First results from a deep tow multibeam echo-sounder

A new digital tow fish capable of operations to 6 km depth has been outfitted with a 100 kHz multibeam echo-sounder designed to map a 60/spl deg/ swath of seafloor at altitudes ranging from 20 to 700 m above the bottom. The system has been successfully tested in 1500 m of water offshore San Diego. Preliminary results of data analyses indicate that the system has a horizontal spatial resolution of about 1% of the tow fish altitude in the cross-track dimension and a depth resolution of better than 0.3% of altitude with the current implementation of the bottom detection algorithm.<
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