Surveying Beyond Land: Integrating Customized Bathymetric Surveying Solutions Tailored to Your Project
- Clinton Bravo
- Aug 15
- 5 min read
Updated: Aug 15
When it comes to mapping our coasts and oceans, precision matters. No two coastal projects are the same—water clarity shifts with the season, seabed conditions vary from sand to coral, and client objectives range from environmental protection to large-scale infrastructure planning.
That’s why customizing LiDAR solutions to meet client-specific needs is no longer a luxury, it’s a necessity. The right configuration ensures data is fast, accurate, and reliable.
This is particularly important in aerial bathymetry, where precision mapping in shallow, reef-rich environments can help safeguard ecosystems. Coral reefs, natural barriers that absorb up to 90% of wave energy (Mulhall, 2009, as cited in Arenas & Botor, 2025) are fragile, yet vital. Intrusive survey methods risk damaging these habitats, but airborne bathymetric LiDAR provides a non-invasive way to capture high-resolution reef and seafloor data (Kujawa & Remondino, 2025).
Combining Aerial LiDAR & Aerial Bathymetry
One of the most effective trends in hydrographic surveying today is the integration of topographic LiDAR and bathymetric LiDAR into a hybrid workflow.
Topographic LiDAR captures elevation above water.
Bathymetric LiDAR penetrates the water column (at 532 nm wavelength) to measure depths and map underwater terrain.
Combined, they create a continuous 3D coastal model critical for projects where land and underwater features interact, such as in coastal engineering, renewable energy site planning, and marine habitat monitoring.
Why Customization Matters in Aerial Bathymetry
Aerial bathymetry—mapping the underwater terrain from the air has become a vital tool for protecting fragile marine environments, particularly shallow-water ecosystems like coral reefs.
However, these ecosystems are extremely sensitive. Traditional survey methods, such as boat-based sonar, risk disturbing the environment through direct contact or noise pollution. In contrast, airborne bathymetric LiDAR uses green wavelength lasers (typically 532 nm) to penetrate clear water and capture high-resolution depth data without physically entering the water (Kujawa & Remondino, 2025).
In Talim Bay, Batangas, bathymetric LiDAR was able to map benthic habitats such as coral, seagrass, rocks, and sand at sub-meter resolution, providing a detailed view of the underwater landscape without harming it (Arenas & Botor, 2025).
Combining Technologies for a Complete Picture
While bathymetric LiDAR excels at shallow-water mapping, combining it with topographic LiDAR (for above-water mapping) produces a seamless land–sea elevation model—ideal for projects that require both coastal terrain and seabed information.
But hybrid data collection doesn’t stop there. Today, advanced survey setups integrate additional sensors to enrich the dataset:
Sound Velocity Profilers (SVP): Measure how water properties affect light and sound travel, ensuring precise depth corrections.
Marine Magnetometers: Detect buried ferrous objects such as pipelines or shipwrecks.
Sub-bottom Profilers: Reveal sediment layers beneath the seabed crucial for geotechnical planning.
Example from practice: A renewable energy site survey may integrate bathymetric LiDAR (for depth), and sub-bottom profiling (for sediment layers) to design turbine foundations that are both structurally sound and environmentally safe.
If you’re interested in learning more about ABSD’s diverse offshore geospatial solutions, read this blog article: https://www.absurveyingph.net/post/which-bathymetric-surveying-hydrographic-surveying-method-fits-my-project-a-practical-guide-for-o
In figure 2, this workflow starts with selecting a survey site and planning flight paths for a bathymetric LiDAR survey. During the survey, LiDAR data is collected from the air, while satellite images and on-site field measurements are also gathered to complement the dataset. The raw LiDAR data, known as a point cloud, is then classified into categories such as terrain, water surface, or vegetation. Once classified, the data is processed to create detailed 3D models of the seabed and water surface, which are then used to calculate accurate water depths. Additional layers of information, called LiDAR derivatives such as slope or surface roughness—are also generated to provide more context about the environment.
These LiDAR derivatives are combined with satellite imagery, which has been adjusted to remove glare from sunlight, to produce a richer dataset. Classification is then performed either by grouping data into objects (object-based segmentation) or by analyzing each pixel individually (pixel-based classification). Advanced algorithms, such as Support Vector Machines or Random Forest, are used to identify and label different seabed features, and depth corrections are applied to ensure accuracy. Finally, the results are evaluated, and parameters are fine-tuned to produce the most reliable and detailed habitat maps possible.
Tailoring LiDAR to the Client’s Needs
No two projects require the same exact LiDAR configuration. Parameters like laser wavelength, point density, scan angle, flight altitude, and sensor integration can be adjusted to match the specific objectives.
For example:
Marine Conservation: Prioritize high-density point clouds and integrate multispectral imagery to identify live vs. bleached corals.
Port Development: Combine LiDAR with sub-bottom profiling to understand sediment layers before dredging.
Offshore Wind Farms: Merge LiDAR bathymetry with magnetometer surveys to avoid damaging subsea infrastructure during installation.
In Talim Bay, classification accuracy reached 93.4% when bathymetric LiDAR derivatives such as slope, curvature, and rugosity were combined with satellite imagery in an Object-Based Image Analysis (OBIA) workflow (Arenas & Botor, 2025). This kind of result would not have been possible without tailoring the dataset specifically to the classification goals.
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