'Global forum': a chance for leading industry figures to air their views on a topical subject

摘要

As far as deep-water mapping is concerned, the first thing you have to consider is whether your existing sounders can provide a small enough footprint of the bottom to give you accurate depth information. Most average industrial, trawler equipment would not. You need very low frequency (18kHz) high power (10kW) and a very narrow, stabilised, beam angle. A rolling vessel can complicate things. The aim is to get a pinpoint on what could be a hilly bottom. You must not risk getting only the highest point within the beam angle. The depth and related Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) data are then processed by our 3-D Piscatus software which is designed to filter out inaccurate data. Remember, a 200-metre high hill, four kilometres down, might normallyshow up on your screen like a pimple on the Man on the Moon's face.