Areal ground survey during prospecting and exploration work in the shelf zone of the Arctic basin

One of the mandatory stages of marine hydrographic work is obtaining a soil section along the movement profile in order to obtain data on the structure, type and depth of sedimentary layers of the bottom soil. At present, obtaining such information is provided by the use of remote hydroacoustic means, such as single-beam bottom soil profilers. The main and significant drawback of a single-beam acoustic profiler is a small viewing band, which significantly limits its productivity when performing soil surveys. In this regard, it is advisable to use multi-beam hydroacoustic means that provide information in a larger viewing band of the bottom soil. At present, there are no domestic systems for multi-beam profiling of the bottom soil, in this regard, there is an increasing interest in developing methods for multi-beam signal generation for bottom probing, as well as the means themselves. The paper presents a method of multi-beam profiling of bottom soil when performing an area soil survey as part of a complex of exploration works to study the shelf zone of the Arctic basin with joint use as part of the RTK. The physical principles of classifying stratified layers of bottom soil are given. A technique for assessing the energy characteristics of a multi-beam profiler and experimental data confirming the obtained theoretical results are presented. The proposed method of multi-beam sounding of bottom soil and the technique for assessing the energy characteristics (profiling depth for a certain sector of view) will provide a scientific and technical reserve for the subsequent implementation of modern multi-beam technology for profiling bottom soil, which will allow for more efficient performance of tasks as part of a complex of works to study the bottom of the World Ocean.