Large-scale variation in lakebed properties interpreted from single-beam sonar in two Laurentian Great Lakes

Journal of Great Lakes Research
By: , and 

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Abstract

Acoustic seabed classification (ASC) is an important method for understanding landscape-level physical and biological patterns in the aquatic environment. Bottom habitats in the Laurentian Great Lakes are poorly mapped to date, and will require a variety of contributors and data sources to complete. We repurposed a long-term split-beam echosounder dataset gathered for purposes of fisheries assessment to estimate lakebed properties utilizing unsupervised classification of echo return data. We interpreted first echo properties representing lakebed hardness and roughness to define and map three statistically supported lakebed classes revealed through cluster analysis. Our results indicate coherent and logical class boundaries and suggest that the dataset has promise for expanded use in ASC. To improve inferences using repeated measures, future work should focus on collecting ground truth information for areas previously surveyed and on collecting concurrent ground truth information when sampling acoustic data moving forward.

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Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Large-scale variation in lakebed properties interpreted from single-beam sonar in two Laurentian Great Lakes
Series title Journal of Great Lakes Research
DOI 10.1016/j.jglr.2023.06.001
Volume 49
Issue 5
Year Published 2023
Language English
Publisher Elsevier
Contributing office(s) Great Lakes Science Center
Description 7 p.
First page 1204
Last page 1210
Country Canada, United States
State Michigan, Ontario, Wisconsin
Other Geospatial Lake Huron, Lake Michigan
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