SEDIMENT PROFILE IMAGING
Sediment Profile Imaging, or SPI, has been an important tool for measuring the efficacy of AC placement, as well as the long-term persistence and location of the AC in the remediated sediment column. SPI is a method for photographing the first 6 – 8 inches of the seafloor below the sediment-water interface. The camera is housed in a waterproof and pressure proof frame that inserts a prism into the seafloor, allowing the camera to take a relatively undisturbed photo of the seafloor profile.
SPI was originally introduced as a rapid, reconnaissance mapping tool to survey benthic habitats and interpret impacts to benthic substrata (Germano et al, 2011). SPI has been used during AC placement provide additional monitoring of amendment thickness. SPI is also used in long-term monitoring to visualize physical processes at the amendment-water and sediment-amendment interfaces. SPI surveys can provide additional information on sediment characteristics including buried organic-rich horizons, baseline depth and extent of biological mixing, and large-scale variations in sediment grain size that may indicate significant variations in energy regime.
SPI Camera
SPI has been used AC placement and long-term monitoring at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard Pier 7, Hunters Point Shipyard, and the USN Sierra 1B Pier at Pearl Harbor. The images below are from the placement and through 26 months of post-placement monitoring at Hunters Point Shipyard.
Sediment Profile Imaging from the Hunters Point Demonstration Project
Additional Resources
The use of Sediment Profile Imaging (SPI) for Environmental Impact Assessments and Monitoring Studies: Lessons Learned from the Past Four Decades. Germano et al 2011. Oceanography and Marine Biology: An Annual Review, 2011, 49, 235–298
Sediment Profile Imaging - How it Works Inspire*
Sediment Profile Imaging Services Newfields *
Sediment Profile Imaging Integral Consulting *
* References or links herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring.
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