bathymetry Gap Analysis: https://noaa.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=4d7d925fc96d47d9ace970dd5040df0aU.S. Environment Protection Agency (EPA) Areas of Concern: https://services.arcgis.com/cJ9YHowT8TU7DUyn/arcgis/rest/services/epa_areas_of_concern_glahf_viewlayer/FeatureServerU.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Great Lakes Subbasins: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/530f8a0ee4b0e7e46bd300dd Latest update: February 20, 2025

In 2008, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center (WHCMSC), in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conducted a geophysical and sampling survey of the riverbed of the Upper St. Clair River between Port Huron, MI, and Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. The objectives were to define the Quaternary geologic framework of the St. Clair River to evaluate the relationship between morphologic change of the riverbed and underlying stratigraphy. This report presents the geophysical and sample data collected from the St. Clair River, May 29-June 6, 2008 as part of the International Upper Great Lakes Study, a 5-year project funded by the International Joint Commission of the United States and Canada to examine whether physical changes in the St. Clair River are affecting water levels within the upper Great Lakes, to assess regulation plans for outflows from Lake Superior, and to examine the potential effect of climate change on the Great Lakes water levels ( http://www.iugls.org). This document makes available the data that were used in a separate report, U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2009-1137, which detailed the interpretations of the Quaternary geologic framework of the region. This report includes a description of the suite of high-resolution acoustic and sediment-sampling systems that were used to map the morphology, surficial sediment distribution, and underlying geology of the Upper St. Clair River during USGS field activity 2008-016-FA . Video and photographs of the riverbed were also collected and are included in this data release. Future analyses will be focused on substrate erosion and its effects on river-channel morphology and geometry. Ultimately, the International Upper Great Lakes Study will attempt to determine where physical changes in the St. Clair River affect water flow and, subsequently, water levels in the Upper Great Lakes.

This bathymetry of the Great Lakes including Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, Lake Saint Clair, Lake Huron, Lake Superior and Lake Michigan provides a detailed look at the lake floor topography and serves as a GIS base layer for many applications. The data is a cooperative effort between investigators at the NOAA National Geophysical Data Center's Marine Geology & Geophysics Division (NGDC/MGG) and the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL).Content Source(s):Lake Huron Bathymetry, NOAALake Ontario Bathymetry, NOAALake Erie Bathymetry, NOAALake Michigan Bathymetry, NOAALake Saint Clair Bathymetry, NOAALake Superiour Bathymetry, NOAACoordinate System: Web Mercator Auxiliary Sphere (WKID 102100)Publication Date: May, 2023

These files contain bare-earth classified topographic and bathymetric lidar data collected July 27, 2009 by the Compact Hydrographic Airborne Rapid Total Survey (CHARTS) system along the coast of Lake Superior near Duluth, Minnesota. CHARTS integrates topographic and bathymetric lidar sensors, a digital camera, and a hyperspectral scanner on a single remote sensing platform for use in coastal mapping and charting activities. Data coverage generally extends along the coastline from the waterline inland 500 meters (topography) and offshore 1,000 meters or to laser extinction (bathymetry). The topographic lidar sensor has a pulse repetition rate of 9 kHz at 1064 nm (near-infrared wavelength). The bathymetric lidar sensor has a pulse repetition rate of 1 kHz at 532 nm (green wavelength). Native lidar data is not generally in a format accessible to most Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Specialized in-house and commercial software packages are used to process the native lidar data into 3-dimensional positions that can be imported into GIS software for visualization and further analysis. Horizontal positions, provided in decimal degrees of latitude and longitude, are referenced to the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD83). Vertical positions are referenced to the NAD83 ellipsoid and provided in meters. The National Geodetic Survey's (NGS) GEOID03 model is used to transform the vertical positions from ellipsoid to orthometric heights referenced to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD88). For data storage and provisioning purposes, the NOAA Coastal Services Center converted the data from NAVD88 heights to ellipsoid heights using GEOID03.

Slope (degrees) was derived using GLAHF bathymetry layers with the ArcGIS Spatial Analyst Slope Tool.

These files contain topographic and bathymetric lidar data collected by the Compact Hydrographic Airborne Rapid Total Survey (CHARTS) system along the coastline of the island of Isle Royale, Michigan in Lake Superior. CHARTS integrates topographic and bathymetric lidar sensors, a digital camera and a hyperspectral scanner on a single remote sensing platform for use in coastal mapping and charting activities. Data coverage generally extends along the coastline from the waterline inland 500 meters (topography) and offshore 1,000 meters or to laser extinction (bathymetry). The topographic lidar sensor has a pulse repetition rate of 9 kHz at 1064 nm (near-infrared wavelength). The bathymetric lidar sensor has a pulse repetition rate of 1 kHz at 532 nm (green wavelength). Native lidar data is not generally in a format accessible to most Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Specialized in-house and commercial software packages are used to process the native lidar data into 3-dimensional positions that can be imported into GIS software for visualization and further analysis. Horizontal positions, provided in decimal degrees of latitude and longitude, are referenced to the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD83). Vertical positions were referenced to the NAD83 ellipsoid and provided in meters. The National Geodetic Survey's (NGS) GEOID03 model was used to transform the vertical positions from ellipsoid to orthometric heights referenced to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD88). The positions are relative to NAD83 in decimal degrees of longitude and latitude. The heights were converted from ellipsoid to orthometric heights (NAVD88) using the Geoid03 model with the results in meters. Once converted to geoid heights, the data were then converted to IGLD85 using the VDatum program from NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). The NOAA Coastal Services Center received the data and converted the hydro files from IGLD85 heights to NAVD88 heights using VDatum. The heights were then converted to ellipsoid heights using Geoid03. The topo files were converted from NAVD88 heights to ellipsoid heights using Geoid03. These files were converted for data storage and Digital Coast provisioning purposes.