Title :
Automatic Segmentation of Multi-Beam Data for Predictive Mapping of Benthic Habitats on the Chella Seamount (North-Eastern Alboran Sea, Western Mediterranean)
Author :
Coiras, Enrique ; Iacono, Claudio Lo ; Gràcia, Eulalia ; Dañobeitia, Juanjo ; Sanz, José Luis
Author_Institution :
NATO Undersea Res. Centre (NURC), La Spezia, Italy
Abstract :
A reliable and objective classification method has been produced for the differentiation of benthic habitats in the seamount regions of the North-Eastern Alboran Sea. Acoustic backscatter and depth measurements from multi-beam data are automatically fused and then classified using video transects of known cold-water coral ecosystems as ground-truth. Results of the classification reveal the locations of potentially similar habitats in the region, and could be used as a base map for the planning of future scientific campaigns in the area.
Keywords :
backscatter; geophysical image processing; image segmentation; oceanographic regions; Chella Seamount; North-Eastern Alboran Sea; Western Mediterranean; acoustic backscatter; automatic segmentation; benthic habitats; cold-water coral ecosystems; depth measurement; multibeam data; predictive mapping; video transects; Acoustic beams; Backscatter; Environmental factors; Sonar; Acoustic imaging; automatic classification; benthic habitats; data fusion; marine geology;
Journal_Title :
Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing, IEEE Journal of
DOI :
10.1109/JSTARS.2011.2123874
