Document Type : Research Paper

Abstract

Technicians and researchers involved in the study of the ocean floor use different methods in areas far away from the coast. One of these methods is “Sounding” conducted by using a device called Sonar. Despite the high precision, this method can be very costly due to high wear and tear of the equipment as well as required manpower. By combining Landset TM data with data of known depths obtained through direct measurement, depth measurement can be carried out with a decrease of the cost. The TM sensor has different bands and is capable of collecting reflected energy at various wavelengths. However, for depth studies bands 1 and 2 (with frequency ranges of 0.45, 0.5 and 0.53-0.61 μm, respectively) are most appropriate. Most of the marine reflection is within the range of blue and light green lights, which is just the sensitivity range of bands 1 and 2. The relative depth of marine areas can be achieved by comparing the data related to these two bands.