• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.541-548
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• 2003

Species identification in hydroacoustic survey is one of the key requirements to estimate biomass of organism and to understand the structure of zooplankton community. Feasibility of species identification using two frequencies (38 and 120 kHz) was investigated on the basis of mean volume backscattering strength difference (MVBS). Virtual echogram technique was applied to two frequencies data sets that obtained from surveys in the Antarctic Ocean and Yellow Sea. Virtual echogram method using MVBS revealed the possibility of species identification, which species identification relying on visual scrutiny of single frequency acoustic data resulted in significant errors in biomass estimation. Through noise cancellation using MVBS, much of the acoustic noise caused by acoustic instruments could be removed in new virtual echogram, and the biomass estimation and data quality was improved.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.749-756
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• 2003

Hydroacoustic and open-closing zooplankton net survey were conducted to understand the characteristics of the sound scattering layer (SSL) and to estimate the density of an euphausiid (Euphausia pacifica) in the SSL, in the northwestern part of the East China Sea. The survey was carried out during July 6-9 2002 at 8 sampling stations for zooplankton. The virtual echogram technique was used to identify E. pacifica from all acoustic scatters. Mean volume backscattering strength difference $(MVBS_{120kHz-38kHz})$ and target strength equation for E. pacifica were derived from the Distorted-wave Born Approximation (DWBA) model. Although vertical migration of the SSL is similar to the general pattern, dispersion at night shows some differences. Estimated mean density using acoustic data ranged from $20.4-221.4\;mg/m^3$ over the whole depth, and $87.1-553.5\;mg/m^3$ in the SSL. The density using the zooplankton net ranged from $0.2-362.4\;mg/m^3$ and was not related to net deploying method. The results from the acoustic and net survey suggest that E. pacifica might be an important zooplankton community in the northwestern part of the East China Sea.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.256-268
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• 2012

The Nemopilema nomurai is a large jellyfish attaining a weight of 200 kg and bell diameter of 2 m when fully grown. To prevent damage to this species, this study determined the acoustic characteristics of N. nomurai using frequencies 38 and 120 kHz. The CPUE of N. nomurai and the averaged SV of 38 and 120 kHz had a lower (+) correlation coefficient and relationship at 120 kHz (R=0.51) than at 38 kHz (R=0.15) was significant. In addition, the averaged SV at 120 kHz was higher than at 38 kHz. The ${\Delta}MVBS_{120-38}$ in section catches ${\geq}97.8%$ wet mass of N. nomurai was -2.2 to 5.6 dB. The ${\Delta}TS_{120-38}$ in situ TS was extracted in sections catches of only N. nomurai by FMT. It was found that the averaged in situ ${\Delta}TS_{120-38}$ were at 0.6 and 0.1 dB. Furthermore, it results showed a close relationship between the bell diameter and TS of N. nomurai. The dominance of smaller N. nomurai (11.0~20.0 cm bell diameter in the air) corresponded to a similar proportion of low TS values (-69.0~-65.0 dB). A small number of larger N. nomurai (25.0~38.0 cm bell diameter in the air) were collected, in which TS values were the highest (-62.0~-58.0 dB).

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.75-86
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• 2005

Acoustic survey for density and biomass estimate of Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba, was conducted in the large area between South Shetland Islands and South Orkney Islands, during November 30-December 30, 2002. Considering oceanographic and geographic properties, the study area was divided into six sub-regions. Acoustic system and frequency used in the survey were quantitative echo sounder (Simrad Ek 500) and 38, 120-kHz split beam transducers. In order to discriminate krill aggregations in all acoustic signal, difference of mean volume backscattering strength $({\Delta}MVBS)$ method of the two frequencies was introduced. Averaged krill density for the overall surveyed area was $23.5g/m^2$, and spatially averaged estimates of krill density were $44.9g/m^2$ (north of the South Shetland Islands), $30.3g/m^2$ (Bransfield Strait), $11.3g/m^2$ (near the Elephant Island), $13.6g/m^2$ (north of the Elephant Island), $18.1g/m^2$(between Elephant Island and South Orkney Islands) and $21.7g/m^2$(northwest of the South Orkney Islands) at each sub-area. In the two sub-regions with surveyed area, estimated krill biomass in the north of the Elephant Island was 0.315 million tones with a CV of 18.35% $(6,766mile^2)$, and between Elephant Island and South Orkey Islands was 1.26 million tones with a CV of 9.45% $(20,299mile^2)$. As a whole, the krill density in the early summer season was low level, comparing with that of January-February. This suggested that major krill swarms in the around South Shetland Islands were reached in the mid-summer seasons from western part of the Antarctic Peninsula, and the low krill density also affects the density variation of the krill between Elephant Island and South Orkney Islands.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.235-244
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• 2015

