Program

This workshop provides a technical introduction to Synthetic Aperture Sonar (SAS) and presents the new HISAS2020 system. The session explains how SAS achieves high resolution independent of range, how HISAS2020 is designed for integration across multiple platforms, and how real-time processing tools can be used to optimize data quality. Participants will gain insight into how platform alignment, navigation accuracy, and sound velocity structure influence SAS performance, and how these effects can be visualized and corrected during processing.

Participants will learn:

• The fundamentals of Synthetic Aperture Sonar and how SAS differs from conventional side-scan and multibeam systems.
• The architecture and key components of the HISAS2020 system.
• The data flow from raw acoustic returns through motion compensation and beamforming to image formation. 
• How real-time quality assessment tools visualize geometry, alignment, navigation consistency, and sound velocity effects during processing.
• Typical operational scenarios and the expected performance envelope of HISAS2020.

The electromagnetic receiver sensor system Listen enables accurate and reliable electric and magnetic field measurements from AUVs. The Listen system has been integrated on various AUVs and has been commercially used in surveys for pipeline cathodic protection measurements, marine mineral exploration and cable positioning with emphasis on cable burial depth below seafloor. The Listen system is run and used in combination with other payloads such as multibeam echosounders (EM2040), HISAS, lasers and cameras.

This workshop will focus on Listen data applications with real data cases. In particular, Listen data acquisition, processing and visualization will be described as well as how the Listen sensor HW has been integrated on a Hugin AUV.

This presentation reflects on nearly 30 years of Ireland’s national seabed mapping programme, from the Irish National Seabed Survey to INFOMAR’s approaching completion of full multibeam coverage of Ireland’s EEZ. It highlights the programme’s technological evolution, long-standing collaboration with Kongsberg Maritime, and key scientific and operational achievements, including mapping of seabed geomorphology, deep-sea habitat, shipwreck, offshore renewable energy sites and new International mapping initiatives.

In March 2026, Canada launched an Antarctic research program with Chile aboard the new icebreaker Almirante Viel. During a two-week expedition near the South Shetland Islands and Antarctic Peninsula, researchers collected seabed mapping, geological, and oceanographic data. The collaboration involved government agencies, navies, and academic institutions from both countries. This presentation highlights project outcomes, the use of the vessel’s EM124 and SBP29 sonar systems, and key lessons learned.

Lake Nemi, near Rome, Italy, is a site of exceptional archaeological and historical importance, renowned for the remains of two monumental Roman ships recovered in the 1920s. A high-resolution multibeam survey using a Kongsberg EM2040p system produced the first detailed lakebed mapping. Combined with archival and historical information, the results revealed multiple submerged landslides and provided new insights into the likely location of the Roman ships, which were destroyed by fire during World War II in 1944.

Co-authors:

Antonio Petrizzo, Christian Toson and Giorgio Simone (CNR ISMAR Istituto di Scienze Marine, Venezia)

Fabrizio Ortolani (CNR INM, Istituto di Ingegneria del Mare, Roma)

Alessandro Bosman (CNR IGAG Istituto di Geologia Ambientale e Geoingegneria, Roma)

Daniela De Angelis (Director Museo delle Navi romane di Nemi, Direzione Regionale Musei Lazio, Roma)

Maddalena Bassani (Director Laboratorio di Analisi Materiali Antichi, Università Iuav di Venezia)

In support of the Polar Connect cable route, Icebreaker ODEN needed to collect EM124 and SB29 data in very heavy (9/10 to 10/10) ice. To achieve the quality of data needed to support cable route planning, we took advantage of the EM124’s 3D-scan mode allowing the collection of high-quality data while progressing at a reasonable speed even in the heaviest ice. Strategies for use of this feature will be described and data examples presented.

Co-author:

Adriano Fonseca

This presentation will highlight the multi-phase study conceived by NOAA, Kongsberg Discovery, TAI Engineering, and Thoma-Sea Marine Constructors to determine an optimal solution to address bubble sweepdown concerns on NOAA’s Class B Charting and Mapping vessels. The five phase study consists of (1) validating the initial CFD analysis, (2) comparing a blister versus a gondola solution, (3) optimizing the preferred gondola solution, (4) physical model testing with simulated sea states, and (5) propeller cavitation testing.

