Detailed investigation of the ocean floor is usually carried out using side-scan sonar and swath bathymetry. In conjunction with the Southampton Oceanography Centre, we have been developing image processing techniques for improved interpretation of marine geology.
Fusion provides a number of advantages to the interpreter.
Firstly, a more informed interpretation may be made using information from more than one dataset. For example, a high backscatter in a side-scan sonar image may be due either to a steep slope facing the vehicle or to a rough hard surface such as breccia lava. Complementary bathymetry can quickly inform the interpreter whether or not a slope is present and thus clarify this ambiguity. In the absence of bathymetric information, this is carried out on the assumption that the across-track bathymetry profile is flat. This can cause major mis-positioning of features, and thus reduce the quality of subsequent interpretation.