DSM Sonar Software

Post-processing of sonar data is a common task in ocean science. This includes the creation of bathymetric maps, the use of seafloor backscatter information to determine sediment types as well as the analysis of water column data, e.g. for the assessment of fish populations or the quantification of gas releases from the seafloor at methane seeps. Many commercial and free post processing tools for these tasks exist, but since there is a wide range of sonar manufactures with individual data formats not every format is supported by these applications. The DSM Sonar Software is a collection of software libraries and applications to facilitate access to sonar data of various formats and convert between different formats. The conversion of an unsupported format into a commonly supported one makes it possible to process sonar data with existing post processing tools. The target users for our converters are scientists and hydrographers. The different data format descriptions and sonar tool libraries are valuable for software developers in the field of automated sonar data analysis. The modular approach and structure of the DSM Sonar Software enables that developers pick only necessary components to include them in their own software project

RV ALKOR Fahrtbericht / Cruise Report AL533 - Mutual Field Trials of the Manned Submersible JAGO and the Hover-AUVs ANTON and LUISE off the Aeolian Islands, Mediterranean Sea, Catania (Italy) – La Seyne-sur-mer (France) 05.02. – 18.02.2020

The tight program of scientific research cruises usually does not leave enough time for thorough tests of new research equipment and their system components, nor for extensive pilot and handling training. For this reason, ship time was requested for sea trials of two types of autonomous (not tethered) underwater vehicles owned by GEOMAR, the manned 400-meter submersible JAGO and the Hover-AUVs ANTON and LUISE, type Girona500. The aim was to test several technical and operational aspects with both vehicles at locations with differently structured terrain (from flat ground to steep rocky slopes) and to water depths of up to 500 meters. The Aeolian Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea north of Sicily were chosen as test area. The volcanic islands offer sheltered sea conditions at their leeway, and bottom currents are usually weak or absent. Rocky and steep slopes are located in short distances to areas with flat underwater topography, providing ideal test conditions

The influence of crystallographic orientation on the wetting of silicon on quartz single crystals

Dynamic hexagonal spreading patterns of small silicon droplets on the basal plane (001) of quartz were observed by video microscopy. A detailed analysis of the hexagonal triple line demonstrates that the patterns show slight chiral distortions that can be attributed to the screw axis of the substrate crystal. This article reveals the detailed influence of crystal symmetry on the anisotropy of reactive wetting. In this context, a first discussion about the interplay of wetting and etching of a crystal is provided

DeepSurveyCam — A Deep Ocean Optical Mapping System

Underwater photogrammetry and in particular systematic visual surveys of the deep sea are by far less developed than similar techniques on land or in space. The main challenges are the rough conditions with extremely high pressure, the accessibility of target areas (container and ship deployment of robust sensors, then diving for hours to the ocean floor), and the limitations of localization technologies (no GPS). The absence of natural light complicates energy budget considerations for deep diving flash-equipped drones. Refraction effects influence geometric image formation considerations with respect to field of view and focus, while attenuation and scattering degrade the radiometric image quality and limit the effective visibility. As an improvement on the stated issues, we present an AUV-based optical system intended for autonomous visual mapping of large areas of the seafloor (square kilometers) in up to 6000 m water depth. We compare it to existing systems and discuss tradeoffs such as resolution vs. mapped area and show results from a recent deployment with 90,000 mapped square meters of deep ocean floor