GLORIA image processing: The state of the art

This chapter presents a summary of the image-processing techniques being used at present in the Institute of Oceanographic Sciences Deacon Laboratory's GLORIA long-range sidescan sonar system. It begins with a brief review of the development of GLORIA, and then describes in outline the present shipboard data acquisition, recording and replay system, including simple image-processing techniques that can be used on-board ship. Next, a detailed form of the sonar equation is developed, and this is evaluated factor-by-factor, to demonstrate the effects of beam directivity, refraction and water depth on the form of intensity variation to be expected in the final image. Finally, we discuss recent developments in shore-based image-processing. These include the development of improved radiometric corrections to normalize range-dependent intensity variations, recovery of true backscattering levels and estimation of backscattering coefficients, and combination of GLORIA with other data sets into single, colour digital images. As an example of the last process we show a digital mosaic of sonar data from the Southwest Indian Ridge, coloured as a function of depth derived from Sea Beam data in the same area.     

Interference fringes on GLORIA side-scan sonar images from the Bering Sea and their implications

GLORIA side-scan sonographs from the Bering Sea Basin show a complex pattern of interference fringes sub-parallel to the ship's track. Surveys along the same trackline made in 1986 and 1987 show nearly identical patterns. It is concluded from this that the interference patterns are caused by features in the shallow subsurface rather than in the water column. The fringes are interpreted as a thin-layer interference effect that occurs when some of the sound reaching the seafloor passes through it and is reflected off a subsurface layer. The backscattered sound interferes (constructively or desctructively) with the reflected sound. Constructive/destructive interference occurs when the difference in the length of the two soundpaths is a whole/half multiple of GLORIA's 25 cm wavelength. Thus as range from the ship increases, sound moves in and out of phase causing bands of greater and lesser intensity on the GLORIA sonograph. Fluctuations (or wiggles) of the fringes on the GLORIA sonographs relate to changes in layer thickness. In principle, a simple three dimensional image of the subsurface layer may be obtained using GLORIA and bathymetric data from adjacent (parallel) ship's tracks. These patterns have also been identified in images from two other systems; SeaMARC II (12 kHz) long-range sonar, and TOBI (30 kHz) deep-towed sonar. In these, and other cases world-wide, the fringes do not appear with the same persistence as those seen in the Bering Sea.     

Quantitative backscatter measurements with a long-range side-scansonar

It is shown that useful relative backscatter strengths can be calculated from GLORIA long-range side-scan sonar data using a simple acoustic model. The calculation was performed on GLORIA side-scan sonar data collected during 1987 in the southern Indian Ocean. GEOSECS hydrographic information was used to access the effects of refraction (ray bending and aspherical spreading signal losses). Sea Beam bathymetry was used to correct the effective insonified area and compute the grazing angle. A major difficulty in performing this calculation over the terrain chosen (mid-ocean ridge topography) was one of adjusting navigation so that small features in Sea Beam and GLORIA data matched. Preliminary results show a 10-dB falloff in backscatter strength with decreasing grazing angle (10°-40°) at 6.5 kHz over what must presumably be a rough surface (extruded basalts and breccias)     

Geological interpretation of combined SEABEAM,GLORIA and seismic data from Porto and Vigo Seamounts,Iberian continental margin

Long-range sidescan sonar (GLORIA) data over Porto and Vigo Seamounts collected in 1978 has been re-interpreted in the light of SEABEAM bathymetric surveys conducted in 1982. The application of quantitative bathymetric information enables the interpreter to allow for artefacts inherent in the GLORIA data and to separate topography-related primary backscattering variations on the sonographs from more subtle changes that result from textural, slope and outcrop effects. The distinctions are made easier when slant-range corrected GLORIA data are available.Use of the combined survey data to precisely locate seismic profiling tracks and to identify likely areas of outcrop has allowed refined geological maps of the seamounts to be drawn and regional fault trends detected. The overall outline of the seamounts appears strongly fault-controlled.Porto and Vigo Seamounts are made up of the same geological formations and have had a similar structural history since their uplift as continental fault blocks in the Late Cretaceous to Middle Eocene period. Ravines that dissect the presumably lithified scarps bounding the seamounts may be relict features but still appear to control sediment input to gulley and channel systems in the surrounding topography. Sedimentary ridges associated with the seamounts represent anomalously thick sequences of post-Eocene material and probably result from interaction of downslope sedimentary processes and contour-following boundary currents.Contribution No. 274 from the Groupe d'Etude de la Marge Continentale (ERA 605).     

