Hi - We have a blueROV2 which I believe has a Bar30 pressure sensor and underwater GPS system. I would like to record seabed depth below a barge, accurately recording depth and position. Does this sound possible? As one possible method - I could set the ROV on the seabed, and so I’m guessing the actual seabed depth will be depth reading + the height of the sensor above the bottom of the frame skids, and then correct for tide and datum. For accurate horizontal position, can I use vessel GPS input and shore based RTK? We also have a pinger - would this be more accurate if for example I were to run the ROV closer to hull of the barge? I thought that the ROV GPS antenna may lose connection if it’s up against a steel hull? Any advice on software configuration and method to survey seabed depth under a barge hull would be very welcome. Thanks!
Hi @Paul1,
I don’t have direct experience with this, but here are a few potentially relevant pointers:
- Your depth sensor + UGPS + RTK approach sounds like it could at least get the kind of data you’re interested in, but whether it would be accurate enough depends on your requirements
- Whether the ship hull is in the way of the UGPS locating signals depends on where your transducer and receivers are located
- Bathymetry scans are more commonly done with echosounders or multibeam sonars
- Other posts with the mapping tag may be worth a reference
- Other posts with the mapping tag may be worth a reference
- It’s also worth noting that seabeds can change over time, and if it’s soft enough it may be difficult to scan with sonar, but could also be unintentionally modified by running an ROV into it repeatedly
Relevant software depends on the sensors you’re trying to use, and what kind of data output you want/need for your application. Some of that is discussed in other posts, but if you have a specific data source/format then we may be able to provide suggestions on how to convert that to other formats if it’s relevant or necessary to do so