Workshops

Assessing real-world data quality is critical during sea acceptance testing for all new systems and routine quality assurance testing throughout their service lives. This workshop demonstrates a suite of software tools developed by NOAA and the NSF-funded Multibeam Advisory Committee to simplify test planning, monitor hardware health and noise levels, standardize evaluations of swath performance, and maximize opportunities for testing and gap-filling on transits.     

In this session you will learn how to properly configure the FAPEC data compressor to use it from Kongsberg SIS5 (for Kmall data), from the WinFAPEC interface, from the command-line, or even programmatically from Python. We will focus on its lossy options which, depending on your specific use case, may allow to further reduce the compressed file sizes while barely affecting the data quality. We will run some tests on the supported formats to show its performance: .all, .wcd, .kmall, .kmwcd, .xtf and EK80. You will also learn how to run the FARSHY viewer on KMall watercolumn data. We will demonstrate its fast operation when browsing the several swaths, in raw or stacked mode, and its capability to quickly highlight features in the watercolumn. We will also demonstrate our latest product, Mardins, which quickly generates standard image files from HiSAS and EK80 datasets.

In this session, we demonstrate how KONGSBERG acquisition systems and EIVA software can be combined to streamline survey workflows. Starting with processing in NaviEdit and NaviModel, we show how Workflow Manager enables automation of key steps – both onboard and onshore. The result is faster access to quality-controlled data, more efficient operations, and improved decision-making for surveyors working across a range of applications.

Modern hydrographic workflows demand more than powerful software. They require orchestration. We will demonstrate how Qontrol (the Qinsy API) and Command (the Qimera CLI) enable teams to automate acquisition and processing tasks, support remote and uncrewed operations, and build reproducible, scalable workflows without manual intervention.

Geophysical survey processing has always been manual and desktop-bound—analysts spend days or weeks turning raw sonar into finished deliverables. Fathom automates the full pipeline in the cloud: ingest, gridding, QC, and export, with no analyst intervention. GPU-accelerated processing on AWS completes in minutes what previously took weeks. It applies the same SonarWiz processing standard already relied on by the Navy, NOAA, and commercial operators. The result is faster turnaround, lower cost per survey, and analysts freed for interpretation instead of processing.

Learn how the latest HIPS and SIPS innovations are helping organizations scale hydrographic production through improved automation, quality control, and processing efficiency, including new capabilities in HIPS 13 and recent advances in cloud technology and automated QC workflows.

Accurate patch test calibration is essential for achieving high-quality multibeam survey results. This presentation examines how HYPACK's Automatic Patch Test streamlines the calibration workflow for Kongsberg multibeam systems through automated analysis and parameter estimation. Topics include survey line planning, data acquisition best practices, interpretation of timing, pitch, roll, and yaw corrections, and validation of results. Through practical examples and project-based case studies, attendees will see how automation reduces processing time, improves repeatability, and helps ensure consistent data quality throughout the hydrographic workflow.

This workshop demonstrates how modern bathymetric data management serves as a common foundation for both digital twin development and IHO S-100 product production. Participants will review ArcGIS Bathymetry workflows, explore recent capabilities, and see demonstrations of S-100 HDF5 export and 3D digital twin data maintenance.