Singlebeam or multibeam? A survey comparison on the Shiqiao Waterway

The Shiqiao Waterway is a canal that links major shipping routes. SatLab wanted to show what each technology gives for the same job: how long the survey takes, how complete the data is and whether it meets the accuracy target.

• Singlebeam: a HydroBoat 1200 with an integrated 200 kHz echosounder ran survey lines 5 m apart. A singlebeam collects one depth point per ping.
• Multibeam: a HydroBoat 1500 carried the HydroBeam M4, which records up to 1,024 beams per swath.

• The multibeam survey took 0.6 hours, which SatLab describes as three times faster than the singlebeam survey for the same area.
• 97.72% of the multibeam data and 95.35% of the singlebeam data were within the confidence interval, at a 95% confidence level for both.
• SatLab's conclusion: singlebeam suits small jobs and basic depth checks but its separate points can miss small features. Multibeam gives dense point clouds that show sand waves, reefs and obstructions, and is the better choice for large, high-precision projects.

HydroBoat 1200 with a 200 kHz singlebeam echosounder, and HydroBoat 1500 with the HydroBeam M4 multibeam echosounder. We supply and support both boats and the HydroBeam M4 in India.

• Bathymetry along near-vertical canyon walls with the HydroBeam M4
• Hydrographic survey in Indonesia with a HydroBoat 1200 and HydroFlow ADCP
• Multibeam monitoring of a 5,000-hectare land reclamation area with a HydroBoat 1200