We Visited for You

A very successful workshop on seabed classification using acoustics was held at the Institute of Ocean Sciences (IOS) in Sidney, British Columbia, Canada, from 16th to 17th February 2004. Sponsors included Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the Centre for Earth and Ocean Research (CEOR) at the University of Victoria, and Quester Tangent Corporation. Approximately ninety persons attended, including from Europe, the United States and across Canada and representing a wide variety of organisations.

The first day entailed technical presentations. The programme began with a brief welcome from Tim Walzak, Executive Director of the Ocean Sciences Board at UVic. He placed seabed classification initiatives within the broader context of ocean activity on the west-coast, including the important Venus and Neptune cabled underwater observatories.
The plenary address was given by Ross Chapman of CEOR, reviewing progress on modelling and practical approaches to seabed classification. Technical papers discussed impressive results from around the world relating true bottom type to acoustic signatures. The main outcome here was the recognition that this technology, together with multibeam bathymetry, can provide crucial sea floor habitat information.

Day Two
The second day comprised a focused workshop on the processing of sea-bed classification signals resulting from multibeam backscatter or sidescan sonar imagery and was sponsored by Quester Tangent Corporation. There was significant interest to make necessary two rooms for simultaneous instruction.

General
There were fifteen posters or exhibits. The evening of the first day was occasion for a no-host reception, with drink tickets and finger-food provided by CEOR and Quester Tangent Corporation. This provided an excellent opportunity for workshop registrants to mix informally and further discuss the technology and applications.
The organising committee consisted of Terry Curran and Jim Galloway, from the Canadian Hydrographic Service, Ross Chapman and Steve Bloomer from University of Victoria Centre for Earth and Ocean Research (CEOR) and Chris Elliott from Quester Tangent Corporation (QTC). All expenses were paid by CEOR and QTC and IOS provided the setting. The last workshop was seven years ago; at the conclusion of this one there was a request for another in a year.

Source: Terry Curran, Manager Client Liaison and Support, Canadian Hydrographic Service Pacific Region, Canada