Improved Survey Accuracy with ORCA

• Main Authors: Harris, Mike, Bourgeois, Brian
• Other Authors: NAVAL RESEARCH LAB STENNIS SPACE CENTER MS MARINE GEOSCIENCES DIV
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1998
• Subjects: Physical and Dynamic Oceanography; *BATHYMETRY; *HYDROGRAPHY; GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM; DATA ACQUISITION; MINE HUNTING; HYDROGRAPHIC SURVEYING; REMOTE DETECTION; MULTIPLE BEAMS(RADIATION); ORCA(OCEANOGRAPHIC REMOTE CONTROLLED AUTOMATON); RMS(REMOTE MINEHUNTING SYSTEM); PE63704N; Orca
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA358842; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA358842

The advent of multibeam bathymetry systems, which are capable of total seafloor ensonification, have made fundamental changes in hydrography. The new IHO S-44 standards challenge hydrographers to achieve even greater depth and position accuracy with multibeam systems. ORCA has made incremental improvements in each of these areas as demonstrated in a series of at sea survey tests. Improvements have been made to the system that allow collection of data during turns, an order of magnitude improvement in heading measurement, and accurate measurement of vessel depth with respect to mean sea-level. Data collection during turns was achieved using a sensor that integrates inertial and GPS signals. Heading accuracy has been improved by going from a gyro based measurement system to a dual-antenna GPS phase differencing system. In addition to more accurate placement of soundings, especially in the outer beams, the system components are smaller and require less power than those replaced. Vessel depth measurements are made with a high-frequency altimeter, which also yields sea surface information including wave height, period, number and direction. An autonomous surveying capability has been developed to achieve the desired ensonification of the seafloor without over or under surveying an area. Coverage is based on the quality of data in the outer beams and the desired overlap in coverage. This paper describes the sensor and software changes made to the ORCA, and provides comparative results from system testing.