Cruise ID: R/V Rachel Carson
Multibeam System: EM2040
Dates: March 21-22, 2024
Executive Summary
- R/V Rachel Carson (RC) received a major update to its mapping systems during the 2023-24 shipyard period:
- New Kongsberg EM2040 (0.4° TX / 0.7° RX)
- New Seapath 380 navigation system with a MRU5
- Comprehensive new survey of vessel and sensor offsets by Westlake Consultants
- The MAC was asked to assist with conducting Sea Acceptance Testing (SAT) of the new EM2040 using the Seapath; due to schedule constraints, the MAC provided remote support from shore for planning and data processing after the SAT; the on-board mapping team included SSSG personnel with multibeam experience and a Kongsberg field engineer (Tony Dahlheim) who completed the Kongsberg SAT contract procedures
- A number of EM2040 test sites occupied previously by NAVO vessels were prioritized for planning, as the publicly available seafloor data in Puget Sound is often not sufficiently detailed for careful shallow water testing
- Planning followed the standard MAC SAT/QAT checklist, starting with system geometry review, antenna calibration, hardware health, and noise testing to verify basic functionality; multibeam calibration, accuracy, and swath coverage testing were organized to maximize efficiency under the ship’s two-day schedule and other constraints, such as vessel traffic and tides
- This report describes the procedures and results for system geometry review, hardware health monitoring, RX noise characterization, geometric calibration (‘patch test’), accuracy testing, and swath coverage assessment, with recommendations for future data collection to more fully document the EM2040’s baseline performance
- Built-In Self-Tests (BISTs) were carried out throughout the Factory Acceptance, Harbor Acceptance, and Sea Acceptance Tests to verify hardware health and document the baseline conditions; all results fell within spec.
Attached Documents
Report:
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