Cost-Effective Methods for Accurately Measuring Shallow Water Bathymetry with Single-Beam Sonar

istorically, the high cost of hydrodynamic surveying equipment has deprived many medium-to-smaller entities and organizations of critical bathymetric data that would improve management and conservation. Improvements in technology in inexpensive commercial fishfinders and GPS equipment now put a wealth of data within reach. The methods proposed here detail gathering and processing data to produce high-quality bathymetric digital elevation models with uncertainty ranges within International Hydrographic Organization standards for an Order 1b survey.;Field work demonstrating these methods spanned five days, covering 46.4 linear km of tidal channels in three sites within the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. A total of 3.13 sq. km of surface was covered at an average data density of 2.12 soundings per 10 sq. m for a total cost less than...