Multibeam Echosounder Work Instruction

Survey Operations
Multibeam Echosounder Work Instruction
GR-SRV-421
Prepared by: Approved by:

1.0
Ver.
C. Anderson R Morgan
Issue for Use
Reason for Issue
Project Surveyor Group Survey Manager

Feb.22.04
Issue Date Prepared by Approved by
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This is an electronically generated document, which has been reviewed and approved in accordance with the Acergy Management System. An audit trail of review and approval is available within the electronic system. The screen version of this document is the CONTROLLED COPY at all times. When printed it is considered a FOR INFORMATION ONLY copy, and it is the holders responsibility that he / she holds the latest valid version. , Acergy or a subsidiary thereof, Copyright 2006 and design right reserved. Copying and/or disclosure of the confidential information contained herein is prohibited without written permission of the proprietor.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. SCOPE.................................................................................................................3 2. OBJECTIVE..........................................................................................................3 3. REFERENCES.......................................................................................................3 4. DEFINITIONS......................................................................................................3 5. RESPONSIBILITIES.............................................................................................4 6. PROCEDURES......................................................................................................5 6.1 SYSTEM OBJECTIVES....................................................................................5 6.2 SYSTEM DESCRIPTION..................................................................................5 6.2.1 TRANSDUCER....................................................................................5 6.2.2 TRANSCEIVER...................................................................................6 6.2.3 BEAM-STEERING AND BEAM-FORMING................................................6 6.2.4 PROCESSING SYSTEM........................................................................7 6.2.5 BOTTOM DETECTION..........................................................................7 6.2.6 POSITION AND ORIENTATION MEASUREMENTS....................................7 6.2.7 DATA STORAGE.................................................................................8 6.3 SYSTEM INSTALLATION AND OPERATION........................................................9 6.3.1 TRANSDUCER....................................................................................9 6.3.2 MOTION REFERENCE UNIT (HEAVE, PITCH AND ROLL SENSOR)..............9 6.3.3 HEADING..........................................................................................9 6.3.4 SYNCHRONISED TIMING...................................................................10 6.3.5 OFFSET MEASUREMENT....................................................................11 6.3.6 WATER LEVEL ADJUSTMENTS............................................................11 6.3.7 SOUND VELOCITY MEASUREMENTS...................................................12 6.3.8 SUBSEA SYSTEMS AND VEHICLES.....................................................12 6.4 SYSTEM CALIBRATION TESTS......................................................................14 6.4.1 POSITIONING LATENCY AND PITCH BIAS TEST...................................14 6.4.2 ROLL BIAS TEST..............................................................................15 6.4.3 HEADING OFFSET TEST....................................................................15 6.4.4 PERFORMANCE TEST........................................................................15 6.5 EQUIPMENT SPECIFICATIONS......................................................................18 6.5.1 SIMRAD EM100...............................................................................18 6.5.2 SIMRAD EM950...............................................................................18 6.5.3 SEABAT..........................................................................................19 6.6 DATA ACQUISITION....................................................................................21 6.6.1 GENERAL........................................................................................21 6.6.2 REAL-TIME QC SYSTEM....................................................................21 6.6.3 BATHYMETRIC DATA........................................................................21 6.6.4 SEABAT..........................................................................................22
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1.
SCOPE This Work Instruction covers the installation, operation and maintenance of Multibeam Echosounders.
2.
OBJECTIVE The objective of this work instruction is to enable suitably qualified personnel to operate Multibeam Echosounder systems.
3.
REFERENCES GR-SRV-301 GR-SRV-311 GR-SRV-313 GR-SRV-322 GR-SRV-411 GR-SRV-412 GR-SRV-428 GR-SRV-431 GR-SRV-442 Surface Navigation Practice Single Beam Echosounder Practice Tidal Prediction Practice Gyro Calibration and Verification Practice Heading Reference Unit Work Instruction Motion Reference Unit Work Instruction Bathymetric System Work Instruction Velocity Probe Work Instruction Tide Gauge Recording Work Instruction
4.
DEFINITIONS AUV BDU DGPS DVL EEZ FFT GPS IGS IRM kHz LBL MRU NOS ROV SV USBL UUV Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Bottom Detection Unit Differential Global Positioning System Doppler Velocity Log Exclusive Economic Zone Fast Fourier Transform Global Positioning System Inertial Guidance System Intervention, Repair and Maintenance Kilohertz Long Baseline Motion Reference Unit National Ocean Service Remotely Operated Vehicle Sound Velocity Ultra Short Baseline Untethered Underwater Vehicles
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5.
