SHOALS - Applications

Nautical Charts | Navigation Projects | Coastal Mapping | Feature Classification | Rapid Response | Subsurface Object Detection

Optech airborne laser bathymetry systems measure for hydrographic charts or to detect mines and other underwater targets (MCM/ASW). These systems enable the rapid and safe collection of a complete project survey, including navigation channels, jetties and adjacent shorelines. Kinematic GPS enables you to rapidly survey entire regions seamlessly across the land/sea interface.

Nautical Charts

• Accurate shoreline positions
• Identification of navigation hazards
• Position and outlines of navigation aids and shoreline features such as piers and docks

Navigation Projects

• Navigation channels, jetties, adjacent shorelines
• Harbour structure from shallow water to shore and shoreline features
• Offshore disposal sites, condition and capacity
• Channel dredging requirements, impact of project on shorelines
• Superior project management decisions

Coastal Mapping

• Seamless surveys across the land/water interface
• Extremely shallow water, breakwaters
• Beach and near-shore formations in dynamic, irregular regions
• Safe surveys of areas hazardous to shipborne surveys:  archipelagos, shoals, reefs, hidden rocks, ice
• Safe surveys of fragile environments from the air
• Rapid surveys in poor, unpredictable, rapidly changing weather
• Erosion monitoring and beach nourishment, seagrass delineation

Feature Classification

• Undiscovered features
• Shipwrecks and small underwater objects
• Shallow-water sand formations and other dynamic formations

Rapid Response

• Rapid environmental assessment, ship groundings, before and following sever storms, natural disasters
• Assessment of coral reef damage
• Rapid deployment of airborne system
• High data collection rate (3,000 laser soundings per second)
• Data processed overnight, ready the next day

Subsurface Object Detection

• Detection of objects as small as 2x2x2 meters