High-Resolution Multibeam, Sidescan, and Subbottom Surveys Using the MBARI AUV D. Allan B.
| Book title | Marine Habitat Mapping Technology for Alaska |
|---|---|
| Year | 2008 |
| Article DOI | 10.4027/mhmta.2008.04 (about DOIs) |
| Pages | 47–69 |
| PDF link* | View full text in PDF format [1.6 MB] |
*This low-resolution PDF is optimized for viewing on screen. High-resolution chapters are available on CD only.
Abstract
The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) has developed an autonomous seafloor mapping capability for high resolution mapping of the deep ocean seafloor. The D. Allan B. is a 21 inch diameter, Dorado class autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) equipped with a 200 kHz multibeam sonar, 110 kHz and 410 kHz side scan sonars, and a 2-16 kHz sub-bottom profiler. All components of the vehicle are rated to 6,000 m depth. Using precise navigation and attitude data from an laser-ring-gyro-based inertial navigation system (INS) integrated with a Doppler velocity log sonar (DVL), the mapping AUV can image the deep-ocean seafloor and shallow subsurface structure with much greater resolution than is possible with sonars operated from surface vessels. Typical survey operations use a vehicle speed of 1.5 m per second (3 knots) and an altitude of 20 m to 100 m. The system can also be operated in an ROV-mounted configuration, allowing near-bottom surveys in very restricted terrain. The D. Allan B. has now been operated in a variety of settings, including submarine canyons (Monterey Canyon, Barkley Canyon), fan channels (Redondo Channel), seamounts (Axial Seamount, Davidson Seamount), methane hydrate outcrops and gas seeps (Santa Monica Basin, Barkley Canyon), and cable route surveys across continental margin slopes (Monterey Bay, Cascadia Margin). The bathymetry surveys achieve a vertical precision of 0.3 m; surveys from a 20 m altitude achieve sub-meter lateral resolution and surveys from 50-100 m altitudes achieve lateral resolutions less than 2 m. The sub-bottom profile data provides resolution of ~0.1 m with penetrations up to 50 m in soft sediments.
