Side-scan sonar can reveal a clear picture of seafloors and many underwater worlds. With affordable devices, it's now serving scientists, law enforcement and hobbyists alike.
vary in the number of beams used as well as the direction in which they travel. “The simplest is a fish finder that most boats have,” Meadows says. “It sends a beam down, it bounces off fish, and tells you where the bottom is.”that are transmitted in short pulses. Multibeam sonars became more common in the 1980s and allowed for a greater mapping of the seafloor. Side-scan sonar uses multiple beams that travel at an angle and create a more complete picture.
“It gives us a nice picture of the ocean bottom. Depending how sophisticated the sonar is, we can learn all sorts of things about the bottom,” Meadows says.ranging from 10 meters to 60 kilometers. In addition to scanners that attach to vessels, scientists also have submergible scanners. Meadows says his team has an autonomous vehicle with a side-scan sonar that can map a seabed for up to eight hours at a time and construct precise dimensions of the murky depths below.
Mapping a seabed, for example, helps scientists understand how the ecosystem is changing due to climate change or the introduction of an invasive species. Meadows’ research center is monitoring areas in the Great Lakes that are infested with an invasive plant, the Eurasian watermilfoil. His team uses side-scan sonar to map the bottom of known infested areas to determine whether mitigation efforts are working or if the species is spreading.
Researchers have used it for archeological purposes in the Great Lakes, too. Meadows says the Great Lakes were once covered by ice. When that ice receded, Caribou moved north and hunters followed. Now there is a ridge in Lake Huron that scientists have identified as a former hunting ground. “We see ruminants of stone structures that were clearly placed by humans,” he says.
Historic research also relies on side-scan sonar when historians search for sunken ships. In 1985, side-scan sonar was used to locate the
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