Abstract
The understanding the influence of biological processes on the
characteristics of the signals backscattered by the sea floor is crucial
in the development of the hydroacoustical benthic habitat classification
techniques. The impact of the microphytobenthos photosynthesis on the
acoustical backscattering properties of the Atlantic sandy sediments was
previously demonstrated by Holliday et al. (2004) and Wildman and Huettel
(2012).
To account for the sensitivity of the hydroacoustical classification
techniques to the backscattering properties of local marine sediments, it
is important to understand the microphytobenthos photosynthesis impact for
the Baltic Sea where the techniques are being actively developed now. This
is the main motivation of the paper.
In the paper the influence of the microphytobenthos photosynthesis on the
characteristics of the echo signals reflected by sandy sediments in the
typical Baltic temperature and the salinity conditions is discussed. The
interdisciplinary multiday laboratory experiment was conducted to study
the impact of benthic microalgal photosynthesis on the characteristics of
the echo signal reflected by sandy sediments. Hydroacoustical data were
collected under controlled constant light, temperature and salinity
conditions. The oxygen content at different levels of the water column was
simultaneously monitored.
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