Possibilities of using the GLORIA system for manganese nodule assessment

The I.O.S. long range side-scan sonar GLORIA has been widely used over a variety of seabed types, but until recently had not been used over an independently authenticated field of manganese nodules. In the Eastern Atlantic Ocean at approximately 31°25 N 25°15 W, a field of nodules approximately 3–6 cm in diameter covering up to 18% of the seafloor was observed using an underwater camera. The nodule field occurred over approximately 2.8 km of the 8.3 km camera run. The corresponding GLORIA image shows an area of medium intensity backscattering, approximately 3.7 km in diameter. Considering the likely contrast in acoustic reflectivity between manganese nodules and deep sea sediments, we propose a correlation between the nodules observed in the photographs and the medium intensity echo target revealed by the GLORIA system.     

Merged GLORIA sidescan and Hydrosweep pseudo-sidescan: Processing and creation of digital mosaics

We have replaced the usual band of poor-quality data in the near-nadir region of our GLORIA long-range sidescan-sonar imagery with a shaded-relief image constructed from swath bathymetry data (collected simultaneously with GLORIA) which completely cover the nadir area. We have developed a technique to enhance these pseudo-sidescan images in order to mimic the neighbouring GLORIA backscatter intensities. As a result, the enhanced images greatly facilitate the geologic interpretation of the adjacent GLORIA data, and geologic features evident in the GLORIA data may be correlated with greater confidence across track. Features interpreted from the pseudo-sidescan may be extrapolated from the near-nadir region out into the GLORIA range where they may nt have been recognized otherwise, and therefore the pseudo-sidescan can be used to ground-truth GLORIA interpretations. Creation of digital sidescan mosaics utilized an approach not previously used for GLORIA data. Pixels were correctly placed in cartographic space and the time required to complete a final mosaic was significantly reduced. Computer software for digital mapping and mosaic creation is incorporated into the newly-developed Woods Hole Image Processing System (WHIPS) which can process both low- and high-frequency sidescan, and can interchange data with the Mini Image Processing System (MIPS) most commonly used for GLORIA processing. These techniques are tested by creating digital mosaics of merged GLORIA sidescan and Hydrosweep pseudo-sidescan data from the vicinity of the Juan Fernandez microplate along the East Pacific Rise (EPR).     

Analysis of simrad EM12 multibeam bathymetry and acoustic backscatter data for seafloor mapping,exemplified at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 45° N

The EM12 multibeam echosounder can record acoustic backscatter information as well as high resolution bathymetry. The dataset presented, from the axis of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 45° N, was the first EM12 survey of a mid-ocean ridge. This paper presents methods for utilising the backscatter information. Data processing enables the production of a mosaic of acoustic backscatter, and visualisation techniques are investigated to provide initial qualitative views of the combined backscatter and bathymetry datasets. The co-registration of the backscatter and bathymetry data enables quantitative analysis of their relationships. Various sites of different geological type have been selected and their angular acoustic backscattering relationships estimated, including the effect on backscatter of incidence angle, its regional variability with bottom type and the influence of bottom slope. Incidence angles and bottom type are shown to affect backscatter to a similar degree, while slopes appear to contribute little. The geometry of hull-mounted systems, such as the EM12, is significantly different from that of conventional sidescan sonars, such as GLORIA, and the backscatter images from the two types differ in various respects. Because of the wide variations in incidence angle that are common with hull-mounted systems, and the importance of incidence angle in determining backscatter strength, it is vital to consider the effect of incidence angle during interpretation.     