RESPONSIBILITIES The Survey Manager is responsible for establishing and maintaining this document. The Project Surveyor has the responsibility of implementing this procedure on relevant offshore projects. It is the responsibility of all survey personnel involved in the installation and operation of surface navigation systems to comply with this procedure and provide any comments on improvements in this procedure to the Project Surveyor.
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6.
6.1
PROCEDURES
SYSTEM OBJECTIVES
The growth in the use of multibeam echosounders over the last ten years has been in part due to the ability of these instruments to cover wide swaths of the seafloor in a single pass. With high-resolution bathymetry obtainable over wide areas and with acoustic frequencies ranging from 10kHz to over 500kHz, multibeam echosounders offer the potential of great accuracy and provide detailed seafloor imagery with scales of economy unavailable from traditional single-beam echosounders. In commercial surveying, multibeams are employed for many diverse applications and are found installed on ships, survey launches and in towed fish, on ROVs (Remotely Operated Vehicles), in AUVs (Autonomous Underwater Vehicles) and UUVs (Untethered Underwater Vehicles). Multibeams are used in offshore surveying to provide information in support of an engineering activity such as pipeline installation, jacket and template placement, and telecommunications cable installation. Offshore surveys are also conducted on a regular basis for IRM (Intervention, Repair and Maintenance) or monitoring purposes. Occasionally surveys are made for mapping purposes such as pre-seismic exploration reconnaissance, Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) mapping or for aggregates and seafloor mineral exploitation. In all these cases the overriding objective is to chart or image the seafloor in its entirety.
6.2 SYSTEM DESCRIPTION
The multibeam echosounder system comprises of a transducer, a transceiver and a computer processing system (which integrates and controls all of the separate components). Additionally, a position and orientation sensor(s) is required together with a data storage system.
6.2.1 Transducer
The transducer converts electrical energy into acoustic energy and vice versa. The size of the transducer is designed according to the required beamwidth defined as twice the angular distance from nadir to the point where the expanding wavefront is reduced to half power (- 3 dB). Multibeams operate around a centre frequency and the transducer comprises an array of elements. The size of the array is determined according to the rule that beamwidth is inversely proportional to the number of wavelengths across the aperture; the narrower the beam-width, the longer the aperture required. The individual elements of the aperture are spaced at a maximum distance of 0.5 wavelengths. In high frequency multibeams, the elements themselves become larger than the element spacing. To cater for this the elements are staggered above and below each other in rows.
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The transducer array transmits a pulse that is very narrow along-track and wide acrosstrack. Typically, a system may have a transmit beamwidth less than 3 along-track and as large as 85 either side of the nadir. Multibeams without automatic transmit beam pitch-steering require a separate receive array set orthogonal to the transmit array in a configuration known as a Mills Cross.
6.2.2 Transceiver
The transceiver handles both the transmission and the reception of (electrical) signals and is where beam-steering and beam-forming occur; the two defining operations of a multibeam system. Depending on the sophistication of the transceiver, it may also perform pitch-stabilisation beam-steering on the transmit pulse. One beam is transmitted but many more are formed simultaneously to receive the reflected energy from the ensonified area of each transmitted pulse. The resulting pattern shows the single transmit beam intersecting the receive beams in areas called footprints. A footprint is equivalent to the intersection of the area ensonified with the projection of the received beam pattern on the seafloor to a reference power level (nominally 3 dB). The combination of successive transmit and receive-cycles forms a swath. To determine the speed for the survey platform to achieve 100% coverage, two dependent factors need to be considered a) the transmit beamwidth and b) the transmit pulse-repetition rate. The speed of the survey platform must not exceed a velocity where successive transmit pulses no longer overlap; otherwise gaps will result in the data. When meeting standards such as the International Hydrographic Organisations SP44, uncertainty in orientation, roll, refraction and bottom detection in the outer beams may reduce the usable swath width. Consequently, swath width may have to be reduced to meet the acceptable depth error specified and, in very shallow water, may not provide 100% cover near nadir regions.
