Application of High-Frequency Echo-Sounders for Seafloor and Associated Benthic Habitat Characterization

Seafloor studies are vital for living and non-living resource management along with the identification of related processes. Various methods including application of acoustic remote sensing, seafloor photography and geological sampling are well recognized to understand the seafloor processes. The utilization of high-frequency single-beam echo-sounding system (SBES) and multi-beam echo-sounding system (MBES) has become more common among these due to their rapid data acquisition advantages. Seafloor acoustic backscatter data from the echo-sounding systems can provide information regarding the fine-scale seafloor roughness and associated benthic habitat. Therefore, using SBES and MBES data for studying the distribution of benthic community and seafloor characterization would be advantageous for mapping the benthic habitat and sediment texture distributions leading to effective management of the marine environment.