Side-scan angular setup influence in the detection of posidonia oceanica fields
- Sletten, M. N.
- Espinosa Roselló, Víctor
- Sánchez-Carnero, Noela
- Freire, J.
Publisher: Sociedad Española de Acústica
ISBN: 84-87095-17-8
Year of publication: 2009
Volume Title: Comunicaciones. Hidroacústica
Volume: 10
Congress: Congreso Español de Acústica ; Encuentro Ibérico de Acústica (40. 2009. Cádiz)
Type: Conference paper
Abstract
Low density biomass, as Posidonia Oceanica prairies, has shown to be a challenging backscattering target. As Posidonia is a crucial part of the seabed ecosystem, evaluation of seabed areas with its presence is becoming an important issue, and it has turned a strong motivation for our study. We analyse alternative side-scan transducer setups, comparing existing single beam echosounder and side-scan methods. In this context we are investigating the use of a vertical mounted side-scan transducer, where the downward bound of the main lobe is near the vertical with a width of 50º towards the horizontal. The initial attempts shows to be promising, gaining spatial resolution and increase in effective detection cross section, compared with traditional narrow single beam echo sounders and grazing side-scan sonar.