6.2.3 Beam-Steering and Beam-Forming
Beam-steering can be applied to both transmit and receive pulses by orientating a beam in a particular direction. By inserting time delays in the elemental contributions in the transducer array, a virtual array is created whose face is perpendicular to the desired steering direction. As the beam is steered further away, the area of intersection between the beam and the seafloor becomes wider and takes on a parabolic shape. Increasing steering-angle results in the received beam looking at a broader angular sector and hence objects that would be detected in the smaller near-nadir beams are lost in the outer beams. Further factors that affect resolution are lengthening echoes with decreasing grazing angle and lower backscatter returns. Beam-forming is the term used to describe how the product of the transmit and the receive-beams combine to form narrow pencil-like beams. In a pitch-steered system, the single transmit pulse is steered about the pitch axis of the survey platform maintaining bottom ensonification directly below the ship. Beam-steering is usually achieved through
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the summation of time-delayed hydrophone contributions across the transducer array. The transceiver can accomplish (receive) beam-steering through Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) beam-forming. In FFT beam-forming, the spatial wavelengths in the across-track array direction of each instantaneously received echo are analysed to determine the direction of contribution.
6.2.4 Processing System
The typical processors in a multibeam echosounder system are the bottom detection unit, integrator and operator unit. The bottom detection unit receives return data from the transceiver and calculates two-way travel times for given beam angles. The travel times are then passed to the integrator and grouped with the position and orientation data captured at the time of swath transmission of each swath. Once grouped, the data is sent to the data logger for storage and to the operator unit for real-time Quality Control of the data during the survey. Data post-processing preparation is normally offline to clean the data and apply the various correction parameters.
6.2.5 Bottom Detection
Most multibeams use two algorithms for bottom detection, dependent on the grazing angle from transceiver to seafloor. In the vertical, amplitude information is used, while in directions towards the horizontal, the reflected signals phase is used. Between the two extremes a weighted combination is the normal solution, however, much research is going on in this area of acoustic science. Amplitude detection and phase detection are applied sequentially on each beam; the systems processing software then selects the best solution. As the bottom detection methods employed have a direct consequence on the quality and reliability of data acquired, the bottom detection process of a multibeam requires consideration before selection.
6.2.6 Position and Orientation Measurements
After each transmission, the main processor takes the sonar-relative times and the angles from the bottom detection unit (BDU), which are then de-skewed with the time-stamped position information. The position information comprises horizontal position, elevation, 3D orientation and water column information (sound velocity). Horizontal position is determined from one or more positioning systems. For example: A ships position may be determined using a DGPS system. An ROV, UUV or tow-fishs position may be determined using DGPS for the support vessel and USBL tracking system. An AUVs position may be determined using an Inertial Guidance System.
Unless the vessel is operating with a high order DGPS system providing vertical accuracy better than 0.5m, the natural recourse for height determination is the ambient, tide reduced, sea surface. Five corrections are required:
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a) Tidal height corrections, including met-ocean effects b) Draft the distance from the transducer to the (static) water level. In the case of an ROV or other remote transducer housing, the separation between the sea surface and the transducer is Depth and is normally determined using a high-precision pressure sensor. c) Settlement and squat to allow for the amount a vessel underway depresses the local sea surface (settlement) and to allow for the tendency for the vessels stern to move downwards (squat) d) Velocity of sound to correct for the ever-changing speed of sound through the water e) Heave, roll, pitch and heading to correct for the dynamics of the survey platform
6.2.7 Data Storage
Some of the latest multibeam systems generate enormous amounts of data. Storage considerations are important and are commonly addressed using mass-storage devices such as magnetic tapes and optical discs.
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6.3
SYSTEM INSTALLATION AND OPERATION
Special cases of the following apply to multibeam systems installed in towed vehicles, ROVs and AUVs/UUVs. The x, y, z, attitude, heading and timing issues of all these vehicles is just as critical as in a ship installation.
6.3.1 Transducer
The multibeam echosounder transducer assembly should be installed as near as practicable to the centreline of the ship and level about the roll axis. It should be aligned with the azimuth / centreline of the survey platform; this is particularly critical for multibeam systems that do not have beam-steering. In most cases, three-dimensional alignment of transducer arrays requires the dry-docking of a vessel to permit accurate measurements, using land survey techniques, to be made. For temporary installations, multibeam systems are commonly mounted over the side of vessels. It is vital that the transducer is aligned as above and is tied into the vessels 3D geometry. Further, care must be taken that return signals are not masked from the transducer due to vessel roll. The performance of transducers mounted too far forward or aft can be seriously impeded by aeration, which reduces the signal-to-noise ratio affecting outer-beam performance. It has been found that over-the-side mounts can also suffer from vibration caused by unsupported lengths of tube or from tensioning lines and vortex shedding. It is therefore important that over-the-side mounts are checked at survey speeds before operations begin allowing sufficient time to rectify any problems.
