10-m Interpolated Bathymetric Grid of the Northern Part of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Survey H11044 off Milford, Connecticut (H11044N_10UTM, UTM Zone 18, WGS84)

During 2001 the NOAA Ship RUDE completed charting survey H11044 that covered a roughly 293 km2 area of the sea floor in north-central Long Island Sound, off Milford Connecticut. Although 100 percent coverage was achieved with sidescan sonar for charting purposes, only reconnaissance (spaced line) bathymetry was acquired with shallow-water multibeam and single-beam systems. Therefore, further processing was conducted at the USGS's Woods Hole Science Center to provide bathymetric datasets with more continuous coverage. This project produced grids and GeoTIFF imagery of the combined and interpolated shallow-water multibeam and single-beam bathymetry generated from the northern part of this data set. Anthropogenic wastes, toxic chemicals, and changes in land-use patterns resulting from residential, commercial, and recreational development have stressed the environment of the Sound, causing degradation and potential loss of benthic habitats. Detailed maps of the sea floor are needed to help evaluate the extent of adverse impacts and to help manage resources wisely in the future. Therefore, in a continuing effort to better understand Long Island Sound, we have interpolated and gridded shallow-water multibeam and single-beam bathymetric data within specific areas of special interest.