The Challenges of Multibeam Sonar Water Column Data: Acquisition,
Processing, and Sharing
Lindsay Gee - QPS, Inc.
GardnerMallace & Dillon-Leetch
Data fusion of current modalities is mature…
…but what is happening in the water column?
Background: Multibeam Sonars and the Water Column
- 1997: Simrad SM2000
- 2002: 3D Visualization
Background: MBES WC – Beyond Fisheries
- 2003: Imaging bubble populations (Weber et al.)
- 2003: Suspended particulate density (Jones)
- 2003: Military mid-water targets (Gallaudet and deMoustier)
- 2006: Hydrographic survey applications, least depth detection (Hughes Clarke)
- 2011: Oil detection (Weber et al.)
Mature acquisition 2D visualization capabilities.
Looking at the Water Column
Full MBES acquisition
FMMidwater Background
GOAL: Provide easy to use tool to actually USE water column data, across MANY applications
Challenges:
• Huge data volumes – bathy to backscatter to water-column
• Most of the time there isn’t much to see
• Proliferation of sonar formats
• Geospatial and temporal data
• Variety of applications and requirements
Requirements included:
• Simple/fast mid-water feature extraction
• Unification of a mid-water format - GWC
• Ability to manage/view files in non-linear
time
• Multiple metaphor - 4D visualization
• Application specific analysis tools - plugin
Water Column Tool: FMMidwater
FMMidwater
FMMidwater
Fan Curtain
Points
ASCII
Refracted
Points
ASCII
Applications
Hard Targets
• Hydrographic
• Engineering
Soft Targets
• Fisheries
• Oceanography
• Geophysics/Geology
System Performance
UK Civil Hydrography Programme Trial
Compare least depth over wrecks from:– Wire Sweep– MBES conventional bottom detect– Side Scan Sonar– MBES Water Column Data
MBES:
– Kongsberg EM 3002D
– Kongsberg EM 710
– Reson SeaBat 7125
UK CHP Trial
Gulf of Mexico – Clearance Survey
Gulf of Mexico – Clearance Survey
Gulf of Mexico – Clearance Survey
Shallow Survey 2012
NW Rota-1 Volcano (US Naval Oceanographic Office)
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Applications for Water Column Data
• Detection and mapping of gas seeps
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2011/20110915_okeanosexplorer.html
MBES Acoustic Observations
Tom Weber CCOM UNH
Engineering Inspection - Diffusers
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Water column data and products
• What do we need to provide from FMMidwater?
– Just the data?
–What products?
–Different for each application areas?
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NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program – EM302 Mapping Data Products
• All data available publicly
• Mapping data productso Serves multiple stakeholders
o Easily viewable with out proprietary software
o Long term archival at National archival center (NGDC)
o Available near real-time
• Raw data and bathymetry and backscatter okay, but water column backscatter not fully developed
Meme LobeckerNOAA Okeanos Explorer Program
Possible water column products– Linking to images of Volumetric, curtains and fan objects
– Geo-referenced videos
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Meme LobeckerNOAA Okeanos Explorer Program
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2012 WCB data productsPrototype product for water column targets
Meme LobeckerNOAA Okeanos Explorer Program
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2012 WCB data productsPrototype Geo-tagged video as an archival product useable for post-cruise identification of water column targets.
Meme LobeckerNOAA Okeanos Explorer Program
NGDC Water Column Sonar DataNOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer Cruise EX1402
NGDC Water Column Sonar DataNOAA Ship Pisces Cruise PC1106
National Geophysical Data Center (2014): Water Column Sonar Data Collection. National Geophysical Data Center, NOAA. doi: 10.7289/V5HT2M7C [November2, 2014].
Water column data products
• Multiple potential users
• Providing content for better raw data discovery
• Limited overhead - data (%) and providers (time)
• Using existing modalities
– Images (fan, stack, beam)
– Movie (fan and stack)
• Automatic project level archive and packaging
• Processing products – depends on user
Acknowledgements
Meme Lobecker - NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program
Carrie Wall Bell and Chuck Anderson -NOAA/NGDC/Marine Geology and Geophysics Division and CIRES
Tom Weber - CCOM/JHC UNH
Tom Reis - Substructure
Chris Hancock - Kongsberg Maritime
Thank You – Questions?