6.3.2 Motion Reference Unit (Heave, Pitch and Roll Sensor)
Wherever possible, the MRU (Motion Reference Unit) should be installed on the centreline of the vessels frames and as near as practicable to the centre of gravity or intersection of the roll and pitch axis. Whenever possible, the same mounting angles should be used as for the transducer; the x-axis of the MRU should match the x-axis of the transducer. Azimuth misalignment of the MRU will result in depth measurements being in error proportional to the water depth. Misalignment in yaw causes a roll error when pitching and a pitch error while rolling. MRU calibration should be as per manufacturers instructions to allow measurements to be performed with an error budget between 5cm to 20cm. In conventional MRU systems, heave is a difficult component to establish and requires careful observations. For detailed information on the calibration of the MRU, consult the Motion Reference Unit Work Instruction GR-SRV-412
6.3.3 Heading
The precision demand of heading sensors for multibeam echosounding operations is a function of the water depth and the accuracy demand of the survey. While 0.5 in shallow water may be perfectly adequate, the same precision in deeper water, say 2,000m, would result in an alignment offset in the outer beams of over 18m.
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As a word of caution, there have been instances in the past, during calibration to determine the error of, for example, a gyrocompass, where the convergence between local Grid North and True North has been applied either the wrong way/wrong sign, or not applied at all.
Gyrocompasses
For many multibeam tasks, the conventional survey-quality gyrocompass is adequate. It is crucial to determine the error between the ships frames and the gyrocompass. Normal gyro-calibration procedures are required and should be performed on a regular basis, per common practice.
GPS Attitude Sensors
The availability of precision (<0.1) GPS-based heading and attitude sensors provides more coherent and improved accuracy solutions for surface vessel 3D dynamics. When operating in water depths greater than, say, 500m these systems offer significant improvement for beam steering and outer beam alignment for surface ship-mounted multibeam systems. The same issues for gyrocompass and other sensor alignments apply.
6.3.4 Synchronised Timing
The satisfactory functioning of a multibeam is reliant upon information from a number of disparate systems and sensors. A critical element of multibeam data acquisition and processing depends upon the precise time synchronisation between the multibeam and the various sensors to allow each beam to be attributed to its correct beam transmit / receive time. A single, high-precision time source <1msec is required, such as GPS time, and preferable with time stamping at the point of observation.
Position and Time Delays
The location of the primary surface positioning systems will suit the particular vessel. The time delay between acquisition of position data and the computed result applied at the logging module (latency) result in negative along-track displacement of the depth measurements. The greater the water depth or faster the survey speed, the greater these errors become.
MRU System Time Latency
Timing errors or latency in the MRU will result in roll errors and effect the attitude / elevation of the outer beams. Roll errors can be detected by looking for short-term changes in the cross-track slope from the bathymetry when crossing flat terrain. Most modern software processing packages can detect evidence of time delay effects. Vessels that are not encumbered with a towed sensor are capable of rapid line turns. In these instances, the dynamic response of an MRU sensor, if excessive or requires settling time, can adversely affect multibeam operations. The MRU dynamics must be checked to ascertain the level of expected vessel performance.
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Remote Sensor Time Errors
Where a multibeam is installed in a towed body or ROV, the swath and attitude sensor data is passed to the support vessel via an umbilical or cable, the time latency of which must be matched to the vessel systems and an allowance made for any delays in the acoustic positioning system used to locate the towed array / ROV. Correct time synchronisation of all systems is critical and requires closest attention. It is strongly recommended that time stamping occurs at the sensor during transmission and reception to minimise timing errors.
6.3.5 Offset Measurement
All the data acquisition sensors (positioning system antenna, MRU, gyrocompass and transducer) should be related to the vessels structure within a single 3D frame. For permanent transducer installations, the transducer should be positioned using standard land surveying methods and related to fixed points on the vessel to facilitate establishing reliable 3D relationships between the transducer and surface positioning sensor antennas.
