Schedule Updates
Schedule, Status, & Updates
Schedule & Status
The primary objectives of the BSWG, as laid out in the group proposal of September 2013, were:
1) To create set of guidelines for backscatter acquisition and processing by May 2015.
2) To provide a series of recommendations to sonar and software manufacturers for development of future systems.
Both objectives were met with the release of Backscatter measurements by seafloor-mapping sonars: Guidelines and Recommendations, May 2015.
Our current objectives are to promote use of the guidelines in the community and the publication of the Marine Geophysical Research Special Issue: Seafloor backscatter data from swath mapping echosounders: From technological development to novel applications.
An additional result of the BSWG was the identification of the community of users – we now have a group of over 300 people who have expressed interest in multibeam seafloor backscatter. The importance of identifying this community should not be overlooked, and we will continue to maintain the mailing list in order to facilitate future collaborative work on this subject.
Updates
The most recent updates are on top.
May 2017: Three additional papers have been accepted in the MGR Special Issue:
- Lamarche, G., Lurton, X., 2017. Recommendations for improved and coherent acquisition and processing of backscatter data from seafloor-mapping sonars. Marine Geophysical Research Seafloor backscatter data from swath mapping echosounders: From technological development to novel applications (in press – this issue).
- Lucieer, V., Roche, M., Degrendele, K., Malik, M., Dolan, M., Lamarche, G., 2017. User expectations for multibeam echo sounders backscatter strength data- Looking back into the future. Marine Geophysical Research Seafloor backscatter data from swath mapping echosounders: From technological development to novel applications (in press).
- Siwabessy, P.J., Tran, M., Picard, K., Brooke, B.P., Huang, Z., Smit, N., Williams, D.K., Nicholas, W.A., Nichol, S.L., Atkinson, I., 2017. Modelling the distribution of hard seabed using calibrated multibeam acoustic backscatter data in a tropical, macrotidal embayment – Darwin Harbour, Australia. Marine Geophysical Research Seafloor backscatter data from swath mapping echosounders: From technological development to novel applications.
29 April – 4 May 2017
Lurton and others participated in a cruise on RV Thalia (Bay of Brest and Ushant island), for (1) logging mid-frequency (70 kHz) backscatter data over reference seafloor areas using a calibrated Simrad EK-60 at various tilts; (2) checking the long-term stability of reference areas at 200 & 300 kHz.
March 2017
The MGR Special Issue on backscatter data is well under way. Eight papers submitted and 8 more in preparation. Still time to submit. Check Marine Geophysical Research and the call for papers for more information.
January 2017
First paper published in the Special Issue of MGR:
- Hillman J. et al. (2016) Validation of automated supervised segmentation of multibeam backscatter data from the Chatham Rise, New Zealand. doi: 10.1007/s11001-016-9297-9
December 2016
The deadline for submission to the Special Issue has been extended to 31 March 2017.
October 2015
First call for a Special Issue of Marine Geophysical Research on Seafloor backscatter from swath echosounders: technology and applications. Edited by Geoffroy Lamarche and Xavier Lurton.
30 May 2015
Minor corrections were made to the document and what we consider the final version (pending any future major version updates) is available for download from the Publications page.
8 May 2015
The document was presented at the 2015 GeoHab meeting in Salvador, Brazil.
5 May 2015
A (nearly final!) draft of the document, Backscatter measurements by seafloor-mapping sonars: Guidelines and Recommendation, is available for download from the Publications page.
19 May 2014
The BSWG needs more information on user need. We request anyone interested to fill out, and submit this form prior to 15 August 2014. More info and link to the form here: User Needs Survey
6 May 2014
An evening meeting of the BSWG was held in conjunction with the GeoHab 2014 conference in Lorne, Australia. PDF of minutes: BSWG_MeetingMinutes_6May2014
6 May 2014
A presentation on the status of the BSWG was given by Xavier Lurton during the Acoustic Backscatter session of GeoHab 2014: BSWG_OneYearReport_GeoHab 2014_XL-GL
1 May 2014
A draft document was made available in May 2014 and is available to working group members for review and comment — please contact Erin Heffron (heffron@qps-us.com) to be added to the group and to gain access to the document.