NYS DEC Seneca Lake Bathymetry Data

NYSDEC Finger Lakes Watershed Program 5786 Widewaters Parkway Syracuse, NY 13214
Phone: (315) 426-7400
flwp@dec.ny.gov


Bathymetry Principal Investigator: Tom Manley
Captains: Richard Furbush and Tom Beardsley
Sonar Operators: Matt Harrison and Erin Hogan


This bathymetric survey of Seneca Lake was conducted in 2019 and 2022 using Middlebury College’s 48-foot research vessel R/W David Folger. Multibeam echosounder (512 beams) coupled with differential GPS positioning was used to map lake bottom depths deeper than approximately 30ft of water. Full water column Conductivity-Temperature-Depth profiles were carried out at least daily to allow compensation for speed-of-sound variation due to temperature stratification. Approximately 3.28 billion observations were taken during the surveys, which took ±6 weeks of ship time over the two non-consecutive field seasons. Processing reduced the point cloud to this 10m x 10m grid, with shipwreck traces manually removed.


Depths are relative to the Barge Canal Datum of 446 feet* (135.941 meters) above sea level. This is equivalent to NAVD88 + 1.9 feet, or NGVD29 + 1.3 feet.


Vertical accuracy: < 3 cm
Horizontal accuracy: < 10 cm


An article starting on page 22 of the April/May 2024 edition of NYSDEC’s Conservationist Magazine provides further information:
https://nysl.ptfs.com/aw-server/rest/product/purl/NYSL/f/3d659722-6431-4a64-a682-a76a348a985c


The project was supported by the following:
•New York Power Authority & NYS Canal Corporation
•New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
•Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation
•New York State Museum
•Stivers Marina on Seneca Lake
•Seneca Lake Resort @ Sampson State Park
•Institute of Nautical Archaeology
•Tripp Foundation, Glenora
•Applanix and Daren Billard for the use of the POSPac post-processing software
•Canal Society of NY State
•Finger Lakes Boating Museum, Hammondsport
•NY State Parks & Watkins Glen Yacht Club
•Middlebury College
•Hobart and William Smith Colleges


A 2 m by 2 m gridded version of the data may be available from the Principal Investigator, upon request.
* Surface seiche activity was compensated for as follows. Using a time series database of 15-minute interval water level observations from a pressure transducer in the lake off the Hobart & William Smith boat house in north Seneca Lake, Delta values away from 446 feet were calculated. A 4-hour filter was placed on that Delta-data to remove noise and spikes and then applied to the multibeam data to revert everything back to the 446 feet reference level. Note that only the northern water-level data was incorporated, as the southern Watkins Glen data was incomplete. Hence, any spatial surface seiche variations from North to South could not be compensated for.


Data can be downloaded here:
KMZ
https://gisdata.ny.gov/GISData/State/NYSDEC/SenecaLake_Bathymetry/10m-public-release-bathy.kmz


Associated files:
Tif and legend

https://gisdata.ny.gov/GISData/State/NYSDEC/SenecaLake_Bathymetry/10m-public-release-bathy.tif


XML
https://gisdata.ny.gov/GISData/State/NYSDEC/SenecaLake_Bathymetry/10m-public-release-bathy.tif.aux.xml


TXT

https://gisdata.ny.gov/GISData/State/NYSDEC/SenecaLake_Bathymetry/10mx10m_FINAL_SENECA_PUBLIC_RELEASE_BATHY.txt

 

 