6.3.6 Water Level Adjustments Squat and Settlement
Squat refers to changes in the trim of the vessel when underway and is generally marked by a lowering of the stern and a rise at the bow. Settlement is the general difference between the elevation of a vessel at rest and when under way. Major factors that influence squat and settlement are hull shape, speed and depth of water beneath the keel. Where transducers are mounted near amidships, squat does not appreciably affect depth. Settlement is always significant at normal survey speeds. Unless the transducer is mounted amidships, the depressive effect of squat must be allowed for; a heave compensator will not detect the (long-term) variation. For most low-speed vessels, settlement is evidenced by a local depression of the sea surface. Settlement effects should be measured at several typical survey speeds and a look-up table produced for correcting the transducer draft. Settlement can either be measured from a shore point using land survey techniques or by high order kinematic GPS. Whichever method is used, tidal corrections must be applied to the vessels elevations observed. National Ocean Service (NOS) recommend that the combined effect of squat and settlement should be determined to +5cm; a more reasonable value would be +10cm.
Tidal Adjustments
Errors due to incorrect adjustment for sea level changes will lead to significant errors in reduced soundings from any bathymetric system. The most reliable source of sea level change is from observations at one or more fixed tidal observation stations. However, where these are unavailable or impracticable, e.g. far from shore, it is common practice to use predicted tide heights. While these predictions take into account astronomical influences, they do not take into account sea level changes caused by storm surges and other met-ocean phenomena. These differences between the predicted tide height and
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actual tide height will vary in time and soundings of the same point on the seabed taken at different times may well mis-tie as a result.
6.3.7 Sound Velocity Measurements
Conventional single beam echosounders have worked on the basis of an average speed of sound through the water column. Multibeam echosounders, however, require an accurate sound velocity profile right across their beam pattern and through the entire water column to allow for the effects of acoustic ray-bending. Acoustic ray paths are a function of the water density and salinity through which they pass and uncertainties in these qualities will lead to significant errors. Further, the properties of the water column are largely unpredictable and vary both spatially and temporally. To ensure that the overall depth measurement accuracies are preserved, sound velocity (SV) observations must be observed with sufficient frequency, density and accuracy to preserve the demand for precision. The specification of Land Information, New Zealand advocate a SV every six hours while NOS specify that a new observation should be acquired if a SV indicates a sounding corrector difference at any depth of more than 0.25% of that depth . IHO SP44 makes no specific recommendations. For beam steering systems, SV measurements at or near the transducer location should be continuous. Clearly, the frequency of full water column SV measurements must depend on the nature of the worksite conditions and the accuracy requirements of the project. The recommended accuracy tolerance for SV measurements is (0.2 + 0.5% x water depth) m/sec.
6.3.8 Subsea Systems and Vehicles
Where a multibeam system is installed on, or in, a subsea vehicle: Pitch and roll sensors are required, and should be aligned with the vehicle or body structure with offset measurements tied in to the individual components within the vehicles reference framework. The transducer should be installed where it will suffer least motion effects and be clear or shielded from any acoustic or electrical interference sources. The heading sensor must be sensitive and accurate enough to cater for the swathwidth and to keep azimuth errors within required levels. ROVs, UUVs and towed fish or other towed platforms should be positioned either:a) Relative to the vessel, using a high-accuracy acoustic system, e.g. USBL, augmented by Doppler velocity log. The surface vessels position uncertainty will have to be added to the uncertainties of position of the remote vehicle; or b) Relative to the seabed, using a fully calibrated LBL acoustic system. AUV positioning is achieved underwater using a high-performance inertial guidance system (IGS) and Doppler velocity information. Positions from the IGS system will degrade over time therefore periodic returns to the surface, or to a known submarine
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location, are necessary to reinitialise. It should be noted that some AUVs also accept USBL and/or LBL positioning either in lieu of, or as an augmentation to, IGS. Sound velocity measurements apply from surface to full depth for correcting bathymetry and acoustic positioning measurements. These measurements can be further improved by equipping the remote platform with a suitable SV sensor. Residual biases test procedures should also be observed although, where the remote platform is operated near the seafloor (as though it were operating in shallow water) the line length can be reduced.
Doppler Velocity Logs
A Doppler velocity log (DVL) is used to assist with the positioning of towed, tethered and autonomous vehicles. DVLs can provide better rates of motion over the seafloor than is often available from remote acoustic positioning systems. It should be noted, though, that any vehicle equipped with a DVL could not use the system until it was in acoustic contact with the seafloor. An alternative system, for use through the seawater column, is an adaptation of the acoustic Doppler current profiler. DVLs are available in various frequency ranges, typically 300 and 1200kHz. While it would appear that a higher frequency system would be preferable for better accuracy, an account has to be taken of the seafloor soil properties; unconsolidated muds and oozes generally require a lower frequency to reflect enough cohesive energy than firmer and more reflective sands and clays. Typically, a position derived from an acoustic positioning system such as USBL will have a low data update rate. A DVL has a high update rate and better precision, and provides a better estimate of velocity over time (distance) than relying simply on acoustic positioning updates. Within the processing algorithm, Doppler information is provided to the software through a position filter, typically a Kalman filter. The Doppler aided (2D) velocity is then incorporated with other position information for computation of the solution.
