Features

• High area coverage rates of up to 70 km2/hr
• High accuracy, meeting IHO Order 1
• Fixed-width swaths independent of water depth, unlike multibeam echo sounders
• Compact and self-contained; installs into any medium-sized helicopter or fixed-wing aircraft
• Real-time data display of depth soundings and position
• Operator control; airborne operator can change pre-programmed survey parameters on the fly
• Automated post-flight processing software with sophisticated manual editing tools

Benefits

• Cost-effective in shallow water; collects dense data sets where acoustic surveying is least efficient
• Maps extremely shallow water <5 m; no change in vertical accuracy or sounding density
• Maps land and water in the same mission; simplifies coastal surveys by ensuring continuity through the shoreline in a single survey
• Maps dangerous areas safely and thoroughly; airborne systems are immune to grounding hazards, shallows, shoal-infested waters, reefs, rocks, hidden subsurface objects or tidal flows
• Flexible and rapid deployment; gets in and out quickly to take advantage of periodic and unpredictable access to areas cut off by harsh weather, poor water conditions, or features such as pack ice
• Prompt damage assessment; maps quickly and thoroughly, generating a large volume of survey data that can be processed to produce damage assessments and dredging estimates, often the same day
• Detects underwater objects; high-density coverage accurately targets objects as small as 2x2x2 m
• Easy re-surveying; rapid deployment simplifies re-surveys of dynamic areas, to build up picture of processes over time