Marine Conservation: Multibeam Echosounder for Mapping

The Philippines being located along the typhoon belt and the Pacific Ring of Fire is accustomed to many natural disasters. Due to this disaster the increase in species extinction rates have been apparent. Not just the location but also human activities have been the primary cause for habitat alteration or loss in biodiversity. Ecosystems include all the species, plus all the abiotic factors characteristic of a region. A marine ecosystem  include oceans, salt marsh and intertidal ecology, estuaries and lagoons, mangroves and coral reefs, the deep sea and the sea floor.

http://www.ukm.my/jtme/content4.php

http://seafloor.otterlabs.org/taskforce/html%202%20web/finalreport.htm

Benthic Habitat Mapping has been one of the approaches for the conservation of marine ecosystems. Knowledge of the spatial distribution, quality and quantity of these habitats is fundamental to our understanding of marine ecosystems and our ability to protect them from anthropogenic impacts (Jackson et al., 2001)        Habitat maps have become a major tool in the assessment and monitoring of coastal marine systems, as well as in marine spatial planning, resource assessment and offshore engineering. (Micallef, A., et al., 2012). There are measurable variables of the marine environment that influence the distribution of benthic organisms, and can therefore be used to discriminate between benthic habitats. They include, but are not limited to, depth, water temperature, sediment type or substrate complexity, salinity, oxygen saturation and bed stress induced by tide action or wave exposure (McArthur et al., 2010).




The emergence and development of technologies has resulted in a tremendous improvement to characterize and map the marine physical environment at various resolutions, accuracies, and scales. In particular for high resolution mapping, MultiBeam Echosounder Systems have been widely used as means to mapping large areas whereas in comparison to diving which covers small areas and is less cost effective. Using MultiBeam Echosounder in mapping, this intends to help the locals and the decision makers for the effective assessment and monitoring of their marine ecosystems.

References:

A., M. (2012). A multi-method approach for benthic habitat mapping of shallow coastal areas
with high-resolution multibeam data. Continental Shelf Reasearch.

A., S. (2011). Quantitive comparison of benthic habitat maps derived from Multibeam
Echosounder. The University of Waikito.