Distribution and geological control of mud volcanoes and other fluid/free gas seepage features in the Mediterranean Sea and nearby Gulf of Cadiz

Existing knowledge on the distribution of mud volcanoes (MVs) and other significant fluid/free gas-venting features (mud cones, mud pies, mud-brine pools, mud carbonate cones, gas chimneys and, in some cases, pockmark fields) discovered on the seafloor of the Mediterranean Sea and in the nearby Gulf of Cadiz has been compiled using regional geophysical information (including multibeam coverage of most deepwater areas). The resulting dataset comprises both features proven from geological sampling, or in situ observations, and many previously unrecognized MVs inferred from geophysical evidence. The synthesis reveals that MVs clearly have non-random distributions that correspond to two main geodynamic settings: (1) the vast majority occur along the various tectono-sedimentary accretionary wedges of the Africa-Eurasia subduction zone, particularly in the central and eastern Mediterranean basins (external Calabrian Arc, Mediterranean Ridge, Florence Rise) but also along its westernmost boundary in the Gulf of Cadiz; (2) other MVs characterize thick depocentres along parts of the Mesozoic passive continental margins that border Africa from eastern Tunisia to the Levantine coasts, particularly off Egypt and, locally, within some areas of the western Mediterranean back-arc basins. Meaningfully accounting for MV distribution necessitates evidence of overpressured fluids and mud-rich layers. In addition, cross-correlations between MVs and other GIS-based data, such as maps of the Messinian evaporite basins and/or active (or recently active) tectonic trends, stress the importance of assessing geological control in terms of the presence, or not, of thick seals and potential conduits. It is contended that new MV discoveries may be expected in the study region, particularly along the southern Ionian Sea continental margins.     

An evolving ridge system around the Indian Ocean triple junction

A 2°×2° map of spreading centres and fracture zones surrounding the Indian Ocean RRR triple junction, at 25.5°S, 70°E, is described from a data set of GLORIA side-scan sonar images, bathymetry, magnetic and gravity anomalies. The GLORIA images show a pervasive fabric due to linear abyssal hills oriented parallel to the two medium-spreading ridges (the Central Indian Ridge (CIR) and Southeast Indian Ridge (SEIR)). A cuvature of the fabric occurs along fracture zones, which are also located by lows in the bathymetry and gravity data and by offsets between magnetic anomalies. The magnetic anomalies also record periods of asymmetric spreading marking the development of the fracture zones, including the birth, at anomaly 2A, of a short fracture zone 50 km north of the triple junction on the CIR, and its death near the time of the Jaramillo anomaly. In some localities, a fine-scale fabric corresponds to a coarser fabric on the opposite flank of the CIR, possibly indicating a persistent asymmetry in the faulting at the median valley walls if the fabric has a tectonic and not a volcanic origin. A plate velocity analysis of the triple junction shows that both the CIR and Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR) are propagating obliquely; the CIR appears to form an oblique trend by segmenting into a series of almost normally-oriented segments separated by short-offset fracture zones. For the last 4 m.y., the abyssal hill lineations indicate that the CIR segment immediately north of the triple junction has been spreading with an average 10° obliquity. The present small 5 km offset of the centres of the CIR and SEIR median valleys (Munschy and Schlich, 1989) is shown to be the result of this obliquity and a 30% spreading asymmetry between anomaly 2 and the Jaramillo on the CIR segment immediately north of the triple junction.     

Seabed morphology and gas venting features in the continental slope region of Krishna–Godavari basin,Bay of Bengal: Implications in gas-hydrate exploration

Increased oil and gas exploration activity has led to a detailed investigation of the continental shelf and adjacent slope regions of Mahanadi, Krishna–Godavari (KG) and Cauvery basins, which are promising petroliferous basins along the eastern continental margin of India. In this paper, we analyze the high resolution sparker, subbottom profiler and multibeam data in KG offshore basin to understand the shallow structures and shallow deposits for gas hydrate exploration. We identified and mapped prominent positive topographic features in the bathymetry data. These mounds show fluid/gas migration features such as acoustic voids, acoustic chimneys, and acoustic turbid layers. It is interesting to note that drilling/coring onboard JOIDES in the vicinity of the mounds show the presence of thick accumulation of subsurface gas hydrate. Further, geological and geochemical study of long sediment cores collected onboard Marion Dufresne in the vicinity of the mounds and sedimentary ridges shows the imprints of paleo-expulsion of methane and sulfidic fluid from the seafloor.     

