• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.192-198
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• 2009

Side scan sonar and SBP (sub-bottom profiler) play a very important role in the survey for seafloor imaging and sub-bottom profiling. In this study, we have acquired side scan sonar and SBP data from the artificial reef area. We applied digital image processing techniques to side scan sonar data in order to improve an image quality. For the enhancement of data quality and image resolution, we applied the typical seismic data processing sequence including gain recovery, muting, spectrum analysis, predictive deconvolution, migration to SBP data. We could easily estimate if artificial reef structures were settled properly and their distribution on the seafloor from the integrated interpretation of side scan sonar and SBP data. From the sampling analysis of seabed sediments, texture filtering of side scan sonar data and SBP data interpretation, we could evaluate the sediment type, distribution and thickness of seafloor sediments in detail.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.34 no.8
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• pp.1203-1211
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• 2010

In order to study geology and sediment characteristics in Danghang Bay area, surface geological survey, SBP (sub-bottom profiler) survey, and sediment analysis were conducted. Danghang Bay area has a closing coast surrounded by land, and surface layer are covered by mud and sandy mud. Sedimentary facies of the surface layer consists of Mm and Mms facies. A SBP seismic survey shows that gas bearing sediments might be spread throughout the sediment layers, so that it seems to be hard to find acoustic basement and gas seeps are easily found throughout the survey lines. The gas trapped in the sediments may be related to the high organic contents of the sediment, and the thick mud layer may restrain the gas from releasing.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Marine Engineers Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.220-221
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• 2005

Sub-bottom profiler(SBP) has been used extensively for the mapping of basement in the foundation design of offshore structure, for pre- and post-dredging operations within harbors and channels, for selection of pipeline routes, sitting of drilling platforms, and in the exploration for an aggregates such as sands and gravels. During the construction of Siwha embankment for irrigation water and the expansion of arable land, the breaking of an embankment unfortunately occurred so that a lot of riprap was swept away and widely dispersed by the tide and strong current. The feasibility study for the construction of the tidal-powered electric plant in Siwha embankment was performed quite recently. Therefore we made use of SBP survey to investigate the distribution of the lost riprap. We could successfully map out the distribution of the lost riprap from the reflection amplitude characteristics of the sediments in SBP data set. We demonstrated the variation of reflection amplitude versus the sediments with and/or without riprap by means of the numerical modeling of acoustic wave equation using finite difference method. Also we examined an amplitude anomaly of the ripraped area through the physical modeling using ultrasonic.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.289-297
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• 2011

Chirp sub-bottom profilers (SBP) data are comparatively higher-resolution data than other seismic data and it's raw signal can be used as a final section after conducting basic filtering. However, Chirp SBP signal has possibility to include various noise in high-frequency band and to provide the distorted image for the complex geological structure in time domain. This study aims at the goal to establish the workflow of Chirp SBP data processing for enhanced image and to analyze the proper parameters for the domestic continental shelf. After pre-processing, we include the dynamic S/N filtering to eliminate the high-frequency component noise, the dip scan stack to enhance the continuity of reflection events and finally the post-stack depth migration to correct the distorted structure on the time domain sections. We demonstrated our workflow on the data acquired by domestically widely used equipments and then we could obtain the improved seismic sections of depth domain. This workflow seems to provide the proper seismic section to interpretation when applied to data processing of Chirp SBP that are largely used for domestic acquisition.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.38 no.9
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• pp.1163-1169
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• 2014

As a preliminary study for detection techniques of $CO_2$ gas bubble plumes, we have conducted a comparative experiment on artificially generated $CO_2$ gas bubbles plume by using multibeam echosounder (MBES), single beam echosounder (SBES), and sub-bottom profiler (SBP). The rising speed of artificial gas bubbles is higher than references because of compulsory release of compressed gas in the tank. Compared to single beam acoustic equipments, the MBES detects wide swath coverage. It provides exact determination of the source position and 3D information on the gas bubble plumes in the water column. Therefore, it is shown that MBES can distinctly detect gas bubble plumes compared to single beam acoustic equipments. We can establish more effective complementary detection technique by simultaneous operation of MBES and SBES. Consequently, it contributes to improve qualitative and quantitative detection techniques by understanding the acoustic characteristics of the specific gas bubbles.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.80-87
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• 2011

Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) present the important advantage of being able to approach the seafloor more closely than surface vessel surveys can. To collect bathymetric data, bottom material information, and sub-surface images, multibeam echosounder, sidescan sonar (SSS) and subbottom profiler (SBP) equipment mounted on an AUV are powerful tools. The 3000m class AUV URASHIMA was developed by the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC). After finishing the engineering development and examination phase of a fuel-cell system used for the vehicle's power supply system, a renovated lithium-ion battery power system was installed in URASHIMA. The AUV was redeployed from its prior engineering tasks to scientific use. Various scientific instruments were loaded on the vehicle, and experimental dives for science-oriented missions conducted from 2006. During the experimental cruise of 2007, high-resolution acoustic images were obtained by SSS and SBP on the URASHIMA around the northern Kumano Basin off Japan's Kii Peninsula. The map of backscatter intensity data revealed many debris objects, and SBP images revealed the subsurface structure around the north-eastern end of our study area. These features suggest a structure related to the formation of the latest submarine fan. However, a strong reflection layer exists below ~20 ms below the seafloor in the south-western area, which we interpret as a denudation feature, now covered with younger surface sediments. We continue to improve the vehicle's performance, and expect that many fruitful results will be obtained using URASHIMA.