MD 300

High resolution bathymetry survey system

MD 300 is an echo sounder system for shallow water, high resolution swath bathymetry surveys. Supporting up to 64 transducers, the system provides fast mapping of seabed topography with superior accuracy, and is the ideal tool for:

bulletHydrographic surveys to IHO standards
bulletFairway and channel surveys to ensure safe navigation
bulletPlanning, construction and maintenance of harbours
bulletPre- and post-dredging surveys to assess volumes
bulletObtaining data for flood modelling and environmental studies
bulletRoute surveys for submarine cables and pipelines

The system hardware is compact and modular, allowing easy transportation and field upgradeability.

The MD software package is an integral part of the MD 300 system, and it supports all the stages of a survey, from the graphical definition of a survey plan through real-time mission support and timely data logging to expedient processing of the survey data.

 Multi-transducer echo sounder system or very high resolution swath bathymetry system for full bottom coverage in shallow waters

The deliverables for an MD 300 system consist of the following:

MD 300 echo sounder unit

A remotely controlled unit plugged into a PC and controlled through a digital interface. Programmable system parameters include pulse length, gain, sound velocity, ping rate and ping interleaving. The echo sounder unit can be equipped with any number of channels between 1 and 64, operating on any frequency in the range 12 kHz to 1 MHz.

Technical data
bulletDepth range: 0.6 to 200 m
bulletResolution: 0.01 m
bulletNumber of channels: 1 to 64
bulletOperating frequency: 100 kHz or 200 kHz standard, others on request
bulletCasing: each sub-unit of max. eight channels is fitted in 19" rack mountable 3U chassis, dimensions 133*448*301 mm
bulletTransmission pulse length: 0.01 to 2.00 milliseconds, adjustable in 0.01 ms steps
bulletPing rate: 1 to 25 per second each channel
bulletGain control: TVG, master gain, channel gain
bulletSampled echo levels: up to 64

 

 Very high resolution swath bathymetry system or multi-transducer echo sounder system electronics

MDCS survey software

 MDCS software provides a complete set of tools for planning and carrying out a survey.

MDPS post-processing software

 MDPS efficiently processes bathymetry survey data, producing cleaned, map-ready X,Y,Z within minutes of completing a survey.

Additionally needed components to a survey system are:

Survey computer

 MD 300 interfaces with PCs and workstations via a high speed digital link. All other requisite sensors (see below) are connected to the survey computer as well. 

Positioning system

 A GPS connected to the survey computer allows geo-referencing of the acquired soundings.

Other survey instrumentation

 A survey system can be configured to comprise virtually any type of sensor capable of transmitting data via an electrical interface. Typically used sensors are gyrocompasses, motion reference units and tide measurement systems.

Below are example maps showing MD 300 bathymetry data:

Presentation of bathymetry survey results from very high resolution multi-transducer swath bathymetry system Depth contours with shaded relief image of seafloor surveyed with MD 300 very high resolution multi-transducer swath bathymetry system
Three-dimensional illustration of the seabed on a fairway in the Baltic Sea.  Built of 0.6 million depth points, covering approximately 600 m by 400 m. Shaded relief image with overlaid depth contours of the same area.  Large boulders are clearly visible, especially in the northeast portion of the area.

Download an MD 300 brochure (in PDF format) by clicking here.

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