High resolution bathymetric survey system

The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, San Diego, (SSC-San Diego), California was selected by the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence (UK MoD) to design, develop and integrate a bathymetric navigation survey system aboard a survey ship that was designed specifically for deep water operations. In 1998, an operational survey system, installed aboard HMS Scott, was delivered to the United Kingdom. This Ocean Survey System, in continuous use since that time, is capable of surveying at 12 knots and in ocean depths ranging from 100 to 6000 fathoms. The Ocean Survey System on HMS Scott consists of four major subsystems; Sonar, Navigation, Mission Control and Processing, and the Power Distribution Subsystems. The Sonar Subsystem provides both wide swath multi-beam and single beam depth data that is time correlated with GPS aided Ring Laser Gyro Navigator position data. The Navigation Subsystem provides accurate platform time, position, velocity, and attitude data. The Mission Control and Processing Subsystem provides for centralized system control, data acquisition, performance monitoring, and post-time data processing and editing functions. The Power Distribution Subsystem provides precision regulated and uninterruptible power to all system equipment. The focus of this paper will be on the Sonar Subsystem. The heart of this ocean survey system is the state-of-the-art, high resolution, 120-degree wide swath multi-beam array sonar. This system, considered to be the most accurate of its kind, is both roll and pitch stabilized and can operate effectively in conditions of up to sea state four. Contributing to the high accuracy of this system is the precision transmit and receive array configuration and sonar signal processing. Up until last year, each sonar ping was capable of producing 121-depth points with a resolution of one-degree. Last year signal processing enhancements enabled the generation of 361 depth points per ping with one-third degree cross track resolution, significantly improving resultant bathymetric chart accuracy.