Ice Scour Tracking
Sequential ice scour profiles
For its work in the Beaufort Sea, Tekmap Consulting developed a suite of programs for tracking ice scours in high resolution multibeam data. The software was developed in cooperation with the GSC (Atlantic) to provide a better understanding of how seasonal ice scours the sea floor in the Beaufort Sea.
The Ice Scour Tracking software tracks the path of least resistance between 2 points in a scour. It uses the scour path to gather statistics across the entire scour. The statistics include keel depth, reference keel depth, scour rise-up, berm heights, berm width, and incision width. The software outputs a single profile along the axis of the scour. The user can optionally output cross section profiles perpendicular to the scour axis.
The scour tracking software is written in C as GRASS modules.
Ice Scour Tracking Features
3-D view along an ice scour
The features of the Ice Scour Tracking software include:
- A path of "least resistance" calculation that visually walks through a scour, between 2 end points provided by the user.
- Outputs to a GIS vector and the profile plotting program.
- User controlled alongtrack and acrosstrack resolution for tracking and profile output.
- User controlled scour width to restrict cross section search.
- Outputs of cross section profiles at user controlled resolution.
Future Features
The program was developed to track ice scour events. However, it could also be used to track and analyze other geologic or man-made features through a DEM. For example, the program could be modified to track bedrock "popups" or earthquake fault lines.
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