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6.4
SYSTEM CALIBRATION TESTS
The following test procedure is applicable to multibeams installed in survey vessels as well as in towed vehicles, ROVs, UUVs and AUVs. Before conducting the tests, all offsets must be correctly ascertained and entered in the multibeam on-line data acquisition system. A good knowledge of the acoustic speed of sound profile must be obtained. The residual bias tests, or patch tests, are periodically performed to determine and provide corrections for the following potential biases: Residual position time delay (latency) Residual pitch offset Residual roll offset Residual heading offset After each bias has been determined, the remaining bias evaluations should be performed having removed previously determined biases. If the calibration software allows corrections to be applied sequentially, that permits all the calibration lines to be run before processing. However, if the calibration program does not allow different bias corrections to be applied, it means that calibration lines need to be run to determine each bias in turn. Once the derived correction has been entered into the Multibeam acquisition program, the next lines can be run to determine the next bias. Each bias test is described below. Survey quality DGPS positioning or other high accuracy dynamic positioning should be used when calibrating, especially in shallow water. The weather should be, ideally, calm to ensure good bottom detection and minimal vessel motion. The lines should be run in water depths commensurate with typical project depths. The order in which the lines are run is not important although it is recommended that at least two sets of reciprocal lines be run for redundancy. Vessel / platform speed should be regulated such that 50% forward overlap is obtained.
6.4.1 Positioning Latency and Pitch Bias Test
Both latency and pitch biases give rise to fore and aft errors. Latency causes a sounding acquired at a particular time to be ascribed a position where the ship/ROV was some time previously. Pitch bias causes the acquisition program to over or under compensate for the pitch of the vessel/ROV and therefore to assign an incorrect Y value to the soundings with respect to the position of the transducer. Both procedures require lines run over a clearly defined change of gradient.
Latency
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Run two lines in the same direction over the same ground but at different speeds. If there is a latency problem, the soundings from the faster line will appear astern of the soundings from the slower line. Only the soundings acquired beneath the transducer should be used to exclude roll and heading errors. The soundings should be viewed in a fore and aft profile; as the lines are run in the same direction, any fore and aft offset of the soundings due to pitch error is common to both lines and therefore self-cancelling.
Pitch
For pitch bias, run two lines over the same ground at the same speed but in reciprocal directions. Only the soundings beneath the transducer should be used for the same reason as for latency evaluation. Using the fore and aft profile, see if there is a mis-tie in the soundings and, if so, apply a pitch correction to bring the seabed profiles into fore and aft alignment.
6.4.2 Roll Bias Test
This test requires a flat area of seabed rather than the change of gradient needed for the previous two tests. Run two parallel lines in opposite directions spaced half the swath width apart. Using a cross-track profile, examine the soundings between the two tracks. If there is a residual roll bias, the soundings from one line will slope across track and the sounding from the reciprocal line will slope the opposite way. Enter a roll correction into the calibration software to bring the two cross profiles into coincidence.
6.4.3 Heading Offset Test
Run two parallel lines either side of a clearly defined object (shoal). The lines should be spaced about half the swath width apart. Construct a profile between the two calibration lines, including the defined object, at 45 to the direction of travel. Apply heading corrections to see if these bring the soundings on the defined point into better alignment. This procedure can also be done using a colour coded plan display rather than a profile.
6.4.4 Performance Test
Quality assurance performance tests should be conducted at the equipment installation stage or after modification and at the beginning of a major / long-term projects. The test partially checks the parameters and biases that are measured and computed during the above calibrations. The procedure described below compares a check line swath beam with a reference surface model complied from narrowly spaced multibeam data using only near-centre beam data, or with single-beam data. It is not a truly independent test but an assessment indicator. Failure of the performance test in meeting the recommended tolerances in Table 1 and Table 2 requires corrective action, i.e. remeasurement, recalibration, patch testing, etc.
