Quick Start Guide to Single Beam (SBES) Data Collection

This Quick Start Guide will take you step-by-step through collecting single beam data using the SonarWiz Single-Beam Server. For more information about the individual commands, please refer to the User Guide found in the Help Menu of SonarWiz.

Instructions

1. Software Installation

The CTI software required to interface with a Single Beam Echo Sounder consists of SonarWiz 7.09.00 or newer and the CTI Single Beam server interface. Both of these programs should be installed on the same acquisition computer.

1. Download and install SonarWiz 7.09.00+ onto the acquisition computer. You can find the latest version of SonarWiz from the CTI Download page here: https://chesapeaketech.com/download-sonarwiz/.

2. Download and install the SingleBeam Server 7.09.01+ onto the acquisition computer. You can find the latest version of the Single Beam Server from the CTI Download page here: https://chesapeaketech.com/download-sonarwiz/.

2. Real-Time License Check

In order to operate SonarWiz for SingleBeam data collection, you must have a license for Single Beam Bathymetry acquisition. The method used to verify that you have the required module licenses depends on the type of software lock you are using:

For Dongle Free License (DFL) Users:

1. Start the CTI License Manager from the Windows Start Menu

2. Click the Accept button to close the Privacy Notice

3. Click the Status button

4. Verify that the Single Beam Bathymetry acquisition module is licensed as shown below
   
   

   Open

   

For USB Dongle Key Users:

1. Insert the USB Dongle into your computer

2. Start the CTI Dongle Manager from the Windows Start Menu

3. Click the Read Dongle button

4. Verify that Bathy single beam acquisition is enabled
   
   

   Open

   

3. Create a SonarWiz Project

You must create a SonarWiz project before starting data collection. A SonarWiz Project is the container or context in which all data collection and post-processing is performed.

1. Click the New Project icon in the upper-left corner of SonarWiz.

2. Enter a Project Name and Project Folder.

3. Enter the Approximate Project Position latitude and longitude.

4. Set the Coordinate Source to Always use Ship Position.

5. Set the Time Constant for Course Smoothing to 300 (default)

6. Check the Automatically Select Coordinate System box to let SonarWiz pick an appropriate UTM coordinate system, or uncheck this box and use the Browse Coordinate Systems… button to select a different coordinate system.

7. Click OK to create the new project

4. Add Basemaps and Overlays

While planning your survey, it is useful to display charts, bathymetry grids, and vector files such as survey polygons and other line files. SonarWiz uses the term Basemap (and GeoImages) to represent data that appears under the sonar data such as nautical charts or shaded bathymetry. SonarWiz uses the term Overlays to represent data that appears on top of the sonar data, typically vector polygons such as survey areas, cable or pipeline routing maps, etc. SonarWiz supports dozens image, raster and vector formats.

To add a Basemaps, GeoImages or Overlays to your project:

1. Right-Click the Maps branch in the Project Explorer and select Add Base map or Add GeoImage or Add Overlay from the Context Menu.

2. Select the file or files that you want to add to the project.

3. Your files will be displayed in the Maps branch of the Project Explorer where you can turn them on or off by checking the box next to their name.

A GeoImage is a Basemap that has already been projected into the Project Coordinate System. These files can be displayed very quickly using limited resources. During data acquisition, we recommend only using GeoImages to reduce the CPU load while collecting data. Only BMP, JPG and TIF formats are supported.

5 Add Planned Survey Lines

On the Data Acquisition ribbon, you will find the Survey Lines group which allows you to lay out your survey line plan before you start data collection. Survey Lines can be added individually or created in groups of parallel lines.

To Add a Survey Lines to a Project:

1. Zoom into the area where you want to place your first survey line.

2. Select Data Acquisition > Add Line

3. Your mouse cursor will change to look like a drawing pen.

4. Left-Click to start the line.

5. Left-Click again to stop drawing the line.

To generate lines parallel to a selected line:

1. Right-Click a Survey Line to open the Context Menu

2. Select Generate Lines Parallel to the Selected Line…

3. In the Cloning Line dialog, fill in the desired settings for the new lines

4. Click OK
   
   

5. These new lines will also be listed in the Survey Lines branch of the Project Explorer.

The Survey Lines feature in SonarWiz is powerful and contains more than we have demonstrated here. Explore the commands in the Line Tools drop down menu to discover more features available for Survey Line Management. Also. there is complete information in the User Guide.

6. Configure Real-Time Log File Settings

Before you start logging data you should review the File Options settings in the SonarWiz Preferences and Settings menu. Here you can configure where SonarWiz will record new files and how those files will be named.

To Open the File Options dialog:

1. Click on the green Options icon in the upper-left corner of SonarWiz

2. Click on the File Options icon in the left-hand icon bar in the Preferences and Settings dialog

3. Review or Set the Log Data Files Path (defaults to your current project folder)

4. Review or Set the Real Time File Settings to control the automatic naming convention and file size limits of recorded lines.

