Using Multibeam Echosounders for Multiscale and Interdisciplinary Habitat Mapping on the Dutch Continental Shelf

Because the seafloor is a complex ecosystem, a multidisciplinary approach must be adopted in order to produce comprehensive habitat maps. Such multidisciplinary projects have been lacking for the Dutch area of the North Sea. To address this lack, the Distribution, structure and functioning of low resilience seafloor communities and habitats of...

Beyond connecting the dots: A multi-scale, multi-resolution approach to marine habitat mapping

Conflicts of interests between economic and nature conservation stakeholders are increasingly common in coastal seas, inducing a growing need for evidence-based marine spatial planning. This requires accurate, high-resolution habitat maps showing the spatial distribution of benthic assemblages and enabling intersections of habitats and...

Seafloor classification in a sand wave environment on the Dutch continental shelf using multibeam echosounder backscatter data

High resolution maps of sandy seafloors are valuable to understand seafloor dynamics, plan engineering projects, and create detailed benthic habitat maps. This paper presents multibeam echosounder backscatter classification results of the Brown Bank area of the North Sea. We apply the Bayesian classification method in a megaripple and sand...