A similar seafloor mapping technique to multibeam sonar is the use of airborne laser bathymetry, or Light Detection and Ranging (lidar), which use low-flying aircraft to scan pulsed laser beams across the seafloor and generate a swath of depth soundings.

Fledermaus is powerful, interactive 4D (space and time) data visualisation software developed by Interactive Visualization Systems (IVS3D). Fledermaus is used for a variety of ocean mapping applications, such as multibeam depth editing, environmental surveys, undersea mining, seabed geology research, cable laying and dredge planning.

Singlebeam echosounders have been used routinely for many years to collect depth data from the world’s oceans. This acoustic technique relies on a vessel-mounted transducer to generate a single acoustic pulse directed towards the seabed underneath the vessel.

Sidescan sonar uses sound energy reflected off the seabed to reveal the detailed texture or roughness of the seafloor. Unlike echosounders which measure depth, a sidescan sonar records an image of the seabed by measuring the strength of returned echoes.

A rock dredge is a large bag made of metal chain links attached to a simple frame that keeps the bag expanded. The dredge is lowered off the back of a ship to the seabed and dragged along to collect large pieces of rock.