Web-based 3D processing and dissemination of multibeam sonar data

The continuous detailed surveys of the various water bodies, over time, produce a large and ever-increasing volume and density of underwater sounding data. Threedimensional data, such as that obtained by multibeam sonar systems, are quite complex to manage; and thus, their growing numbers increase the pressure on the development of new solutions dedicated to processing them. This paper presents a concept system for a web-based dissemination of multibeam data in a geographic context. In order to maintain an easily accessible user interface, processing and distribution of such datasets in the web environment requires the data to be converted into a file format which is fit for processing via a web browser. Because of this, the presented system uses the emerging 3D Tiles open standard for serving multibeam point clouds alongside reconstructed three-dimensional models of shipwrecks, to remote users in a web environment, by means of Cesium, an open source WebGIS library for 3D visualization of geospatial data.