© 2013 Oceanic Imaging Consultants, Inc.
Service + Software for Seafloor Mapping
Interferometric Sidescans / SSI SYS09 - 120
Sensors Supported:
The SSI Sys09/Sys100 systems are manufactured by Fugro Seafloor Surveys, Inc. (FSSI), Seattle, Washington. The Sys09 is a towed body, vector side-scan, phase bathymetry sonar system operating at a frequency of 9 kHz.
While being towed at a depth of 100 meters, the system can map a swath up to 10 kilometers wide down to full-ocean depth. The system produces simultaneous real-time side-scan intensity images and industry standard swath bathymetric maps. The data is corrected for towfish altitude and movement using a depth sensor and a motion-sensing unit mounted in the towfish.
The Sys100 is a high-resolution vector side-scan sonar. Operating at 100 kHz, the system surveys swaths up to 1,000 meters wide, while delivering simultaneous real-time side-scan intensity images and bathymetric maps. The data are acquired in 2,048 pixels across the swath, with each pixel containing a water depth and an echo intensity measurement. The Sys100 towfish is towed within 150 to 200 meters of the seafloor with a two-body tow system. Typical survey water depths are between 20 and 1,200 meters.
All measurements are corrected for actual towfish attitude using an internally-mounted six-component, motion sensing unit. The Sys100 towfish is equipped with a chirp sub-bottom profiler. Mounted in the towfish with the side-scan array, the transducer correlates sub-bottom data with bathymetry and side-scan intensity images. The sub-bottom profiler transmits at the same time as the side-scan. Both sets of signals are digitized and telemetered to the surface, where they are logged on an optical disk.
OIC interfaces with the Sys09 and Sys100 using OICToolkit for post-acquisition processing.