Geomara are excited to take delivery this week of a PicoCAT 130 multibeam system. The unit combines an ultra high resolution Pico MB 130 multibeam with a one person portable, Unmaned Survey Vessel, based on a precision moulded catamaran design. The system comes integrated with an Applanix POS MV GNSS+IMU. The unit we have acquired has an Valeport, Ultra Sound velocity probe and an onboard Velodyne lidar. It also comes with a remote control unit and a ruggedized laptop.
The Pico MB is supported by Teledyne PDS which is Geomara’s acquisition and processing software of choice. We will be running the unit with a VRS Now RTK correction for real time QC however the facility is also there to record Pospac files for post processed corrections.
The unit was supplied directly by Picotech Ltd who are based in Devon in the UK and they believe it is the world’s smallest integrated Multibeam Echo sounder. The specifications are very impressive and Pioctech MBES systems are now used by the likes of the Port of London Authority and Blyth Port in the UK.
Picotech systems have also been used by a multidisciplinary team from the Centre for Coastal and Ocean Mapping at the University of New Hampshire, NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and Stockholm University aboard the Swedish icebreaker Oden. The system was used to map areas around the Ryder glacier and also along the nearshore sections of a fjord where it found a series of old beaches which indicated when sea level changes have occurred.
We are really excited to deploy the new system and envisage numerous use cases for very nearshore surveying in hard to get places for traditional MBES surveying. It will be a great tool for mapping flood plains and It would be ideal for river, lake, pond and reservoir surveys. Combined with the onboard lidar it will produce full asset surveys of bridges and port infrastructure combining seamlessly with the colocated bathymetric and backscatter data. We are really looking forward to collecting some data and putting this tool to work in traditional and innovative ways for our clients.
Below is a really nice video put together by Geodesea – the UK resellers of Picotech multbeams – of the PicoCAT working for the Port of London Authority on a small tributary in Dartford. I think it really highlights the value this tool can bring to our clients in Ireland and further afield.