Improved Depth Selection in the Bathymetric Swath Survey System (BS3) Combined Offline Processing (COP) Program

摘要

The Bathymetric Swath Survey System (BS3) utilizes the twenty-two fixed sonar beams of the Bosun sounder to scan a wide swath of up to + or - 50 degrees from the vertical under the survey vessel. It is believed that in this way the bathymetry/hydrography of the bottom can be better defined -- both in terms of reconnaissance and charting -- than with a single-beam, profiling system (McCaffrey 1981). The system includes heave, roll, and pitch corrections for refinement of the bottom estimates from the measured depths. At-sea testing of the system was conducted in April 1981 and August 1981 aboard the NOAA Vessel DAVIDSON. The April 'Field Experiment' in Puget Sound and off the coast of Oregon and the August 'Operational Evaluation' in Alaska's Shelikof Strait provided data sets covering a wide variety of depths, topography, and sea surface conditions.