Results from the First Phase of the Seafloor Backscatter Processing Software Inter-Comparison Project

Malik, Mashkoor; Schimel, Alexandre C. G.; Masetti, Giuseppe; Roche, Marc; Deunf, Julian Le; Dolan, Margaret F.J.; Beaudoin, Jonathan; Augustin, Jean‐Marie; Hamilton, Travis; Parnum, Iain

doi:10.3390/geosciences9120516

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 25 publications

(41 reference statements)

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“…Despite limitations associated with the use of uncalibrated backscatter data (Lurton and Lamarche, 2015;Schimel et al, 2018;Malik et al, 2019), the results provided basic information for interpretation of different seafloor types, and provided useful information on the acoustic response of the seabed. For most areas, the median uncalibrated backscatter values from the mosaics for all frequencies were low (slightly higher for lower frequency), which is characteristic of soft muddy deposits (Brown et al, 2019;Diesing et al, 2020).…”

Section: Exploring Multispectral Backscatter Response Through Image-b...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Applying a Multi-Method Framework to Analyze the Multispectral Acoustic Response of the Seafloor

Menandro

Bastos

Misiuk

et al. 2022

Front. Remote Sens.

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Improvements to acoustic seafloor mapping systems have motivated novel marine geological and benthic biological research. Multibeam echosounders (MBES) have become a mainstream tool for acoustic remote sensing of the seabed. Recently, “multispectral” MBES backscatter, which is acquired at multiple operating frequencies, has been developed to characterize the seabed in greater detail, yet methods for the use of these data are still being explored. Here, we evaluate the potential for seabed discrimination using multispectral backscatter data within a multi-method framework. We present a novel MBES dataset acquired using four operating frequencies (170, 280, 400, and 700 kHz) near the Doce River mouth, situated on the eastern Brazilian continental shelf. Image-based and angular range analysis methods were applied to characterize the multifrequency response of the seabed. The large amount of information resulting from these methods complicates a manual seabed segmentation solution. The data were therefore summarized using a combination of dimensionality reduction and density-based clustering, enabling hierarchical spatial classification of the seabed with sparse ground-truth. This approach provided an effective solution to synthesizing these data spatially to identify two distinct acoustic seabed classes, with four subclasses within one of the broader classes, which corresponded closely with seafloor sediment samples collected at the site. The multispectral backscatter data also provided information in likely, unknown, sub-surface substrate differences at this site. The study demonstrates that the adoption of a multi-method framework combining image-based and angular range analysis methods with multispectral MBES data can offer significant advantages for seafloor characterization and mapping.

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Section: Exploring Multispectral Backscatter Response Through Image-b...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Applying a Multi-Method Framework to Analyze the Multispectral Acoustic Response of the Seafloor

Menandro

Bastos

Misiuk

et al. 2022

Front. Remote Sens.

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“…Default settings were used for all other geometric and radiometric corrections. The corrected soundings without AVG (i.e., level BL 3 ;Schimel et al 2018;Malik et al 2019) were exported as ASCII files, and AVG-compensated mosaics (i.e., BL 4 ) were also generated using the "flat" algorithm, referencing the mean of the angular interval between 30-60° with a moving window of 300 pings. The echosounder was not calibrated prior to the survey; all backscatter values output from processing were on a relative dB scale.…”

Section: Multi-frequency Mbes Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiple imputation of multibeam angular response data for high resolution full coverage seabed mapping

Misiuk

Brown

2022

Mar Geophys Res

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Acoustic data collected by multibeam echosounders (MBES) are increasingly used for high resolution seabed mapping. The relationships between substrate properties and the acoustic response of the seafloor depends on the acoustic angle of incidence and the operating frequency of the sonar, and these dependencies can be analysed for discrimination of benthic substrates or habitats. An outstanding challenge for angular MBES mapping at a high spatial resolution is discontinuity; acoustic data are seldom represented at a full range of incidence angles across an entire survey area, hindering continuous spatial mapping. Given quantifiable relationships between MBES data at various incidence angles and frequencies, we propose to use multiple imputation to achieve complete estimates of angular MBES data over full survey extents at a high spatial resolution for seabed mapping. The primary goals of this study are (i) to evaluate the effectiveness of multiple imputation for producing accurate estimates of angular backscatter intensity and substrate penetration information, and (ii) to evaluate the usefulness of imputed angular data for benthic habitat and substrate mapping at a high spatial resolution. Using a multi-frequency case study, acoustic soundings were first aggregated to homogenous seabed units at a high spatial resolution via image segmentation. The effectiveness and limitations of imputation were explored in this context by simulating various amounts of missing angular data, and results suggested that a substantial proportion of missing measurements (> 40%) could be imputed with little error using Multiple Imputation by Chained Equations (MICE). The usefulness of imputed angular data for seabed mapping was then evaluated empirically by using MICE to generate multiple stochastic versions of a dataset with missing angular measurements. The complete, imputed datasets were used to model the distribution of substrate properties observed from ground-truth samples using Random Forest and neural networks. Model results were pooled for continuous spatial prediction and estimates of confidence were derived to reflect uncertainty resulting from multiple imputations. In addition to enabling continuous spatial prediction, the high-resolution imputed angular models performed favourably compared to broader segmentations or non-angular data.

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Harmonizing multi-source backscatter data using bulk shift approaches to generate regional seabed maps: Bay of Fundy, Canada

Haar,

Misiuk,

Gazzola

et al. 2023

Journal of Maps

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Results from the First Phase of the Seafloor Backscatter Processing Software Inter-Comparison Project

Cited by 5 publications

References 25 publications

Applying a Multi-Method Framework to Analyze the Multispectral Acoustic Response of the Seafloor

Applying a Multi-Method Framework to Analyze the Multispectral Acoustic Response of the Seafloor

Multiple imputation of multibeam angular response data for high resolution full coverage seabed mapping

Harmonizing multi-source backscatter data using bulk shift approaches to generate regional seabed maps: Bay of Fundy, Canada

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