Recent Improvements to Seafloor Imagery Acquisition and Processing Procedures for R2Sonic Multibeam Echosounders

Bathymetric performance is typically the primary focus when bringing a new multibeam echosounder to market. Whereas software vendors and seabed mappers quickly adjust to new hardware products, support for a system’s seabed imaging capabilities often lags behind. Introduced to the market in 2008, the R2Sonic 2024 multibeam echosounder is no exception. The 2024 quickly established itself as a hydrographic-grade mapping system, however, limited understanding and support in post-processing software, along with a general lack of configuration and acquisition “best practices” knowledge in the mapping community, has limited its widespread use for projects where seabed imagery products are required. In this paper, we examine the technical challenges involved with establishing an acquisition and processing workflow for R2Sonic 2024 multibeam echosounders for a large-scale mapping project of Lake George, NY. For this project, two vessels operated for nearly two months in late 2013 with one of the vessels being outfitted with a dual head configuration. Challenges included: ∞ Implementation of a real-time method for monitoring signal saturation ∞ Determining the ideal dual-head frequency separation to avoid interference ∞ Establishment of a backscatter reference surface to support inter-vessel calibration ∞ Establishment of acquisition guidelines and best-practices ∞ Automation and streamlining of CTD data delivery for refraction and attenuation corrections