Record Details

Seabed habitat mapping employing single and multi-beam backscatter data: A case study from the western continental shelf of India

DRS at CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography

View Archive Info
 
 
Field Value
 
Title Seabed habitat mapping employing single and multi-beam backscatter data: A case study from the western continental shelf of India
 
Creator Haris, K.
Chakraborty, B.
Ingole, B.S.
Menezes, A.A.A.
Srivastava, R.
 
Subject benthos
mapping
backscatter
echosounder profiles
 
Description Acoustic backscatter from multi-beam echo-sounder (MBES) and dual-frequency single-beam echo-sounding systems (SBES) operable at 95 kHz and 33/210 kHz, respectively, were used to study the distribution of sediment texture and benthic macro-fauna along the central part of the western continental shelf of India (off Goa). To characterize the continental shelf seafloor, single-beam and multi-beam backscatter signals were acquired along with grab sediment samples. The relationships between processed acoustic backscatter strength, grain size, and benthic macro-fauna abundance were demonstrated employing clustering technique (PCA) and Geographic Information System (GIS) based mapping. The clustering analysis delineated that the backscatter values at three frequencies are strongly correlated with both substrate type and faunal functional groups. The preferences of deposit feeders (soft body benthic macro-fauna) for the fine-sediment regions and filter feeders (hard body benthic macro-fauna) for coarse sediment regions were linked to the variations in sediment granulometry as well as backscatter strengths in the study area. This study further demonstrates the utility of high frequency backscatter data employing echo-sounding systems towards the interpretation of seafloor sediments and benthic habitat characteristics across large areas of seafloor.
 
Date 2012-10-01T07:33:57Z
2012-10-01T07:33:57Z
2012
 
Type Journal Article
 
Identifier Continental Shelf Research, vol.48; 2012; 40-49
no
http://drs.nio.org/drs/handle/2264/4173
 
Language en
 
Relation Cont_Shelf_Res_48_40.jpg
 
Rights An edited version of this paper was published by Elsevier. Copyright [2012] Elsevier
 
Publisher Elsevier