Hydrography

Nautical bottom

In many ports, the monitoring of the nautical bottom with standard acoustical methods is not always the best solution. In "muddy" areas a combination of survey techniques (acoustic measurements & density measurements) is required to determine the "nautical bottom".

DensiTune ® Silt Density Probe

The DensiTune is an accurate, easy to operate system to determine the in-situ density of fluid and semi-fluid siltation layers. The name of the system refers to the "tuning fork" principle of measurement. The tuning fork response (frequency and amplitude) is governed by the density and rheological characteristics of the surrounding medium. The system measures vertical density profiles in liquid silt layers. High sampling rates ensure speed of measurement without concession to data quality.

The DensiTune has virtually no operational restrictions:

• Manual operation from the smallest of vessels
• Stationary installation
• Fully automated measuring with an intelligent winch system.

The DensiTune serves to:

• Determine the nautical depth in navigation channels.
• Determine density of silt layers in dredge & dump areas.
• Accurate monitoring of siltation in ports and marine traffic areas.

The DensiTune is optimized to integrate with the SILAS acoustic profiling system. The SILAS on-line density mapper allows rapid tracing of critical locations, that require in-situ probing.

SILAS ®

Click on the image for a larger view.

Silas has been developed for users of acoustic systems who need geophysical information and detail from their measurements. Our customers are hydrographic surveyors, geologists, port authorities, governmental organisations and scientific institutes.
Silas provides information about water depth, silt layers and subbottom characteristics. Besides sediment quantity, layering, the sediment type and sediment characteristics can be determined. Geologists use Silas in combination with profilers, boomers or sparkers, to obtain detailed seismic data for subbottom classification, wreck detection and sand search projects.

Applications:

• Determination of the nautical depth in ports and waterways (density, viscosity)
• Determination of (polluted) silt layers
• Environmental surveys
• Sand-search projects
• Pipeline / cable route surveys
• Wreck / ammunition detection

Advantages:

• Used with echosounder, profiler and boomer systems
• Based on Microsoft Windows user interface standards
• Silas can import absolute density data from the DensiTune to calculate area covering density layers
• Automatic trace functions for subbottom layers and silt layers
• Fast data processing, filtering and interpretation

Densitune & Silas are trademarks from Stema-Surveys bv

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