Simultaneous operation of the Sea Beam multibeam echo-sounder and the SeaMARC II bathymetric sidescan sonar system

Author

De Moustier, Christian ; Lonsdale, Peter F. ; Shor, Alexander N.

Author_Institution

Scripps Inst. of Oceanogr., La Jolla, CA, USA

Volume

15

Issue

2

fYear

1990

fDate

4/1/1990 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

84

Lastpage

94

Abstract

An experiment aboard the Scripps Institution of Oceanography´s RV Thomas Washington has demonstrated the seafloor mapping advantages to be derived from combining the high-resolution bathymetry of a multibeam echo-sounder with the sidescan acoustic imaging plus wide-swath bathymetry of a shallow-towed bathymetric sidescan sonar. To a void acoustic interference between the ship´s 12-kHz Sea Beam multibeam echo-sounder and the 11-12-kHz SeaMARC II bathymetric sidescan sonar system during simultaneous operations, Sea Beam transmit cycles were scheduled around SeaMARC II timing events with a sound source synchronization unit originally developed for concurrent single-channel seismic, Sea Beam, and 3.5-kHz profile operations. The scheduling algorithm implemented for Sea Beam plus SeaMARC II operations is discussed, and the initial results showing their combined seafloor mapping capabilities are presented

Keywords

acoustic imaging; bathymetry; echo; oceanographic techniques; sonar; underwater sound; 11 to 12 kHz; 12 kHz; RV Thomas Washington; Scripps Institution of Oceanography; Sea Beam multibeam echo-sounder; Sea Beam transmit cycles; SeaMARC II bathymetric sidescan sonar system; SeaMARC II timing events; VLF; high-resolution bathymetry; oceanographic techniques; seafloor mapping capabilities; sidescan acoustic imaging; simultaneous operations; sound source synchronization unit; wide-swath bathymetry; Acoustic beams; Acoustic imaging; Control systems; Geophysics; Image resolution; Oceanographic techniques; Scheduling algorithm; Sea floor; Sonar measurements; Timing;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Oceanic Engineering, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0364-9059

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/48.50693

Filename

50693