Multibeam Echosounders

The multibeam echo sounders available on the market are constantly evolving as technology advances and as sonar producers seek new ways of refining and utilising the products. In this article we will provide a snapshot of current products and trends from the dominant (high-end) sonar producers focused on survey-grade products. Trend #1 – Reso... (read more)

Within echo sounding circles it is well known that air bubbles may have a negative effect on echo sounding systems. This article briefly presents the German way of dealing with air bubbles from sweep-down and cavitation processes as well as our experiences with the last three large research vessels (RVs Polarstern, Meteor and Maria S. Merian). The... (read more)

Remote, difficult to access: it just depends on the point of view. Often, trying to reach some areas with a classical survey vessel or with an opportunity launch is like banging our heads against a brick wall, but it appears to be quite easy to land there with a seaplane. That is the premise for the Seaplane Bathymetric Platform Project, which aims... (read more)

Two-thirds of our planet surface is covered by water and yet what lies underneath is a mystery to us. We know the ocean controls our weather and climate and is home to an estimated half of all species on Earth. However, 95% of the ocean still remains unexplored. We have higher resolution maps of the Moon and the surface of Mars than we do of our se... (read more)

Currently only ten to fifteen percent of the ocean floor has been mapped at resolutions of 100-metre pixel size or better and the vast majority of this mapped area is within territorial waters. One way to significantly increase seafloor coverage is to outsource data collection to non-hydrographic vessels or ships of opportunity. However, data curre... (read more)

The Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVOCEANO) utilises a diverse suite of survey assets to collect high-resolution oceanographic and hydrographic data in shallow-water areas all over the globe. These assets maintain a high operation tempo, resulting in extremely large data volumes. The success of these data collection efforts depends on the quality of... (read more)

The evolution of multi-beam echo sounders (MBES) is leading to systems with enhanced capabilities in their traditional markets, but also provides features to allow the expansion of their use into new areas and applications. This short review highlights some of the features of the latest generation of systems. The attributes of an MBES system are tr... (read more)

Hydrographic surveys in very shallow waters can have several applications such as nautical chart updating, performing environmental monitoring and characterisation, determination of dredged volumes, establishing navigational channels or defining general coastlines. When full bottom search is required, surveys in such areas will involve many hours o... (read more)

Despite the last decade’s flurry of UNCLOS ECS mapping, the amount of the oceans surveyed remains around 12%. The continuing search for the MH370 wreckage emphasises our scant knowledge of the actual deep ocean seafloor despite the apparently detailed overall picture derived from satellite altimetry’s synthetic bathymetry.  Dr. Joh... (read more)