济州岛南部海域海底声呐图像分析与声学底质分类

东海北部外陆架靠近济州岛南部海域,是黄海槽向冲绳海槽延伸的部分,属于黑潮分支黄海暖流的通道入口,分布着脊槽相间的海底底形,对其海底声呐图像的处理分析及声学底质分类的分析研究,有助于了解该通道海底底形表层纹理特征及沉积物分布规律。基于在济州岛南部海域获取的多波束声呐数据,应用图像处理技术和方法,对数据进行了处理,获得了海底声呐影像图,并对其表层纹理特征进行了描述和分析;同时,基于多波束反向散射强度数据,结合19组海底地质取样数据,建立研究区海底反向散射强度与沉积物粒度特征之间的统计关系模型,并以改进的学习向量量化神经网络方法,实现对海底粉砂质砂、黏土质砂以及砂-粉砂-黏土3种底质类型的快速自动分类识别。     

Eivissa slides, western Mediterranean Sea: morphology and processes

After obtaining full-coverage swath bathymetry data in 1995 and very high-resolution acoustic profiles in 2002, four slides at the Balearic Margin of the Eivissa Channel in the western Mediterranean Sea were revisited in 2004 when side-scan sonar data were collected using a MAK-1M deep-towed acoustic system. These new findings, higher in resolution than those for the swath bathymetry, show two main features previously undetected within these submarine landslides: (1) a series of step-forming inclined and detached slabs oriented perpendicular to the slide movement and located in the uppermost part of the slides, and (2) arcuate regular positive ridges oriented also normal to the slide movement and located in the depositional lobes of some of the slides. The former are interpreted as extensional ridges, suggesting a retrogressive post-failure evolution of the slides. The latter are interpreted as compression ridges, related to plastic deformation of the sediment before movement freezing. Moreover, the new data show that fluid escape features are even more widespread in the Eivissa Channel than previously thought, dozens of new pockmarks less than 20 m in diameter having been identified.     

Physiographic features on the northern Gulf of Mexico continental slope

The continental slope of the northern Gulf of Mexico is diapirically controlled and is comprised of coalescing salt sheets, salt withdrawal basins, salt ridges, salt tongues and sills, and submarine canyons. Bathymetric information from single-beam data has resulted in several published maps. Many of the map areas have been remapped, using multibeam surveys, by the US National Ocean Service, and names have been given to the major physiographic features. The multibeam program was discontinued before complete coverage of the slope was accomplished. We provide charts of the remaining areas with names of features that have been accepted by the US Board of Geographic Names.     

多波束测深系统声速校正

海水声速是多波束测深系统进行水深测量的基本参数之一,声速剖面正确与否直接影响测量结果的精度和可靠性。声速校正为多波束测深系统提供了正确的声速剖面,根据声速剖面垂向上的变化规律,对原始声速数据进行科学采点,运用软件方法或实验方法对声速剖面进行编辑获得声速数据,最终取得合理可靠的水深值。这里对南海SA12试验区采集的声速资料进行了分析,以SeaBeam2100多波速测深系统为例,对声速校正的技术方法进行了探讨。     

New evidence for drowned shelf edge reefs in the Great Barrier Reef,Australia

We present four new high-resolution multibeam bathymetry datasets from the shelf edge of the northern Great Barrier Reef (GBR). Analysis of these data, combined with Chirp sub-bottom profiles and existing submersible observation data provides a fresh insight into the detailed morphology and spatial distribution of submerged reefs and terraces at the shelf edge. An extensive and persistent line of drowned shelf edge reefs exist on the GBR margin in about 40 to 70 m. They appear as barrier reefs up to 200 m wide and comprising twin parallel ridges of rounded pinnacles. Subtle yet consistent terrace and step features lie between 78 and 114 m seaward of the shelf edge reefs in the southern study area. Submersible observations confirm that the drowned reefs now provide a favorable hard substrate for live soft corals and algae. They form a consistent and extensive seabed habitat that extends for possibly 900 km along the GBR shelf edge. The submerged reef and terraces features may reflect a complex history of growth and erosion during lower sea-levels, and are now capped by last deglaciation reef material.     