The multi-frequency characteristics of anchovy schools were investigated using six acoustic lines collected at 38 and 120 kHz while a primary trawl survey was conducted from 14 April and 18 April of 2014 in off the coast of Tongyeong and Geo-je. Here, the frequency characteristics mean ${\Delta}MVBS$ that is the difference of Mean Volume Backscattering Strength at two frequencies. To use the characteristics effectively, the optimal cell size ($10{\times}2m$) was determined by examining several different cell sizes in consideration with the shapes of fish schools and the ${\Delta}MVBS$ pattern. By examining 6 histograms of ${\Delta}MVBS$, afternoon groups were occupied more in the ${\Delta}MVBS$ range of -6~-4 dB than that of -4~-2 dB, comparing to morning groups. The ${\Delta}MVBS$ range of the morning groups was between -16.9 dB and 11.6 dB, and that of the afternoon groups -16.7 dB and 13.0 dB. The average and standard deviation were $-3.9{\pm}3.6$ dB in the morning and $-4.1{\pm}3.4$ dB in the afternoon, suggesting that morning groups were 2 dB higher than afternoon groups. The ${\Delta}MVBS$ range of all anchovy schools regardless of morning and afternoon was between -16.9 dB and 13.0 dB, their average ${\Delta}MVBS$ was $-4.1{\pm}3.5$ dB. The characteristics can support to identify anchovy species in the waters where multiple fish species are distributed. It is hoped that this study presents the availability and benefit of acoustic data from a primary trawl survey.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 1991

An experiment has been carefully designed and performed to verify the theory for the echointergration technique of estimating the density of fish school by the use of steel spheres in a laboratory tank. The spheres used to simulate a fish school were randomly distributed throughout the insonified volume to produce the acoustic echoes similar to those scattered from real fish schools. The backscattered echoes were measured as a function of target density at tow frequencies of 50kHz and 200kHz. Data acquisition, processing and analysis were performed by means of the microcomputer-based sonar-echo processor including a FFT analyzer. Acoustic scattering characteristics of a 36cm mackerel was investigated by measuring fish echoes with frequencies ranging from 47.8kHz to 52.0kHz. The fluctuation of bottom echoes caused by the effects of fish-school attenuation and multiple scattering which occurred in dense aggregations of fishes was also examined by analyzing the echograms of sardine schools obtained by a 50kHz telesounder in the set-net's bagnet, and the echograms obtained by a scientific echo sounder of 50kHz in the East China Sea, respectively. The results obtained can be summarized as follows: 1. The measured and the calculated echo shapes on the steel sphere used to simulate a fish school were in close agreement. 2. The waveform and amplitude of echo signals by a mackerel without swimbladder fluctuated irregularly with the measuring frequency. 3. When a collection of 30 targets/m super(3) lied the shadow region behind another collection of 5 targets/m super(3), the mean losses in echo energy for the 30 targets/m super(3) were about -0.4dB at 50kHz and about -0.2dB at 200kHz, respectively. 4. In the echograms obtained in the East China Sea, the bottom echoes fluctuated remarkably when the dense aggregations of fish appeared between transducer and seabed. Especially, in the case of the echograms of sardine school obtained in a set-net's bagnet, the disappearance of bottom echoes and the lengthening of the echo trace by fish aggregations were observed. Then the mean density of the sardine school was estimated as 36 fish/m super(3). It suggests that when the distribution density of fishes in oceans is greater than this density, the effects of fish-school attenuation and multiple scattering must be taken into account as a possible source of error in fish abundance estimates. 5. The relationship between mean backscattering strength (, dB) and target density ($\rho$, No./m super(3)) were expressed by the equations: =-46.2+13.7 Log($\rho$) at 50kHz and =-43.9+13.4 Log($\rho$) at 200kHz. 6. The difference between the experimentally derived number and the actual number of targets gradually decreased with an increase in the target density and was within 20% when the density was 30 targets/m super(3). From these results, we concluded that when the number of targets in the insonified volume is large, the validity of the echo-integration technique of estimating the density of fish schools could be expected.