| Multi-Beam Echo-Sounders (MBES) designed for seafloor-mapping applications are today a major tool for ocean exploration and monitoring. Concerns have been raised about their impact towards marine life and especially marine mammals, although their inherent characteristics (high frequencies, short signals and narrow transmitting lobes) actually minimize this possibility. The present paper proposes an analysis of MBES radiation characteristics (pulse design, source level and radiation directivity pattern) accounting for the various geometries met today and expressed according to the metrics used for acoustical impact assessment (maximum Sound Pressure Level, and cumulative Sound Exposure Level). A detailed radiation model is proposed, including the... |
