By
Graham Davis
 |
|
Number
440 is the test bed for the SeaBat sonar.
|
 |
|
The
monitors showing a hulk off Ball’s Head.
Photos by LSPH Damian Pawlenko
|
DSTO
at Pyrmont has itself a Batboat and like the sleek vessel of the
Caped Crusader and his sidekick Robin, its purpose is to protect
the community.
DSTO’s Batboat is the former RAN “40 footer” No
440. It is not the boat that is different, it is what is mounted
on its bow and the state-of-the-art equipment in it’s cabin.
The equipment is the Reson SeaBat 8125, a device which uses high
resolution sonar imaging technology to measure and map the seabed
and its properties.
The information can be used to assess and manage coastal water
habitats for marine exploration and for defence purposes.
Used in a swathe pattern, the device can send a signal to up to
90 metres in depth and get an accurate return. The width of the
swathe is assessed at 3.5 times the depth of the water being probed.
The SeaBat was bought by the Coastal Cooperative Research Centre
as part of a $3.4 million coastal habitat mapping project.
After its official launch at REVY/Pyrmont on August 12, a research
team trialled the SeaBat in Sydney Harbour.
Making up the team were scientists from DSTO and Geoscience Australia.
Mounted on a bracket ahead of the boat’s bow is a device
from which the sonar signal is transmitted. A receiver takes the
responding signal to a sophisticated computer and its screen.
“As well as environmental and resource applications the project
is of importance to Defence and shipping in Sydney Harbour and
other areas,” Dr Phil Chapple, senior scientist for DSTO
said.
“We want to know if there are any features in the water that
could damage naval ships.
“Using this and other sonars, we are able to accurately map
in detail the Sydney Harbour seafloor including shipwrecks and
dumped car bodies.
“In the future this technology could be used, for example,
to detect the presence of hazardous objects in coastal environments.”
One of the great benefits of SeaBat is that it can detect whether
the seabed is sandy, muddy or rocky.
It can also help coastal managers monitor sediment movements as
might occur at a river mouth following a severe flood. During
a demonstration run to waters off Balls Head in Sydney, the device
detected two hulks on the harbour floor.
