ASL Environmental Sciences announces the successful field trials of a new prototype split-beam sonar. The trials were conducted in the Saanich Inlet near the Institute of Ocean Sciences (IOS), Sidney, BC. This milestone marks the first such deployment of the prototype instrument, as part of a collaboration between researchers at Memorial University, the Department of movie review Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), and ASL.
The field testing was done from a small IOS launch with Dr. Stéphane Gauthier, Fisheries and Oceans research scientist, Dr. Len Zedel, Professor and Department Head of Physics and Physical Oceanography at Memorial University, and graduate student Axel Belgarde, also of Memorial University. ASL staff members Dr. Steve Pearce and Graeme Thompson participated in the study.
Split-beam echosounders use multiple receive channels to determine target location within the acoustical beam. Unlike ordinary single-beam echosounders, split-beam echosounders may determine not only the range but also the direction of arrival of incoming signals. This facilitates accurate measurements of target strength. When detecting fish over multiple pings, a split beam sonar may track the fish and estimate its swimming speed and direction.