UTAS Project
SEA-KIT International conducted an uncrewed over-the-horizon survey from 28 July to 14 August 2020, using USV Maxlimer. This first uncrewed survey was undertaken to demonstrate the capabilities of Maxlimer, as proof of concept for uncrewed survey operations. Bathymetric data was collected using a hull-mounted Kongsberg Maritime EM710 (1° x 1°) system. Teledyne CARIS and Map the Gaps were subcontracted to oversee the bathymetric survey operations. Map the Gaps involvement was supported by the Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Ocean Frontier Mapping funds. The original plan had been a trans-Atlantic survey from Halifax to Plymouth, but in the COVID world plans changed to survey an area on the UK outer shelf.
The Map the Gaps Team was composed of 11 Nippon Foundation / GEBCO Training Program alumni – with 10 data processors from 10 countries working from 8 different locations. The global distribution of alumni allowed for 24-hour survey operations with just over 1,200 square km of data was collected. This was followed by 24-hour data processing and product development. Three different modes of data cleaning were undertaken to allow different approaches to be assessed and compared. The differences between the 10 m gridded surfaces from three different approaches were typically minimal, except in areas of steep slope and in deeper water where the data was already of poor quality. The biggest difference was a reduction in time of 76% when running the CARIS Mira AI model prior to manual data QC. This allowed processors to focus efforts on less tedious tasks allowing best possible cleaned surfaces to be produced.
The data collected was contributed to the Nippon Foundation - GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project
