Open Backscatter Toolchain (OpenBST) - A Community-Vetted Workflow for Backscatter Processing

TitleOpen Backscatter Toolchain (OpenBST) - A Community-Vetted Workflow for Backscatter Processing
Publication TypeConference Proceedings
Year2020
AuthorsSmith, M, Masetti, G, Mayer, LA, Malik, MA, Augustin, J-M, Poncelet, C, Parnum, I
Conference Name2020 Canadian Hydrographic Conference
Conference DatesFebruary 24-27
Conference LocationQuebec City, Quebec, Canada
Keywordsacoustic baskscatter, ocean mapping, open source, Seafloor Characterization

Seafloor acoustic backscatter collected by multibeam echosounders (MBES) is routinely used to generate products such as backscatter mosaics and angular response curves. However, the usability of backscatter products has been hindered by a lack of consistent outputs that may be the result of differences in sonar calibration, data collection and processing. The Open BackScatter Toolchain (OpenBST) project aims to mitigate discrepancies that arise from existing processing workflows by providing open-source, community-vetted processing algorithms for backscatter data. In this work, an example of the OpenBST approach was applied to the backscatter processing workflow for a popular multibeam echosounder, using a reference dataset recently collected in Portsmouth Harbor, NH. At each processing step, intermediate outputs are produced (and compared) using commonly adopted methodologies. Finally, an analysis of the relative relevance of selecting those methodologies at the various intermediate steps is presented.

URL for Proceedinghttps://www.conferium.com/OLM/Prg_Present.lasso?showevent=202
DOI10.13140/RG.2.2.19660.77442