Science & Ship Equipment

The EM124 12 kHz system is designed to perform seabed mapping to full ocean depth, with full resolution, coverage, and accuracy. Some details of the system installed on Armstrong:

• Swath width from 2 to 6 times water depth. In typical 3 to 4 km depths, a swath width of 3.5 times depth can be expected.
• Full 1° x 1° transmit and receive array.
• Up to 432 soundings per swath in single ping mode, up 864 soundings in dual ping mode.
• Can use both CW and FM outgoing pulses.
• Capability to record water column data.
• .KMall format datagrams
• A fully integrated display system, with 2D and 3D viewing, route planning, system diagnostics, etc.

Visit the Kongsberg website to learn more. Color printers and large-format plotters are also available.

The EM712 system is designed to perform shallow seabed mapping, with full resolution, coverage, and accuracy. Some details of the system installed on Armstrong:

• Depth: Up to 3600m
• Swath width 5.5 times water depth.
• Frequency range: 40-100kHz
• Can use both CW and FM outgoing pulses.
• Capability to record water column data.
• .KMall format datagrams

Visit the Kongsberg website to learn more. Color printers and large-format plotters are also available.

• This array comprises of 5 transducers (18, 38, 70, 120, 200 kHz), which combined can provide a shallow or deep profile of the biomass beneath the ship.
• The main function is detecting gas-bladders in fish or large mammals, but it can also detect the presence of gas bubbles, usually emitting from various kinds of seeps on the seafloor.
• Visit the Kongsberg website to learn more.

The EM SBP system is designed for high-quality sub-bottom profiling. The system "borrows" the Tx/Rx array from the EM124 and uses it to create sub-bottom signal, which is then processed in the EM SBP software. Some details of the system installed on Armstrong:

• User selectable pinging sequence
• Simultaneous primary and parametric sub-bottom imaging
• SEG-Y format recording
• 2 to 9 kHz frequency range
• 3° System with 96 transmit transducer elements
• Full ocean depth (10,000 m)

Visit the Kongsberg website to learn more. Color printers and large-format plotters are also available.

Knudsen 3260 Chirp Echosounder

• comprises of a 3.5 kHz array and a 12 kHz transducer
• Sub-bottom data logged in SEG-Y industry format
• Read more at the product page.

Armstrong's ADCP transducers can create profiles of the ocean's currents beneath the ship at various depth ranges.

The OS38 has a range of 0-1000 m

The OS150 has a range of 0-400 m

• Visit the Teledyne site to learn more specifics about the Ocean Surveyor ADCP.

The WH300 has a range of 0-200 m

• Visit the Teledyne site to learn more specifics about the Workhorse II Mariner ADCP.

Also visit this page to learn more about ADCP's from WHOI!

• Operating the Ranger2 software for tracking beacons in the water, this system involves a single transducer mounted to a retractable pole beneath the ship, and is the primary way of tracking the objects and vehicles used frequently aboard Armstrong (ie. the CTD or trawls and Jason or Sentry).
• Portable beacons are attached to objects deployed by the ship, and are then able to be tracked (depth, range, bearing, speed).
• Learn more about the Ranger2 suite from Sonardyne's site.

If planning a cruise and the need for USBL beacons is known, please reach out to the R/V Science Coordinator immediately after completing the MFP cruise form to reserve them.