Continental shelf seabed characterization and monitoring using National Centers for Environmental Information Water Column Sonar Data
Abstract
Approved for Public ReleaseObtaining high spatial and temporal resolution characterization of seabed geoacoustic properties is important particularly in shallow water acoustic propagation, such as within the continental shelf margins, where sound interacts frequently with the seabed. Acquiring acoustic data specifically intended to characterize the seabed, however, is expensive and time-consuming to obtain, and therefore spatially and temporarily sparse. Developing a geoacoustic inversion pipeline leveraging published inversion algorithms and a publicly available and standardized water column sonar database will provide the Navy with a scalable solution to improve and maintain the accuracy and resolution of their Global Predictive Seabed Model (GPSM) without the need for additional ship time. Our primary objectives are to 1) assess the efficacy of using a large standardized single beam echosounder database to characterize seabed geoacoustic properties at finer spatial/temporal resolution in a well characterized area, and 2) create a two-way pipeline with GPSM and National Centers for Environmental Information toward seabed characterization across the Gulf of Maine. A seabed scattering module will be developed and maintained by co-PIs and integrated into the National Marine Fisheries Service#s open-source python library, Echopype, and GPSM. We plan to work toward our stated objectives over the two years of the project by leveraging published echo pulse-matching algorithms, co-PI Lyons#s decades of experience in seafloor scattering, Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping#s existing Jeffrey#s Ledge dataset, and close collaborations with NMFS and Naval Research Laboratories.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Aug 11, 2023
- Source ID
- N000142312819
Entities
People
- Gabriel R. Venegas
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University System of New Hampshire