Benthic Habitat Variations Over Tidal Ridges, North Sea, The Netherlands

Marine ecosystems on continental shelves endure an increasing burden of human activity offshore, and the impacts on benthic habitats are not well known. An improved understanding of how benthic habitats vary in relation to substrate types and seabed features is therefore essential to both scientists and offshore developers. This case study shows...

Observations of sand waves, megaripples, and hummocks in the Dutch coastal area and their relation to currents and combined flow conditions

[1] This paper aims to investigate the distribution and stability of large-scale bed forms in response to storm and fair-weather conditions in a shallow marine environment. Multibeam and side-scan sonar data off the Dutch coast (median grain size 0.25-0.35 mm) were collected to monitor sand waves (λ = 100-800 m) and superimposed megaripples (λ =...

Mapping submarine sand waves with multiband imaging radar - 2. Experimental results and model comparison

On August 16, 1989, and on July 12, 1991, experiments were performed to study the mapping of submarine sand waves with the airborne imaging radar, a polarimetric (and, in 1991, interferometric) airborne P, L, and C band synthetic aperture radar system. The experiments took place in an area 30 km off the coast of the Netherlands, where the bottom...