| Abstract | More than two thirds of the Earth is covered with water, and most of this is
inaccessible to direct, visual observations. It is a cliché, but true nonetheless, to admit
that we know more about Venus, a planet of the size of the Earth but millions of
kilometers away, than about our own shores and seas, just a few kilometers away.
Recent decades have seen a revolution in this knowledge, as we have slowly but
steadily measured more and more of the water-covered surface of our own planet.
Measuring the topography of this surface has been crucial in revolutionizing our
understanding of the evolution of our planet, from crustal processes to sea level
changes, and bathymetry is now a tool of choice when mapping underwater areas and
looking at their monitoring and management. Entitled Bathymetry and its Applications,
this book has been divided into two sections: Measuring Bathymetry and Applications
of Bathymetry. This separation is somewhat arguable, as the measurements inevitably
lead to applications, and successful applications forcibly rely on a good understanding
of how the measurements were taken.
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