The development of the multibeam echosounder: An historical account

Abstract

The first paper on narrow-beam echosounding was published in 1960. Since then, the advantages of the principle of multibeam swath bathymetry for seabed mapping has been recognized by many institutions working in the field of area mapping underwater. We intend to review the development the multibeam echosounder has undergone from the ‘‘beginning’’ until the present in order to better understand the challenges facing the field today. It can safely be said that the field of area mapping has diversified into many directions since the 1960s. At that time most of the development was related to the mechanical and electronic system components, whereas present research focuses on: better algorithms for more precise mapping, seabed classification, image processing, acoustical modeling of the backscattering process from seafloor and volume, and high-resolution methods for direction finding of plane waves. Multibeam echosounding thus encompasses many scientific disciplines, and we consider it important to summarize the state of the art in these disciplines as far as they are related to seabed characterization. This could help scientists to better understand the requirements for further research.