Diving
Services uses the StarFish 450 for all of its side scan sonar work.
Sonar (SOund, NAvigation and Ranging) is a
technique that uses sound waves to detect and locate objects underwater. Side
scan sonar is a specific type of sonar used to image the topography of the
seafloor. The StarFish 450 produces
spectacular images of the seabed and is currently the smallest 'towfish' side
scan sonar on the market, measuring less than 15 inches, therefore allowing us
to deploy and operate the StarFish from the most remote locations.
Side scan sonar is a category of sonar system that is used to efficiently create an image of large areas underwater. This tool is used for mapping underwater for a wide variety of purposes, including but not limited to geological surveys, environmental studies of the seafloor, marine biology, reef monitoring, hazardous waste site assessment, hydrographic surveys and detection and identification of underwater objects in search and recovery applications.
Side-scan sonar imagery is also a commonly used tool to detect debris items and other obstructions on the reservoir floor that may be hazardous to diving or to underwater installations by energy companies. Side-scan data is frequently acquired along with bathymetric soundings and sub-bottom profiler data, thus providing a glimpse of the shallow structure underwater.
(right)
The intensity of the acoustic reflections from the reservoir floor of this
fan-shaped beam is recorded in a series of cross-track slices. When stitched
together along the direction of motion, these slices form an image of the bottom
within the swath (coverage width) of the beam.
Side scan sonar; also referred to as side-looking sonar and side-imaging sonar; is often towed from a survey vessel and has the ability to capture hundreds of metres of seafloor on each side of the moving vessel. The near photographic quality images produced by side scan sonar along with its ability to map large areas of seafloor quickly make it essential when customers need to obtain high definition images of the seabed.
(below) sample side scan images
