Animation of Multibeam Echosounder
Video courtesy of the NOAA Ocean Exploration. Download (mp4, 5.4 MB)

Okeanos Explorer, "America's Ship for Ocean Exploration", is equipped with the latest in technology systems, including multibeam sonar. This technology involves sending beams of sonar to the ocean floor and measuring the amount of time it takes for those beams to bounce back to the ship. In doing so, the sonar creates a 3-D "sound picture", or map, of the seafloor.