Multibeam Sonar Operations and Applications 1994—2005 NOAA’s Experience

The Early Era 1984/5 BS3 on Davidson –Charting surveys in Alaska 1985—1994 EEZ surveys –SeaBeam [12] (MI, SU, DI) –BS3 (DA) & HydroChart II (WH)

Getting into Shallow Water 1992 Hurricane Andrew –How to clear navigable waterways? –RESON RESON 9001 on NOAA Ship RUDE –Least depth on SSS-detected targets

Beginning Systematic Surveys 1994 Reference Mile –RUDE with Reson Full-coverage SWMB surveys –SAIC in Long Island Sound 1997 RUDE in approaches to Portsmouth, NH –Reson 9003 skunk stripes and full coverage SWMB supplemented with 100% or 200% SSS Multiple contracts in Gulf of Mexico –Skunk stripe MB with 200% SSS

RUDE Reson 9003 SeaBat System (1994) Contract Survey comparison

Storing & Processing the Data —logging & decimating the data to identify shoalest soundings with in- house software (Huff) 1995—HyPack/Isis combo selected for NOAA data acquistion and logging 1995—CARIS HIPS selected for NOAA MB data cleaning & processing 1995 CARIS compatibility required for contractor data submission

The Current Era 1998 SWMB for RAINIER and Launches –ELAC/SeaBeam 1050D (50/180) on ship –RESON 8101 on launches Our first RA project—Shakan Strait, Alaska

The Current Era Today in the Hydro Fleet (RA, FA, RU, TJ, NRTs) –ELAC/SeaBeam 1050D, 1180 –RESON 8101, 8125, 8111,8160 –Simrad EM 3000, 1002 Side Scan Sonar—still important –Klein 3000 & 5000

Reference Block

Data Acquisition and Processing HyPack & Isis combo for data acquisition Data stored in XTF CARIS HIPS and SIPS for processing PYDRO for target management\ Down sampling to smooth sheet and chart density

The Coming Era Phase comparison systems in the mix Surveying on the Ellipsoid Re-assessing XTF vs GSF vs native formats CUBE Bathymetric Attributed Grids (NavSurface) Full density products for next generation ENCs

The Coming Era—Beyond Hydro Habitat, UNCLOS, and water column surveys Multibeam throughout the NOAA fleet –SeaBeam on BROWN, TBD for the future –EM 300 and dual-head 3002 on HI’IALAKAI –EM 1002 to be installed on NANCY FOSTER –EM 3002 for Gloria Michelle –TBD for CAPABLE –TBD for new Fisheries vessels

Burning Issues Expectations vs specs vs actual capabilities System integration System timing management Sound speed characterization On-line quality control aids Backscatter –Common terminology –Calibration –Interpretation –Products –Data archiving

More Burning Issues Forward-looking sonar for refraction Standards for archiving Automated cartography from BAGs Standards for error specifications Target recognition and detection