An integrated marine data collection for the German Bight – Part 1: Subaqueous geomorphology and surface sedimentology (1996–2016)

• Published in: Earth system science data Vol. 13; no. 8; pp. 4053 - 4065
• Main Authors: Sievers, Julian, Milbradt, Peter, Ihde, Romina, Valerius, Jennifer, Hagen, Robert, Plüß, Andreas
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Katlenburg-Lindau Copernicus GmbH 20-08-2021; Copernicus Publications
• Subjects: Approximation; Barrier islands; Bathymetry; Complex systems; Data collection; Data entry; Datasets; Distribution functions; Estuaries; Exclusive economic zone; Geomorphology; Grain size; Grain size distribution; Harbors; Mathematical models; Metadata; Numerical models; Resolution; Sedimentology; Sediments; Size distribution; Stability; Stability analysis; Surface stability; Temporal resolution; Terrain models; Tidal flats; Tidal marshes; Waterways; Germany; North Sea
• ISSN: 1866-3516; 1866-3508; 1866-3516
• DOI: 10.5194/essd-13-4053-2021

The German Bight located within the central North Sea is a hydro-
and morphodynamically highly complex system of estuaries, barrier islands,
and part of the world's largest coherent tidal flats, the Wadden Sea. To
identify and understand challenges faced by coastal stakeholders, such as
harbor operators or governmental agencies, to maintain waterways and employ
numerical models for further analyses, it is imperative to have a consistent
database for both bathymetry and surface sedimentology. Current commercial
and public data products are insufficient in spatial and temporal resolution
and coverage for recent analysis methods. Thus, this first part of a two-part
publication series of the German joint project EasyGSH-DB describes annual
bathymetric digital terrain models at a 10 m gridded resolution for the
German North Sea coast and German Bight from 1996 to 2016 (Sievers et al.,
2020a, https://doi.org/10.48437/02.2020.K2.7000.0001), as well as surface
sedimentological models of discretized cumulative grain size distribution
functions for 1996, 2006, and 2016 on 100 m grids (Sievers et al., 2020b,
https://doi.org/10.48437/02.2020.K2.7000.0005). Furthermore, basic
morphodynamic and sedimentological processing analyses, such as the
estimation of, for example, bathymetric stability or surface maps of sedimentological
parameters, are provided (Sievers et al., 2020a, b, see respective
download links).