Use of Open Source for Bottom Model Interpolation – Single Beam Use Case in SONARMUS Software

ABSTRACT: Single Beam Echosounders (SBES) continue to serve as a practical solution for hydrographic surveys. Despite their limitations in spatial coverage, SBES can provide reliable depth measurements when supported by solid post-processing techniques. One of the critical steps in generating usable bathymetric products from SBES data is interpolation – a method used to estimate the continuous bottom model from discrete depth soundings. This paper presents research on the use of open-source tools for bottom model interpolation in SBES datasets within customly developed SONARMUS software environment. Several commonly used interpolation techniques in geospatial and data science applications are evaluated, including Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW), Kriging, Natural Neighbor, and Radial Basis Functions (RBF). Emphasis is placed on the reproducibility and flexibility offered by Python-based open-source libraries such as SciPy, PyKrige, and GDAL. Real SBES datasets from various surveys are used for testing and validation. The study evaluates the accuracy of the interpolation by comparing the predicted depths with control points and assessing the root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE), and distribution analysis. The performance and suitability of each method is examined in terms of computational efficiency, sensitivity to data density and ease of integration into existing workflows. The results demonstrate that open-source tools, when appropriately configured, can effectively support high-quality bottom model generation from SBES data. The integration of these tools into SONARMUS enhances the software’s capability to deliver reliable bathymetric outputs, particularly in low-cost and rapid survey scenarios.

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Citation note:

Biernacik P., Kazimierski W., Włodarczyk-Sielicka M.: Use of Open Source for Bottom Model Interpolation – Single Beam Use Case in SONARMUS Software. TransNav, the International Journal on Marine Navigation and Safety of Sea Transportation, Vol. 19, No. 4, doi:10.12716/1001.19.04.34, pp. 1341-1350, 2025

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