Multifractal Approach for Seafloor Characterization

This letter involves multifractal characterization of pockmark seepage associated seafloor along the central part of the western continental margin of India. Six representative blocks of backscatter and bathymetry coregistered image data were used to characterize the seafloor. Two distinct multifractal formalisms are applied to determine the characteristics. The first formalism employs data analyses using generalized dimension D(q) and multifractal singularity spectrum f(α) linked shape parameters, based on the strange attractor that exhibits multifractal scaling. The second approach is designed as stochastic multifractal fields that connect the image block quantification to the three fundamental parameters, namely, degree of multifractality α, sparseness C1, and degree of smootheness H. The present investigation using the two multifractal formalisms to characterize the seafloor backscatter and bathymetry data provides comparative results that can be expounded upon.