Remote Sensing Methods for Determining the Bottom Relief of Coastal Zones of Seas and Oceans

The authors describe methods for determining bottom topography in continental shelf zones from remote sensing imagery. Emphasis is on methods of remotely sensing bottom relief based on the transformation of short surface waves in currents flowing around and over underwater irregularities, variability in the dispersion of surface waves at finite depth, and refraction phenomena in shallow waters. Examples of assessments of bottom relief on the basis of airborne radar and images in visible wavelengths are given for different sea areas and these are compared with measurements made by traditional methods.