How do scientists study the geography of the ocean?

Sonar is a type of technology that had been used by many scientists to navigate the geography and atmosphere in the water, but mainly in the ocean. There are two types of sonar: active sonar and passive sonar. Active sonar is able to send the signal of sound in the water, however, when the object is in the path of the sound pulse it will bounce the echo signal back to the sonar transducer. The sonar transducer signal has the ability to tell the strength of the signal, determine the distance and the orientation of the object. On another hand, passive sonar able to detect the noise in the ocean, it does not emits its own signal but instead, it uses to detect the noise that comes toward the vessels. Passive sonar doesn’t have the ability to measure the range of the object.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) uses sonar technology to study and understand the geography and the atmosphere in the ocean. Scientists primarily use sonar to map objects on the seafloor like shipwrecks and as well use to map the geography of the seafloor itself.
As can be seen, sonar technology can be so useful to the scientists that are doing geography research. Because of this technology that’s why humans are able to have a better scene of the environment underwater, as well as using that information to prevent danger or risk when traveling in the ocean.