| Processing simultaneous bathymetry and backscatter data, multibeam echosounders (MBESs) show promising abilities for remote seafloor characterization. High-frequency MBESs provide a good horizontal resolution, making it possible to distinguish fine details at. the water-seafloor interface. However, in order to accurately measure the seafloor influence on the backscattered energy,the recorded sonar data must first be processed and cleared of various artifacts. generated by the sonar system itself. Such a preprocessing correction procedure along with the assessment of its validity limits is presented here and applied to a 95-kHz MBES (Simrad EM1000) data set. Beam pattern effects, uneven array sensitivities, and inaccurate normalization of the ensonified... |