Governmental, academic, commercial, and private ocean mapping organizations share many technical and operational challenges. This presentation highlights field experiences and collaborative efforts among NOAA, the NSF-funded Multibeam Advisory Committee (MAC), and partners to build community-based resources for maintaining high data quality and operational efficiency. Priorities include standardizing performance assessments for new multibeam systems; providing routine quality assurance testing; publicly sharing methods, results, challenges, and solutions; and developing training opportunities. 

Sea Centric rapidly converted working vessels into seabed-mapping platforms, creating new survey capacity while learning practical lessons in vessel suitability, system selection, integration and operations. This presentation follows that journey beyond multibeam installation to the data lifecycle itself. It examines how cybersecurity, governance, provenance, quality, accessibility and sovereignty shape the value of ocean data, and how adaptable commercial fleets can support trusted, resilient mapping capacity without waiting for purpose-built research vessels.

Co-author: 

Megan Murphy (Sea Centric Inc.)

In 2025, the French Hydrographic Service (Shom) deployed Marlin, its first autonomous Drix H-8, equipped with a KONGSBERG EM2042 multibeam echosounder. This presentation provides an overview of the initial calibrations, acceptance tests conducted to verify compliance with IHO standards and the first operational surveys. Workflows for surveys with Marlin are also compared with those used on crewed survey vessels. The deployment of this USV represents a significant advancement in hydrography by providing autonomous survey capabilities. 

Since December 2024, Saildrone has been conducted multiple, large-scale uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) deep-water bathymetric surveys in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. Deploying up to four Saildrone Surveyor platforms with Kongsberg EM304 MkII multi-beam echo sounders, the project evaluates platform endurance and system performance across diverse seabed environments. Overcoming remote operational challenges, the effort has driven hardware, software, and workflow innovations, highlighting the growing capability of uncrewed platforms for large-scale ocean mapping.

Co-authors:
Daniel Boone, Tiziana Munene and Bert Wyness (Saildrone)

OceanX, in coordination with IMar and OceanQuest, conducted two 2025 expeditions to Cabo Verde, focusing on the Nola Seamount Complex, to support biodiversity research and build multi-system datasets for machine learning and visualization tools. Using three multibeam systems and EK80 acoustics, we mapped ~4,300 km² of seafloor, collected water column and biological data, and also uncovered software processing issues—prompting vendor fixes and improved workflows for future ocean mapping and analysis.

Co-authors:

Laura Sousa, Rikki Kirchell, Hayley Drennon, Mattie Rodrigue and Vincent Pieribone (OceanX)

Paul Johnson and Kevin Jerram (University of New Hampshire Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping)

Nico Augustin (OceanQuest)

Yara Rodrigues (Instituto do Mar (Imar))

This presentation describes the conversion of NG Surveyor from an offshore support vessel into an advanced survey platform equipped with a fully integrated Kongsberg acoustic suite. The vessel supported one of the largest deep-water habitat mapping programmes in the Mediterranean under the MER initiative, investigating 79 seamounts and rocky outcrops up to 3000m water depth. The presentation highlights system integration, survey methodology, and examples of high-resolution bathymetric, backscatter, and sub-bottom profiling results.

The Ocean Exploration Trust’s vessel E/V Nautilus has mapped over 1.3 million square kilometers of the deep sea with a KONGSBERG EM302 multibeam. This talk will provide an overview of the 13-year lifespan of the EM302 and describe the 2026 upgrade to a new EM304 MKII. The new EM304 is being used as a deep ocean mapping test platform in collaboration with the University of New Hampshire’s Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping and KONGSBERG. 

Co-authors:

Daniel Wagner (OET)

Paul Johnson and Larry Mayer (UNH-CCOM)

Meme Lobecker (KONGSBERG)

Co-authors:

Hugues Moreau, Gilles Le Chenadec and Sabrina Homrani (ENSTA, Lab-STICC UMR CNRS 6285)

Christophe Vrignaud and Elodie Marches (Service Hydrographique et Océanographique de la Marine)

A long-standing concern for seabed infrastructure is the mobility of the substrate. A prime issue is seabed scour in shallow seas impacted by either tidal or wave-driven currents. To understand the scale of sediment transport requires simultaneous monitoring of the time-varying 3D current field, water mass boundaries, suspended sediment and the associated changes in the seabed. This presentation will illustrate balancing interference and data density using simultaneous multiple EM systems, a CP-300 ADCP and K-Sync.

