The analysis of series of o¤shore bathymetric surveys provides insight into the morphodynamics of the sea floor. This knowledge helps to improve resurvey policies for the maintenance of port approaches and nautical charting, and to validate morphodynamic models. We propose a method for such an analysis that is based on statistical testing theory, particularly aimed at the detection of dynamics in areas with tidal sand waves. The method explicitly considers the uncertainty of every measured depth value, resulting in parameter estimates for the sea floor dynamics, and their uncertainty. We apply the method to sea floor representations both with and without a sand wave pattern. A test scenario is set up, consisting of a survey of an existing area in the Southern North Sea, for which dynamics are simulated. The results show that the proposed method successfully detects di¤erent types of sea floor dynamics, leading to satisfactory estimates of the corresponding parameters.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.