2025 R/V Sikuliaq EM304 MKII / EM710 QAT

Cruise ID: SKQ202503S Multibeam System: EM304 MK II/ EM710 Dates: February 3-6, 2025 In Feb 2024, UAF and MAC personnel conducted sea acceptance testing (SAT) of R/V Sikuliaq’s (SKQ) new EM304 MKII multibeam mapping system, Seapath 380-R3 navigation system, and EM710 RX array Seasonal readiness testing off Hawaii in Feb 2025 expanded on the 2024 SAT work with access to deeper seafloor regions, supporting a more complete characterization of EM304 MKII performance UAF and MAC personnel planned a series of tests following the standard MAC SAT/QAT checklist, with consideration for post-SAT priorities and backup options to suit the weather and sea state conditions Small but critical updates were made to all sensor XYZ offsets, reflecting the final survey report provided by Westlake (after the 2024 SAT) and maintaining consistency of the mapping system origin at the granite block Calibrations for both systems revealed small residual biases, suggesting a high-accuracy vessel

2024 R/V Sikuliaq EM304 MKII/EM710 SAT

Cruise ID: SKQ202403S Multibeam System: EM304 MKII/EM710 Dates: February 2024 R/V Sikuliaq (SKQ) received several significant upgrades to its multibeam mapping systems during the 2023-24 winter shipyard period in Seward, Alaska Conditions in the shipyard were extreme and complicated all work related to these upgrades; although many components of the winter work package were curtailed by these conditions, the UAF and Kongsberg teams completed all major mapping priority projects: Complete replacement of the original EM302 with an EM304 MKII system (0.5° TX / 1.0° RX) Addition of one Seapath 380-R3 navigation systems with a primary MGC serving the ship and mapping systems; a secondary MGC also serve the ship and acts as a spare for the Seapath 380 / mapping system Comprehensive new survey of vessel and sensor offsets by Westlake Consultants Installation of new permanent benchmarks at strategic hull locations Planned replacement of the EM710 RX array was not

2024 R/V David Packard EM304 MKII SAT

Cruise ID: R/V David Packard Multibeam System: EM304 MKII Dates: February 15-17, 2024 R/V David Packard undertook a series of sea acceptance trials (SAT) for the ship’s new Seapath 380 / MGC-R3 navigation system and EM304 MKII multibeam echosounder in the vicinity of Vigo, Spain between 15-17 Feb 2024; a combination of contract SAT activities were completed by Kongsberg for Freire Shipyard in tandem with independent pre-SAT and SAT assessments conducted by Johnson and Jerram for MBARI Two important factors will impact performance of this particular EM304 MKII: The high voltage power supply has been reduced by Kongsberg from 130V to 105V to avoid damages observed with other EM304 MKII and EM124 systems; the impacts on performance are not clear at this point, and these concerns have been noted in the signed SAT documents with Kongsberg The ice windows cause acoustic attenuation during TX and RX that will reduce the