Poster authors will present themselves

Multibeam water column data enable investigating targets above the seafloor. A notable application is detecting underwater gas bubble  release. Recent research shows that water column data can further  quantify detected gas flow rates, enabling operationally efficient  assessments of leakage impact and priority. We present MBES-based quantification using EM710 measurements from Black Sea natural seeps and EM2040 measurements from a synthetic bubble source in the North Sea. We highlight methodological strengths, limitations and acoustic calibration challenges.

Co-authors:

Geert de Bruin (TNO Geological Survey of the Netherlands and NIOZ The Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research )

Laurens van der Marel (TNO Geological Survey of the Netherlands and Utrecht University, The Netherlands)

Nore Praet (Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ))

Thomas Vandorpe (Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ))

Mario Veloso (Develogic GmbH)

Mehdy Ghasemzadeh Diva (NIOZ The Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research)

Jens Greinert (GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel)

Gert-Jan Reichart (NIOZ The Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research and Utrecht University, The Netherlands)

Thomas Hermans (Ghent University, Department of Geology)

Sciara del Fuoco (SdF) is the pathway for volcanic products generated during the explosive and effusive activity of Stromboli volcano and is prone to intense morphological modifications and gravitational instability, which can culminate in mass-wasting events able to generate tsunamis. To detect SdF morphological changes a monitoring program was implemented by INGV. In May 2026, high-resolution bathymetric surveys, were performed using a marine USV equipped with EM2040P echosounder, highlighting the depositional/erosive structures of the 2007, 2024 and May 2026 lava deltas.

SBP29 from R/Vs SALLY RIDE, NEIL ARMSTRONG & THOMAS G. THOMPSON, & USCGC HEALY (WAGB-20). All are 3°X6° except for TGT (3°x3°). We will show ~100m penetration in hard rock, upslope-migrating bedforms in an anti-dune field, ability of a hull-mounted system to acquire a “spaghetti survey”, & comparison with other SBP & seismic systems. The SBP29 can be used to acquire wide angle seafloor reflection coefficient data, or equivalently Bottom Loss, using a single element.

Authors:

Daniel “DanO” Orange*, James Gibson, Eli Silver - U.C. Santa Cruz (*also Integral Consulting / ONE {Oro Negro Exploration LLC})

Toluwani Akande & Anand Hiroji – The University of Southern Mississippi

Charles Holland & Tim Sonnemann – Portland State University

Bjørnar Langli - KONGSBERG

Clay Whittaker (NAVO [ret.]), Madeleine C. Lucas & Kyle Becker (U. Washington)

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's (WHOI) 6,000-meter AUV Sentry utilizes a unique hydrodynamic shape and four independently pivotable thruster fins, allowing it to hover, turn in place, and change pitch and roll dynamically to track extreme terrain. Sentry has operated successfully with the Kongsberg EM 2040 for the last seven years. This presentation shares the operational experiences, engineering choices, and lessons learned from integrating and running an EM 2040 multibeam system within Sentry’s distinct flight regime. Unlike traditional torpedo-shaped AUVs that prioritize stability at high speeds, Sentry’s high maneuverability and slower survey speeds introduce complex platform dynamics. We will discuss the specific mechanical and acoustic installation challenges within the vehicle’s packed lower payload bay, the integration with Sentry’s core navigation suite, and the resulting data quality. This includes the development of a custom, ROS-based software driver specifically designed for our application to control the EM 2040 and log its data. Furthermore, we will share insights into the EM 2040's performance and data fidelity when deployed at low altitudes over rugged features like hydrothermal vent fields and steep seamounts, offering practical takeaways for autonomous, high-resolution deep-sea mapping.

Nearly 20 years ago at FEMME Lisbon, the godfather of modern multibeam declared that the future of bathymetric sonar lay in synthetic bathymetry — yet industry uptake remains limited. Why? Using an evaluation dataset from the search for Pan Am Flight 526A, collected with a HUGIN AUV carrying HISAS 1032 and EM multibeam, we compare synthetic bathymetry with conventional MBES and photogrammetry, examine HISAS Bathy processing workflows, and ask how and indeed why should KONGSBERG move the industry forward.