7. Create a Real-Time Screen Layout

SonarWiz has a large number of dockable windows and widgets. The default screen layout shows only the basic controls. You can add or remove windows and widgets to the screen layout and then save the new layout for later use. At any time, you can recall saved screen layouts to reconfigure the SonarWiz screen.

What we want to do now, is create and save a screen layout that is optimized for data collection. We will add screen widgets that are important for real-time quality control and system monitoring.

On the View Ribbon Menu, you will find the Data Displays group. The Data Acquisition Views drop-down contains more than a dozen real-time monitoring widgets. To turn these widgets on, Click on the Data Acquisition Views icon and then click on the desired widget.

We want to enable the following widgets:

• Depth Plotter
• System Information
• Sensor Status
• Left Right Steering Indicator

To Enable and Dock a widget:

1. Click on the Data Acquisition Views drop-down

2. Left-Click and drag the Depth Plotter with the mouse

3. While holding the mouse button down, hover the mouse over one of the docking icons that appear as you pan over the screen

4. Release the mouse to drop the Depth Plotter into place as shown below:

5. Repeat this for each of the displayes you want to dock to the screen. We placed the widgets like this:

Next, we need to save this layout for future use on the boat.

To Save a Screen Layout:

1. Click on View Menu > Layout Manager icon

2. Click on the Save New Layout button

3. Give the new layout a name

4. Click OK to save the layout

To Load a Screen Layout:

1. Click on the View Menu > Layout Manager icon

2. Select the layout you want to load

3. Click the Load Layout button

8. Create a Vessel File

You must configure a vessel file in SonarWiz before starting the single beam server interface.

To create a vessel file:

1. Click on Data Acquisition > Vessel > Open Vessel Editor

2. In the Vessel Properties section, give your vessel a Name and select Surface Vessel or AUV as the platform model

3. In the Vessel Shape and Size section, define the approximate dimensions of your platform. The model will show and AUV or Vessel depending on the platform model you choose in step 2. It is important to set the Waterline Height relative to the reference point if you will be applying tides during data processing.

4. Click the Add new sensor button to open the New Sensor dialog. From the Sensor class drop down select Fathometer and then pick Generic Single (or Dual) frequency Fathometer as appropriate. You can enter the Starboard, Forward and Down offsets at this time.

5. Click OK to close the New Sensor dialog and observe that the sensor has been added to the model:

6. Repeat Step 4 to add a Position sensor and a Motion Sensor (if used) to the platform. If the exact model is not listed, pick the Generic Model.

7. When all of your sensors are added. You can Close the Vessel Editor window. The vessel information is already saved.

9. Add Tide Files

Right-Click the Tide Files branch of the Project Explorer and select Edit/Import Tide Files…

For more information on how to use the CTI Tide Editor, see the Quick Start Guide to the CTI Tide Editor

10. Add Sound Velocity Profiles

Right-click the Sound Velocity Files branch of the Project Explorer and Select Edit/Import Sound Velocity Files…

For more information on how to use the CTI SVP Editor, see the

11. Starting the Single Beam Server

The Single Beam Server provides the real-time data interface for recording many single-beam sonar systems. The interface is passive (listen only) and simply records the depth, position and attitude packets transmitted from the sounder into SonarWiz compatible formats. Command and control is done through the manufacturers top-side interface.

The SingeBeam Server MUST be running on the same computer as SonarWiz.

To start the Single Beam Server:

1. Open your SonarWiz project.

2. Click the Data Acquisition > Sonar icon to open the Select Sonar Interface dialog

3. In the Single and Multi-beam Bathymetry section, look for the SingleBeamServer Ver 7.9.2 (or greater) and select it.

4. Click the Start/Configure button

5. At this point the SingleBeamServer interface should launch. Verify that the SingleBeamServer interface is listed in the Current Servers: Bathymetry section.

6. Verify that the SonarWiz indicator is green on the SingleBeamServer interface. This indicates that the server has a connection to SonarWiz

7. In the Sensor Configuration section of the server, click the button beneath Single Beam

8. Select the Single Beam Device you want to connect with, check the box to Enable this device and configure the network connection.

If the connection is successful, you should see the Single Beam bar turn from red to green

9. If the Single Beam Device selected in Step 8 does not provide navigation, you will need to configure a separate navigation feed. In the Sensor Configuration section, click the button below the NAV to open the navigation configuration dialog. Select one of the supported navigation formats and configure the network settings.

If the connection is successful, the NAV bar will turn from red to green.

10. Optionally, you can configure a motion sensor by clicking on the button below the MRU bar

11. Finally, hit the Connect... button to establish a connection between the sounder and SonarWiz.

If you have successfully configured your sounder and navigation, you should see the MRU/NAV section of the server indicating the current vessel position, heading and speed. You should also see the depth plotter updating across the bottom of the display.

