Analysing uncertainty in multibeam bathymetric data and the impact on derived seafloor attributes

Multibeam bathymetric data provides critical information for the modelling of seabed geology and benthic biodiversity. The accuracy of these models is dependent on the accuracy of the bathymetric data which contains uncertainties that are stochastic at individual soundings but exhibit a distinct spatial distribution with increasing magnitude from nadir to the outer beams. A restricted spatial randomness method which simulates both the stochastic and spatial characteristics of the data uncertainty performed better than a complete spatial randomness method in analysing the impact of bathymetric data uncertainty on derived seafloor attributes.