CMST-GA MB Process
Multibeam sonar processing software
Software for processing selected Reson and Kongsberg multibeam echo-sounder files.
Developed by Alexander Gavrilov (CMST), Justy Siwabessy (Geoscience Australia/CMST), Iain Parnum (CMST) and Alec Duncan (CMST), MB Process can be used to process Reson (.xtf) and Kongsberg (.all) multibeam echo-sounder files to produce maps of co-located seafloor depth and backscatter.
Installation
Unzip the downloadable file available from the link at the bottom of the page. Follow the release notes and install the MCR libraries and then unzip the CMST-GA MB Process v11.02.13.0.zip program.
Processing
The recommended workflow is to:
- Create project
By selecting Create Project you can set up a series of subfolders for the different data to be stored. - Data conversion
This is where you select to convert either Reson (.xtf) and Kongsberg (.all) files to MATLAB data files (.mat). You navigate to the raw files and select a folder to put the converted MATLAB data files, if you created a project this would be the “MAT” folder. You select the maximum number of pings per file, if the number of pings is greater than this number then the file is split over separate MAT files. The data converted is the raw logged data from the multibeam echo-sounder, and other ancillary data, such as from position and attitude systems. - Combine Single Line
This is where the converted MAT data is processed to produce the co-located depth and backscatter data (one per beam). There are options to add installation offsets, tide and SVP data. There are also backscatter processing options, such as the window size of the angular correction and referenced angle used. Where the original files were split into separate MAT files they are combined into one single line/file (which is where the “Combine Single Line” name came from) and saved as a MAT file with the Prefix “Proc_” followed by the original SONAR filename.
There are also some utility programs to help with gridding data (“Area Process”, statistics and exporting (“MAT to asci”). There are more details in the references below:
- Gavrilov, A. N., A. J. Duncan, R. D. McCauley, I. M. Parnum, J. D. Penrose, P. J. W. Siwabessy, Andrew J. Woods, and Yao-Teng Tseng. “Characterization of the seafloor in Australia’s coastal zone using acoustic techniques.” In Proceedings of the International Conference” Underwater Acoustic Measurements: Technologies & Results, pp. 1075-1080. 2005.
- Parnum, Iain Michael. “Benthic habitat mapping using multibeam sonar systems.” PhD diss., Curtin University, 2007.
- Parnum, Iain M., and Alexander N. Gavrilov. “High-frequency multibeam echo-sounder measurements of seafloor backscatter in shallow water: Part 1–Data acquisition and processing.” Underwater Technology 30, no. 1 (2011): 3-12.
- Parnum, Iain M., and Alexander N. Gavrilov. “High-frequency multibeam echo-sounder measurements of seafloor backscatter in shallow water: Part 2–Mosaic production, analysis and classification.” Underwater Technology 30, no. 1 (2011): 13-26.