12. Verify Sonar Data is Flowing from the Sounder to SonarWiz

After the connection is established between the server and the echo sounder, and the sounder is pinging. The server should indicate that data is flowing in several ways:

1. The MRU/NAV panel is updating with the ship position and speed

2. If Show Message Deptail is enabled, you should be able to see the Depth, Motion and Position packets arriving

In SonarWiz, you should see:

1. The System Information panel should show the vessel position and speed.

2. The Sensor Status panel should indicate that Navigation is enabled and Fathometer is enabled. It should indicate the age in milliseconds since the most recent update.

3. The Depth Plotter should show depth data scrolling across the display

4. If you click the Auto Ship Centering in the Mapping Tool Bar, the main map display should snap to the position of your vessel. The vessel is indicated by a cartoon outline of a ship.

13. Apply Tides and Sound Velocity

Real-time tides and sound velocity computations are set up in the Tide and Sound Velocity Manager. You must first import tides and sound velocity profiles into your project (see steps 9 and 10) then open the Tide and Sound Velocity Manager and pick the ones you want to apply during data acquisition.

To specify tides and sound velocity profiles to use during data acquisition:

1. Click Bathymetry > Tide + SV Manager... icon to open the Tide and Sound Velocity Manager

2. In the lower section marked "Use these values for data collection"

• Pick the Tide file to apply in the drop down

• Pick the Surface SV source

• Pick the Ray Trace Method

3. Click OK to close the dialog

14. Review and Modify Real-Time Merge and Filter Settings

In most cases, the default merge and filter settings are appropriate for single-beam surveys. However, you have full control how position, attitude and height computations are done. For example, if you are suveying on the ellipsoid, you can turn on Apply Antenna Heights in the Height Computation section. Also, there are a number of built-in filters that can be turned on if necessary to clean up noisy data automatically.

To adjust the real-time merge settings:

1. Click Bathymetry > Settings to open the Project Level Settings dialog

2. Set the Position, Attitude, Height and Filter settings as desired.

15. Steer a Selected Survey Line

Once you are ready to start your survey, align the boat with the first of your planned survey lines and steer the selected line. The Left/Right Steering Indicator will indicate how far off the planned line the vessel is maintaining. It also indicates how far along the line and how far remains of the line.

To Steer a planned survey line:

1. Select the line you want to steer

2. Right-Click the line to open the line Context Menu

3. Select Steer the Selected Line

If necessary, you can reverse a selected line, add run-in and run-out so that the towfish is properly aligned before it reaches the planned survey line or before you start the turn at the end of the line.

16. Setting up the Real-Time Depth Mosaic

During single-beam collection SonarWiz will display a real-time grid of the soundings being recorded. You have control over how this grid looks in the display.

To adjust the Real-Time Depth Mosaic for bathymetry:

1. Click Data Acquisition > Real-Time Mosaic

2. Use the Radio Buttons to select the depth mosaic mode (OFF, only last few lines, all lines)

3. Set an X and Y cell size for the grid.

17. Recording a Line

When ready to start recording data, switch to the Data Acquisition menu.

To Record a track line:

1. Verify that data is feeding into SonarWiz. In the status bar, the single beam server icon should not have a red X flashing. The data recoding icon will show a red X until you start recording.

2. Click the Quick Record button in the Data Acquisition menu

3. Verify that a new bathymetry line is added to the Project Explorer and you will see a red "Rec" icon in the main view. The data recording icon in the status bar will no longer flash with a red X.

4. When you are ready to stop data collection, Click the Stop Recording button.

The bathymetry file will be closed and the red “Rec” icon will disappear and a red “X” will appear in the status bar over the data recording icon.

For each of your recorded tracks, you will have 3 files recorded in your Project Bathy folder (default location):

1. <line name>.cdf - this is the file displayed in SonarWiz

2. <line name>.txt - this is a record of NMEA strings as recorded by SonarWiz

3. <line name>.xtf - this is a binary record of the bathymetry in a non-proprietary format

18. Create a Grid From Collected Soundings

To create a grid from collected soundings

1. Turn on the tracklines you want to grid

2. Right-click the Grids branch of the Project Explorer and select Create New Grid...

• Set a grid cell size (about 1/10th the line spacing is good)

• Give the grid a name

• Select Primary Surface Type: CDF Depth

• Select Grid Algorithm: Natural Neighbor

• Select Optional Grid outputs if desired

3. Click OK to build the grid

SonarWiz will create the grid and add it to the Project Explorer under the Grids branch.

4. Right-click the grid and select Export Grid As...

• Select the output location for the exported grid

• Select the output file type

• Check the grids to export

5. Click OK to export the grid

19. Shutting Down SonarWiz and the Single Beam Server

To safely shut down SonarWiz:

1. Click the Stop Recording icon to stop all logging

2. Open the Sonar Interface window by clicking Data Acquisition > Sonar

3. In the Current Servers section, click Disconnect from any servers that are currently listed.

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