Reference Surface
This is essentially a small survey run over a flat area; it represents the baseline area. The beams lying beyond 45 (some advocate 15) of the nadir should be removed before
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editing. Four parallel lines are run with at least 150% bottom overlap, i.e., 25% side-lap. The inner beams should overlap enough to give redundant data. After these lines are run, four or five parallel lines are run perpendicular to the previous lines with the same swath and overlap. The speed over the ground should be the same on both sets of lines. A SV profile should be made in the area and the corrections applied.
Check Lines
Multibeam check lines are run such that the full beam array can be tested against the reference surface. A pair of parallel multibeam swath lines should be run inside the reference surface; overlap is not required. The survey platform speed is the same as for the reference surface. Reference models like this can be used to remove very small angular errors in the installation.
Item Minimum frequency of measurement Calibration procedure Allowabl e tolerance <0.5 <0.5 Allowance to be made for depth of water demandin g higher precision <0.1 ~2.5cm <10cm <5cm 0.2-0.3m + 0.5% x water m/sec
Transducer
Sensor alignment and offset measurements Initial installation Offsets
Gyro / other heading systems
Initial installation and at start of each project
Operators gyro/heading sensor calibration procedures
Heave / pitch / roll GPS antenna / positioning system Squat / settlement Dynamic draft
Start of each project Initial installation checked at start of each project Annual assessment As required
Per manufacturers procedures Offsets Various Fixed vessel marks
Acoustic draft and sound velocity measurements Sound velocity As many as is required to sustain required precision Residual bias tests (patch tests) On installation, At least 2 pairs of modification and start of lines in same major projects or at least direction over a every 3 months slope At least 2 pairs of Ditto reciprocal lines over a slope At least 1 pair of Ditto reciprocal lines over flat area Ditto At least 2 pairs of adjacent lines over
Time delay
5cm
Pitch Roll Heading
5cm 5cm 5cm
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Item
Minimum frequency of measurement
Calibration procedure a shoal
Allowabl e tolerance
Mean bias Standard error Maximum outliers
Performance test Start of major projects or at least every 3 months Ditto Ditto
Reference and check surfaces Ditto Ditto
5cm Per accuracy standards 30cm
Table 1 Recommended minimum multibeam system calibration procedures Position / time delay 2 lines at different speeds on same heading over slope or shoal None, other than static offsets Average of displacements in along track direction Match profiles and contours
Pitch offset 2 pairs on reciprocal headings Positioning time delay Average of displacements in along track direction Match profiles and contours
Azimuth offset 2 pairs over bathymetric feature Positioning time delay and pitch Average of displacements in across track direction Match profiles and contours
Roll offset 2 reciprocal lines over flat area Positioning time delay, pitch and gyro Average of displacements in across track direction Match profiles and contours
Lines required
Prior corrections applied Computation method Visual method
Table 2 Summary of residual biases test procedures and computations
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6.5
6.5.1
EQUIPMENT SPECIFICATIONS
Simrad EM100
The Simrad EM100 is a medium frequency multibeam echosounder operating at 95kHz with 32 receiving beams. The transducer should be hull mounted fitted close to the centre of motion and away from thrusters and others sources of noise and interference. The EM100 can operate in three different modes dependent on application: narrow, wide and ultra wide. The equipment specifications for each mode are summarised below: Narrow Swath Coverage Max. Water Depth Fan Width Number of Beams Beam Width (Transverse) Beam Spacing Beam Width (Fore/Aft)
6.5.2 Simrad EM950
Wide 1.7 x d 300m 80 27 2.5 2.5 3
Ultra wide 2.4 x d 100m 100 27 3.75 3.75 3
0.7 x d 600m 40 32 2 1.25 3
The Simrad EM950 multibeam Echosounder is a portable system used for detailed bathymetric seabed mapping in water depths less than 300 metres. The transducer can be should bracket mounted within a vessel moon pool, or an over-the-side frame. The EM950 has an angular coverage of between 190 and 170 in its embankment modes, 150 for general use to about 150 metres and 140 and 128 for deeper waters. The system has three equidistant beam spacings, the coverage at which is summarised below: Angular Coverage 150 140 128 Transducer Size: Weight: Shape: Number of staves: Transmission No. of transmitters: Total peak power: Horizontal Coverage 7.4 x d 5.5 x d 4.1 x d Horizontal Beam Spacing 6.3% x d 4.6% x d 3.4% x d Recommended Depth Range 3 200 m 100 250 m 150-300 m
400 x 900 mm 130/95 kg (air/water) Cylinder segment 128 128 4.5 kW
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Frequency: Pulse length: Source level: Max. ping rate: Reception No. of ampliers: TVG: A/D conversions: Range resolution: Depth resolution:
