f Sea Bed Mapping: A Review of Survey Techniques and Instrumentation

During the past decade many technological advances have been made in the field of hydrographic surveying. A continuing evolution of survey instrumentation has greatly improved survey accuracy and the efficiency of data acquisition. CUrrent swath bathymetric systems and long-range sea bed imaging sonars are capable of charting the seafloor across several kilometers along a single survey trackline. These mapping systeas generally are of two basic configurations:towed and hUll-mounted. The presently utilized systems can be further categorized by their operating principal: interferometric or multi-beam. Each of these have their own unique advantages and disadvantages as well as certain operational constraints. This paper objectively reviews the most widely employed sea bed mapping systems and presents survey techniques appropriate to each.