Sea tests of the new IH lateral scanning sonar system

Since May 18, 2020, the NRP “Auriga” has sailed off Sines, supporting the implementation of sea tests of the new side-scanning system of the Hydrographic Institute.

Towed by the bottom, the KLEIN 5000v2 sonar allows the acquisition of high resolution images from the seabed, being one of the means that is used preferably in the search, detection and localization of objects.

For this first operation in national waters, the technical team engaged in the search for a structure with oceanographic equipment that, merged in early September 2019, was reported lost since January this year. The structure was about 2 meters high and welcomed two profilers of acoustic currents, and was founded near the 15 m deep off the beach of S.Torpes.

Following the normal procedure for this type of survey, a small area was covered around the last known position. In addition to the beautiful underwater morphology, with extensive rocky reliefs of volcanic origin alternating with flat areas typical of a sediment-covered bottom, acoustic echoes of diverse origins were identified. Of these, there was one that was evidenced by its characteristics of the others, with regular contours and a few dozen meters away from the initial position, as indicated by the acoustic positioning.

Having been considered similar to the structure that was sought, the object will be inspected by a team of Navy divers, for confirmation and subsequent recovery.

These actions will be implemented in the coming days, using existing means on board the NRP “Auriga”. In the meantime, the structure features continue to acquire new data, particularly with magnetometers.