Numeric analysis of planktonic spatial patterns revealed by echograms

Abstract

Observations of acoustic images made along a transect perpendicular to the coast, off Villefranche-sur-Mer, allow one to recognise the hydrological zone corresponding to a surface density gradient characterizing the Ligurian Sea front. Combinations of statistical and geometrical parameters from the digitized echoes enable discrimination between different classes of patches in relation to the frontal structure. -from Authors