Digital bathymetric model of the Burgas Bay, Bulgarian Black Sea

Abstract

Recently, the application of the multibeam echosounder systems in Bulgaria has become a standard method of studying the seabed. Nowadays, our task is to combine archival bathymetric data from single-beam echo sounding and contemporary multibeam echo sounding scanning. In this work, we present our initial activity in our primary scientific goal to create a composite digital model of the Broad Burgas Bay that will allow us to the future geospatial interpretation and identification of present-day seabed morphological forms and processes on the seafloor. For this study, a geo base database was created with bathymetric surveys from different years and equipment. The used data combine sonar mosaics, single beam, and multibeam bathymetric data and raster satellite images, processed in PDS 2000, SonarWiz, and GIS environment. The data is equated in a Baltic elevation system, which allows the construction of a digital relief model accurately. The density and coverage of the bathymetric data allowed the generation of a digital bathymetric model of the seafloor relief with a horizontal resolution of 14 m. A bathymetric map with an interval of 1 m was created with high accuracy. Such a high-resolution model is a significant advance in the high-resolution mapping of the Bulgarian Black Sea seafloor.