The influence of water column variability and seafloor topography on multibeam bathymetric mapping

Senior thesis written for Oceanography 445

[author abstract] The purpose of this study is to identify influences of seafloor topography and variability of sound velocity properties of the water column on the accuracy of multibeam depth estimates. This study examines the multibeam sonar data from a survey of repeated observations of the underwater feature of Williamson Sill in Nootka Sound, B.C. Canada on the 17 of December 2015. ...[Findings] suggest that relative position to an underwater feature exerts a large amount of influence on survey accuracy, while tidal height appears to exert little influence on accuracy.

University of Washington School of Oceanography