The influence of track configuration and multibeam echosounder parameters on the accuracy of seabed DTMs obtained in shallow water

This article presents research that aims to assess the accuracy of seabed bathymetry models on the basis of measurements carried out using a multibeam echosounder. It discusses the problem of accuracy assessment which occurs at particular stages of the creation of digital terrain models (DTMs), and analyzes the influence of both the individual multibeam echosounder parameters and the procedures adopted during the survey on the modeling process’s accuracy. Factors that may affect accuracy include the device’s measurement accuracy, the boat speed, the track configuration, the beam width and the selected interpolation method. The article does not deal with errors due to navigation and vessel motion, these being taken to be of the highest possible accuracy. For the research we developed a virtual survey simulator. Recommendations for how to optimize the measurement process while ensuring the created models are of a high quality are presented later in the paper.