Z-Boat for Shallow-water Hydrographic Surveys
For hydrographic surveys in shallow inshore waters such as rivers, canals, lakes and ponds, access to the site can sometimes be the biggest headache of the entire survey. Driving a boat trailer to the survey site requires a wide access point and a convenient place to launch the boat. The Oceanscience Group (USA) has launched the Z-Boat 1800 portable remotely-operated survey boat that brings high-quality positioning and depth sounder instruments together on a convenient remote platform that can be launched and operated from practically anywhere.
The Z-Boat is the first in a new line of remote survey systems to be released in 2012. The boat was revealed at the January 2012 HYPACK conference in San Diego, USA, followed by a trip to London, UK, for a first outing in Europe at the Oceanology 2012 exhibition where it caused quite a stir.
Early adopters of the Oceanscience system include surveyors from Shafer, Kline & Warren (Lenexa, KS). The SKW team was faced with performing multiple cable route surveys in rivers with little or no access for a manned boat. For the relatively short river cross-sections, mobilising a conventional survey boat was an expensive proposition that would have made the job impossible to perform in a cost-effective manner. Instead, the Z-Boat 1800 was deployed from the shore, between the fallen trees and logs. High-quality survey data obtained using the Seafloor Systems SonarM8 single beam depth sounder and Trimble R8 RTK GPS were recorded on the shore without setting foot on the water.
To see the Z-Boat in action conducting a cable survey in Ohio, watch the video:
