The term bathymetry derives from two Greek words, the first is βαθυς which means deep and μετρον which means measure, therefore bathymetry can be defined as that science that is responsible for studying the seabed, it is based on the Determination of the depths of the seabed, for it is responsible for measuring the time it takes for a sound wave emitted from a ship to touch the underwater bottom and then return to its origin. In general, bathymetric maps provide information regarding the seabed as well as data for navigation on its surface.
At the beginning, bathymetry was only a science that was in charge of studying the bottom of the sea, for which a somewhat orthodox methodology was used, which used a set of cables of great weight, said cables were launched into the sea from a However, this technique with the passage of time was relegated because it presented an important limitation and it was that the depth of a single point of the ocean could only be measured, which made it ineffective and inaccurate, since elements such as movement the sea and the ship itself could modify the data.
At present, bathymetry bases its investigations on data that are originated through a sonar, which must be found on the outside of a boat, said sonar is responsible for sending sounds towards the bottom of the sea, being the bathymetry responsible for measure the time it takes for the sound to reach the bottom and return to the ship, giving exact results with respect to the underwater bottom, in the early days of the use of sonars, calculations had to be made using the data from each of the sonars placed on the vessels, for that way, powercreate an underwater map, this has evolved to the point that today there is already the so-called wide-scan sonar, which sends a large number of sound waves in a continuous, precise and contiguous way between them, which allows know exactly what is in the background at 90 and even 180 degrees.
