Detection and characterisation of deep-sea benthopelagic animals from an autonomous underwater vehicle with a multibeam echosounder: A proof of concept and description of data-processing methods

Exo-Ocean Exploration with Deep-Sea Sensor and Platform Technologies

“…Multibeam echo sounders can also be used for the quantification of animal presence in large volumes of water via the analysis of acoustic backscatter returns, when an adequate assessment of signal-to-noise ratio can be made (e.g., Briseño-Avena et al, 2015). Although preexisting knowledge on echo signature for acoustic signal crossreferencing is not yet available for exo-oceans and MBES cannot be used for the identification of any fauna, those sensors could be used to identify objects moving in the water column, thus contributing to the environmental characterization (Dunlop et al, 2018).…”

Advancing Observation of Ocean Biogeochemistry, Biology, and Ecosystems With Cost-Effective in situ Sensing Technologies

“…Multibeam systems such as long-range omnidirectional sonar (Brehmer et al, 2006), multibeam sonar (Korneliussen et al, 2009), and multibeam echosounder (Trenkel et al, 2008) have become more reliable and cost-efficient per unit of data output (e.g., Trygonis et al, 2016;Dunlop et al, 2018). Acoustic cameras have been emerging for fine scale studies of marine organisms in the last decade (Tušer et al, 2014;Martignac et al, 2015), which have provided new detailed knowledge on their living behaviors and physiology.…”

Towards a macroscope: Leveraging technology to transform the breadth, scale and resolution of macroecological data

“…Active sonar has seen intense development for fisheries research, with sophisticated shipboard broadband (Lavery, Chu, & Moum, 2010) and multibeam (Gerlotto, Soria, & Fréon, 1999) systems now providing detailed information about the spatial and size distribution of epi-and meso-pelagic fauna. Sonar surveys can have global reach (Irigoien et al, 2014); however, the cost and limited temporal resolution of ship-based surveys have also led to the installation of sonars in fixed observatories (Ross, Keister, & Lara-Lopez, 2013) and AUVs (Dunlop et al, 2018). Close-in acoustic sampling with robotic vehicles enhances the possibility of distinguishing individual organisms and resolving species from echo returns, potentially enabling community structure to be inferred as a function of time (Benoit- Bird, Moline, & Southall, 2017).…”