Bottom and Suspended Sediment Backscatter Measurements in a Flume—Towards Quantitative Bed and Water Column Properties

Van Dijk, Thaiënne A.G.P.; Roche, Marc; Lurton, Xavier; Fezzani, Ridha; Simmons, Stephen M.; Gastauer, Sven; Fietzek, Peer; Mesdag, Chris; Berger, Laurent; Klein Breteler, Mark; Parsons, Dan R.

Abstract

For health and impact studies of water systems, monitoring underwater environments is essential, for which multi-frequency single- and multibeam echosounders are commonly used state-of-the-art technologies. However, the current scarcity of sediment reference datasets of both bottom backscatter angular response and water column scattering hampers empirical data interpretation. Comprehensive reference data derived from measurements in a controlled environment should optimize the use of empirical backscatter data. To prepare for such innovative experiments, we conducted a feasibility experiment in the Delta Flume (Deltares, The Netherlands). Several configurations of sonar data were recorded of the flume floor and suspended sediment plumes. The results revealed that flume reverberation was sufficiently low and that the differential settling of fine-sand plumes in the water column was clearly detected. Following this successful feasibility test, future comprehensive experiments will feature multi-frequency multi-angle measurements on a variety of sediment types, additional scatterers and sediment plumes, resulting in reference datasets for an improved interpretation of underwater backscatter measurements for scientific observation and sustainable management.

Citation

Van Dijk, T. A., Roche, M., Lurton, X., Fezzani, R., Simmons, S. M., Gastauer, S., Fietzek, P., Mesdag, C., Berger, L., Klein Breteler, M., & Parsons, D. R. (2024). Bottom and Suspended Sediment Backscatter Measurements in a Flume—Towards Quantitative Bed and Water Column Properties. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 12(4), Article 609. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse12040609

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 28, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Mar 31, 2024
• Publication Date: Apr 1, 2024
• Deposit Date: Apr 18, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 22, 2024
• Journal: Journal of Marine Science and Engineering
• Electronic ISSN: 2077-1312
• Publisher: MDPI
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 12
• Issue: 4
• Article Number: 609
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse12040609
• Keywords: Multibeam backscatter; Flume experiment; Underwater habitat mapping; Water column; Suspended sediment plumes
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4626651