As part of the Hudson River Benthic Mapping Project we collected sidescan sonar data for the tidal Hudson River Estuary from the New York Harbor to Troy, NY. Sidescan sonar image yield information on the character of the river bottom: High backscatter (dark gray) corresponds to rougher and harder bottom such as erosion, sand, or gravel. Low backscatter (light gray) corresponds to softer and smoother bottom such as deposition or muddy bottom.

Examples of the processed images can be downloaded and displayed in GoogleEarth. The images are divided into different areas to keep the files small. Just click on an area on the map or the name of the area next to the map to start the download. If GoogleEarth is installed on your computer it might open automatically and display the image.

The Hudson River Benthic Mapping Project was funded by the by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation with funds from the Environmental Protection Fund through the Hudson River Estuary Program.

The Hudson River Benthic Mapping Project was conducted under the leadership of the Lamont Dorothy Earth Observatory of Columbia University in collaboration with Stony Brook University, Queens College, and the Institute of Ecosystem Studies. The GoogleEarth tiles have been prepared by L. Weber under the supervison of F. Nitsche (Lamont).