Bathymetric and side-scan data fusion for sea-bottom 3D mosaicing

The goal of sea-bottom mosaicing is to georeference each sample of a side-scan image in an accurate manner as this image consists only in a time-sampled backscattering recording. Thus, a flat sea-bottom assumption is generally used to spatially relocate each sample according to the height of the sensor. In the case of altitude varying sea-bottom (slopes, ridges, etc.), this hypothesis clearly introduces a bias in the process. Thus, the author proposes an algorithm that takes into account the altitude information, acquired by a multibeam echosounder, when available. Therefore, this data fusion results in a 3D mosaic, the shape of which corresponds to the topology of the sea-bottom while its textural aspect is provided by the side-scan images.