Innovative Maritime Uncrewed Systems and Satellite Solutions for Shallow Water Bathymetric Assessment

Shallow water bathymetry is a topic of significant interest in various fields, including civil construction, port monitoring, and military operations. This study presents several methods for assessing shallow water bathymetry using maritime uncrewed systems (MUSs) integrated with advanced and innovative sensors such as Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and multibeam echosounder (MBES). Furthermore, this study comprehensively describes satellite-derived bathymetry (SDB) techniques within the same geographical area. Each technique is thoroughly outlined with respect to its implementation and resultant data, followed by an analytical comparison encompassing their accuracy, precision, rapidness, and operational efficiency. The accuracy and precision of the methods were evaluated using a bathymetric reference survey conducted with traditional means, prior to the MUS survey and with cross-comparisons between all the approaches. In each assessment of the survey methodologies, a comprehensive evaluation is conducted, explaining both the advantages and limitations for each approach, thereby enabling an inclusive understanding for the reader regarding the efficacy and applicability of these methods. The experiments were conducted as part of the Robotic Experimentation and Prototyping using Maritime Unmanned Systems 23 (REPMUS23) multinational exercise, which was part of the Rapid Environmental Assessment (REA) experimentations.