95 kHz 0.2 ms 225 dB 4 pulses/sec 128 Digital 12bit quadrature sampling 15 cm 2 cm
Beam Forming Equidistant and equiangle of soundings: No. of soundings: 120 over 2 Pings Beam width: 3.3 Normal operation: Sounding spacing: Sector covered: Max swath width: Water depth: Embankment mode: Channel: Port bank: Standard bank: Water depth:
6.5.3 SEABAT
6.2%, 4.6% 3.4% or 1.25% x d 150, 140 or 128 7.4 x d 3 300 m (from transducer) +95 -75 to +95 -95 to +75 0 100 m
The Seabat System can be mounted on either a vessel or ROV. The Seabat is a high frequency MBE operating at 500 kHz with 60 receiving beams. It has a total opening angle of 90 giving a footprint on the seabed of twice the height of the transducer above the seabed. The single beam width is 1.5 x 1.5 and the maximum operating range is 100m, recording at 2 3 scans per second. The system comprises a lightweight sonar head, designed for ROV mounting, and a small surface unit with high-resolution colour screen. Data is received by the sonar head and passed to a surface processing unit via a coaxial or fibre optic cable using a 2 MHz pseudo video signal. All beams in the full multibeam swath are therefore shown as realtime sonar data on the screen. Real-time digital sonar data can also be used to construct a digital image of the seabed. It can be superimposed on the displayed sonar image for immediate quality control.
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Additional quality control is provided by monitoring the echo strength and seabed signal to noise ratio for each individual beam. The Seabat System provides seabed coverage with very high data density, typically 0.5m between data points in x and y, a requirement for accurate and detailed mapping. The high data density demands an extremely accurate position, which is, of course, is dependent upon the accuracy of surface and sub-surface navigation, pitch, heave, roll, gyro and altitude. To obtain optimal results the data from all equipment shall be synchronised in time or properly time tagged to within a few milliseconds to allow for necessary corrections. The system specifications are summarised below: No. of beams: Beam width of single beam: Full sector: Frequency: Range: Range settings: No. of full sector scans / sec: Range resolution: Depth rating: Transducer dimensions: Weight: 60 1.5 x 1.5 (3.0) 90 (60 x 1.5), 2 x d 455 kHz 100 m (-20 dB target) 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 m 60 at 12.5 m range 5 at 100m range 5 cm 600 m 265 mm x 190 mm x 473 mm 19 kg (air) / 8 kg (water)
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6.6
6.6.1
DATA ACQUISITION
General
The multibeam, motion sensor, gyro, navigation and time synchronisation data is logged via a modified EM100/EM1000 Control System. The Control System calculates X, Y and Z for each beam for logging and QC monitoring. The multibeam surface unit controls the operation of the echosounder and allows the operator to select the operating parameters and displays. The choice of gain, range and threshold levels are selectable. During normal survey operations the unit display shows the transverse profile and the on-line menu. The data is sent to the logging computer for storage on hard disc, optical disc, data streamer or passed via a network to an off-line processing room.
6.6.2 Real-Time QC System
The data logger comprises real-time QC facility. It supports a colour printer and plotter allowing the operator to perform QC checks on the data in real-time and performs a preliminary interpretation of the results. The data is presented in three different formats:
6.6.3
colour graphics showing the transverse profile (multibeam unit) colour printer giving colour contours and longitudinal profiles of three selectable beams swath plot of area covered by beams
Bathymetric Data
Bathymetric data is normally processed offshore using the IRAP software package allowing the client the ability to analyse and utilise the results in the field. Processing parameters for a typical detailed seabed survey are summarised below: Grid size: Smoothing: Filtering: Beams removed: Contours: Long profile: 1mx1m 2 x 95 % 1.5 x standard deviation None 0.25 m Bathymetry every 1m
Various file formats are supported including DXF. This allows the charts to be compiled in a CAD package. The imported data from IRAP is merged with other information like side scan sonar targets route geometry, seabed features etc and presented as composite drawings.
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6.6.4
SEABAT
At present there are two possibilities of logging the SEABAT data: 1 2 Seabat data is logged together with sensor, velocity profile, navigation and time synchronisation data in X, Y, Z format via a modified version of the EM100/EM1000 Control System. Seabat data is logged using NAVIBAT software. NAVIBAT has the same application as the EM100 Control System and output is in the same X, Y, Z format. There is no QC facility available with the NAVIBAT software.

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