Another Question, How are the sediment volumes calculated?, When I enter a reference depth (I assume a manual sludge depth measurement) it doesn't change anything in the totals, is this because I am in the trial version. Same question for adjusting the water level offset, none of my volumes change. Also, is there an option for adjustment to account for the depth of the transducer in the water? Thank you

Any Suggestions?

"Sediment" volumes are just the volume within a specific depth band that isn't water - so really just total volume for depth band minus water volume for depth band. A reference depth can extend the number of depth bands beyond the calculated maximum in the map, which can be useful in some applications.
The values will not update until you click the Calculate area and volumes button.
Transducer offsets need to be applied at the track level before generating the map - this information will then be included in all depth calculations.

Awesome thank you Matt!

Can you walk me through the transducer depth adjustment, I am not seeing it

This is done in the edit panel for individual tracks - open them by double clicking in the asset list, then open the Edit panel at the right of the main window and adjust the value there. Any adjustments made to individual tracks will be reflected in all projects in which that track is used - note that you will need to rebuild the project before the changes are seen.

Edit: the setting is called "Keel offset", mostly for historical reasons. It isn't really a keel offset, it's a transducer offset.

For the Bottom Composition plug-in, would this be a good tool for estimating sludge depths of a water body? For example someone looking to dredge their pond we can figure out an estimate of how many cubic yards of material need to be removed and where to focus efforts?.

This question came up again for me and looking back I didn't get a full understanding. For the Bottom Composition plug-in, would this be a good tool for estimating sludge depths of a water body? For example someone looking to dredge their pond we can figure out an estimate of how many cubic yards of material need to be removed and where to focus efforts? Thank you!

How do I calculate the volume of a trench to be filled with sediment when the adjacent reference bottom is on a slope? (Think an incised trench that occurs on a sloped bottom). A single flat reference plane will not work

Tricky one. Do you have an image showing the bottom in relation to the trench?

Matt,

We used two different sensors, so there are two distinct point files for water depth. The idea was to transect back and forth across the trench to include the unaffected, adjacent reference plane. As you'll see, the transects are little haphazard. I included a polygon file as well that could be used for clipping, as I did for a TIN and contours

You should notice that the general bottom topography trends deeper to the south, with the incised trench superimposed over that general pattern. This is why any approach that uses a level baseline plane won't seem to work. I hope you have a suggestion.

Cheers,
Mike

Thanks Mike, I will take a look at these and get back to you in the next few days - hopefully with some ideas.