Data and Resources

Field Value
dcat_issued 2025-03-20T19:33:15.000Z
dcat_modified 2026-06-12T11:40:07.000Z
dcat_publisher_name ShareGIS NY
guid https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=c2146ffc00b04c1a942d9d8f3226926a
Tags
  • Bathymetry
  • NYS DEC
isopen False
metadata_created 2026-08-19T14:49:36.135960
metadata_modified 2026-09-22T21:36:23.426541
notes <p>NYSDEC Finger Lakes Watershed Program 5786 Widewaters Parkway Syracuse, NY 13214<br />Phone: (315) 426-7400<br /><a href='mailto:flwp@dec.ny.gov' rel='nofollow ugc'>flwp@dec.ny.gov</a></p><p><br />Bathymetry Principal Investigator: Tom Manley<br />Captains: Richard Furbush and Tom Beardsley<br />Sonar Operators: Matt Harrison and Erin Hogan</p><p><br />This bathymetric survey of Seneca Lake was conducted in 2019 and 2022 using Middlebury College’s 48-foot research vessel R/W David Folger. Multibeam echosounder (512 beams) coupled with differential GPS positioning was used to map lake bottom depths deeper than approximately 30ft of water. Full water column Conductivity-Temperature-Depth profiles were carried out at least daily to allow compensation for speed-of-sound variation due to temperature stratification. Approximately 3.28 billion observations were taken during the surveys, which took ±6 weeks of ship time over the two non-consecutive field seasons. Processing reduced the point cloud to this 10m x 10m grid, with shipwreck traces manually removed.</p><p><br />Depths are relative to the Barge Canal Datum of 446 feet* (135.941 meters) above sea level. This is equivalent to NAVD88 + 1.9 feet, or NGVD29 + 1.3 feet.</p><p><br />Vertical accuracy: &lt; 3 cm<br />Horizontal accuracy: &lt; 10 cm</p><p><br />An article starting on page 22 of the April/May 2024 edition of NYSDEC’s Conservationist Magazine provides further information:<br /><a target='_blank' href='https://nysl.ptfs.com/aw-server/rest/product/purl/NYSL/f/3d659722-6431-4a64-a682-a76a348a985c' rel='nofollow ugc noopener noreferrer'>https://nysl.ptfs.com/aw-server/rest/product/purl/NYSL/f/3d659722-6431-4a64-a682-a76a348a985c</a></p><p><br />The project was supported by the following:<br />•New York Power Authority &amp; NYS Canal Corporation<br />•New York State Department of Environmental Conservation<br />•Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation<br />•New York State Museum<br />•Stivers Marina on Seneca Lake<br />•Seneca Lake Resort @ Sampson State Park<br />•Institute of Nautical Archaeology<br />•Tripp Foundation, Glenora<br />•Applanix and Daren Billard for the use of the POSPac post-processing software<br />•Canal Society of NY State<br />•Finger Lakes Boating Museum, Hammondsport<br />•NY State Parks &amp; Watkins Glen Yacht Club<br />•Middlebury College<br />•Hobart and William Smith Colleges</p><p><br />A 2 m by 2 m gridded version of the data may be available from the Principal Investigator, upon request.<br />* Surface seiche activity was compensated for as follows. Using a time series database of 15-minute interval water level observations from a pressure transducer in the lake off the Hobart &amp; William Smith boat house in north Seneca Lake, Delta values away from 446 feet were calculated. A 4-hour filter was placed on that Delta-data to remove noise and spikes and then applied to the multibeam data to revert everything back to the 446 feet reference level. Note that only the northern water-level data was incorporated, as the southern Watkins Glen data was incomplete. Hence, any spatial surface seiche variations from North to South could not be compensated for.</p><p><br />Data can be downloaded here:<br />KMZ<br /><a target='_blank' href='https://gisdata.ny.gov/GISData/State/NYSDEC/SenecaLake_Bathymetry/10m-public-release-bathy.kmz' rel='nofollow ugc noopener noreferrer'>https://gisdata.ny.gov/GISData/State/NYSDEC/SenecaLake_Bathymetry/10m-public-release-bathy.kmz</a></p><p><br />Associated files:<br />Tif and legend</p><p><a target='_blank' href='https://gisdata.ny.gov/GISData/State/NYSDEC/SenecaLake_Bathymetry/10m-public-release-bathy.tif' rel='nofollow ugc noopener noreferrer'>https://gisdata.ny.gov/GISData/State/NYSDEC/SenecaLake_Bathymetry/10m-public-release-bathy.tif</a></p><p><br />XML<br /><a target='_blank' href='https://gisdata.ny.gov/GISData/State/NYSDEC/SenecaLake_Bathymetry/10m-public-release-bathy.tif.aux.xml' rel='nofollow ugc noopener noreferrer'>https://gisdata.ny.gov/GISData/State/NYSDEC/SenecaLake_Bathymetry/10m-public-release-bathy.tif.aux.xml</a></p><p><br />TXT</p><p><a target='_blank' href='https://gisdata.ny.gov/GISData/State/NYSDEC/SenecaLake_Bathymetry/10mx10m_FINAL_SENECA_PUBLIC_RELEASE_BATHY.txt' rel='nofollow ugc noopener noreferrer'>https://gisdata.ny.gov/GISData/State/NYSDEC/SenecaLake_Bathymetry/10mx10m_FINAL_SENECA_PUBLIC_RELEASE_BATHY.txt</a></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>
num_resources 1
num_tags 2
title NYS DEC Seneca Lake Bathymetry Data
url https://data.gis.ny.gov/documents/sharegisny::nys-dec-seneca-lake-bathymetry-data