Echoview as a multibeam sonar data processing and analysis toolkit for fisheries research

Echoview is a hydroacoustic data analysis software package, widely used in the fisheries research and stock assessment communities. Originally developed to handle a variety of single-beam sonar data formats, Echoview has been extended to support multibeam data. Multibeam data logging, lossless compression, and real time beamforming and display are some of the software's core features. Multibeam data has an additional dimension compared to single-beam data, and a 3D data viewer has been developed providing 3D visualizations of the seabed and fish schools detected by built-in algorithms. Since the multibeam module is just one of many software modules of the Echoview package, data from other sources such as single-beam sonar systems and current profilers can be combined and analyzed together with the multibeam data. The combination of coincident fish density estimates from calibrated single-beam backscatter data with school volume estimates from multibeam data will represent a significant improvement in stock assessment methods. Ongoing research and development will make it possible for Echoview to follow and even set new trends in multibeam water-column data analysis for fisheries research. Features under development include calibration, vessel motion compensation, improved feature detection, and enhanced and animated 3D displays.