Evidence for current-controlled morphology along the western slope of Hatton Bank (Rockall Plateau, NE Atlantic Ocean)

A multibeam bathymetric and high- (airgun and sparker) to very high-resolution (Topas) seismic study of the western slope of Hatton Bank (NE Atlantic), located between 600 m and 2,000 m water depth, has revealed a highly variable range of current-controlled morphological features. Two major seabed areas can be distinguished: (1) a non-depositional area corresponding to the top of the bank and (2) a depositional area in which the Hatton Drift has developed. Both areas are characterised by distinct morphologies associated either with rock outcrops and rocky ridges or with smooth surfaces, slides and bedforms controlled mainly by bottom currents interacting with the topography of the bank. The water depth separating the morphological areas probably coincides with the boundary of the Labrador Sea Water and the Lower Deep Water. Morphological features identified in the study area include contourite channels (moats, furrows and scours), fields of sediment waves, edges of contourite deposits, ponded deposits, scarps, gullies, ridges, depressions, slides and slide scars. These morphological features do not necessarily reflect present-day conditions but may have been associated with past current events, consistent with earlier interpretations.     

Accretionary processes in the axial valley of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge 27° N–30° N from TOBI side-scan sonar images

We analyse TOBI side-scan sonar images collected during Charles Darwin cruise CD76 in the axial valley of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) between 27°N and 30°N (Atlantis Transform Fault). Mosaics of the two side-scan sonar swaths provide a continuous image of the axial valley and the inner valley walls along more than six second-order segments of the MAR. Tectonic and volcanic analyses reveal a high-degree intra-segment and inter-segment variability. We distinguish three types of volcanic morphologies: hummocky volcanoes or volcanic ridges, smooth, flat-topped volcanoes, and lava flows. We observe that the variations in the tectonics from one segment to another are associated with variations in the distribution of the volcanic morphologies. Some segments have more smooth volcanoes near their ends and in the discontinuities than near their mid-point, and large, hummocky axial volcanic ridges. Their tectonic deformation is usually limited to the edges of the axial valley near the inner valley walls. Other segments have smooth volcanoes distributed along their length, small axial volcanic ridges, and their axial valley floor is affected by numerous faults and fissures. We propose a model of volcano-tectonic cycles in which smooth volcanoes and lava flows are built during phases of high magmatic flux. Hummocky volcanic ridges are constructed more progressively, by extraction of magma from pockets located preferentially beneath the centre of the segments, during phases of low magma input. These cycles might result from pulses in melt migration from the mantle. Melt arrival would lead to the rapid emplacement of smooth-textured volcanic terrains, and would leave magma pockets, mostly beneath the centre of the segments where most melt is produced. During the end of the volcanic cycle magma would be extracted from these reservoirs through dikes with a low magma pressure, building hummocky volcanic ridges at low effusion rates. In extreme cases, this volcanic phase would be followed by amagmatic extension until a new magma pulse arrives from the mantle.     

多波束反向散射强度数据处理研究

在探讨多波束测深系统反向散射强度与海底底质类型的关系基础上,研究影响反向散射强度的各种因素,主要分析了海底地形起伏、中央波束区反射信号对反向散射强度的影响,并给出了消除这些影响的方法;将处理后的“纯”反向散射强度数据镶嵌生成海底声像图,为海底底质类型划分以及地貌解译提供了基础数据和辅助判读依据.     

多波束声呐图像条带中央和边缘残差处理方法

多波束声呐图像是进行海底底质分类的主要数据源之一,由于受海洋噪声、声波散射和混响、仪器设备等因素影响,其经各项常规改正后仍存在明显残差,突出表现在中央波束区和条带重叠区,难以形成高质量的声呐图像。文中分析了多波束声呐图像残差的成因及影响,提出了一种基于多条带最小二乘拟合的多波束声呐图像残差处理方法。首先,得到相邻声脉冲(ping)信号中央区域、重叠区域以及整体趋势的拟合函数;然后,通过拟合函数计算得到中央和重叠区域的残差改正系数;最后,通过改正系数进行残差改正。实验分析表明,该方法在保留原始细节的基础上,有效削弱了残差对声呐图像的影响,对多波束声呐图像处理具有参考和应用价值。