Mapping the "Ghost Fleet of Mallows Bay", Maryland with drone-based remote sensing.

Abstract

Shipwrecks hold significant historical, archaeological, and ecological value. In this dataset, we present two high-resolution (~0.60 cm & 3.0 cm GSD) orthomosaics and associated data that accurately maps the so-called "Ghost Fleet of Mallows Bay", a prominent shipwreck assemblage near the eastern banks of the Potomac River, Maryland, USA. Using unoccupied aircraft systems (UAS), we conducted aerial surveys at regional and individual wreck scales, imaging all 147 wrecks in the bay. Through structure-from-motion photogrammetric processing, we generated the highest-resolution georeferenced mosaics currently available for Mallows Bay. We used the regional orthomosaic to vectorize individual wrecks, with the resulting polygons linked to archaeological records from the Maryland Historic Trust. These data establish a baseline for the shipwreck-associated ecological, archaeological, and cultural resources at Mallows Bay. The orthomosaics and associated outputs suit various applications, including image analysis and habitat mapping. The digital spatial records of individual wrecks support field research efforts and aid in monitoring the evolution of shipwrecks over time.