Deakin University Acquires CARIS HIPS and SIPS

Deakin University, one of Australia’s leading universities, has acquired CARIS HIPS and SIPS as part of the Deakin University Warrnambool Marine and Aquaculture Science Research Initiative, which aims to boost marine research and teaching in the region.

MV Yolla, Deakin University’s 10 metre research vessel based in Warrnambool, was also recently equipped with the new KONGSBERG EM 2040C multibeam echosounder, one of the first in the world.

Students used the new multibeam to collect data from a local wreck site, the La Bella shipwreck, a four-masted barquentine sailing ship used as a trading vessel, which sank in 1905. La Bella is one of the many historic shipwrecks in Australia used as a diving site attraction for qualified divers. See details of the shipwreck in the composite image below, to the right.

Using the CUBE workflow for bathymetric processing, along with the new water column imaging functionality available in HIPS and SIPS 8.0, students were able to produce some key findings. Students also took particular interest in backscatter processing to aid in habitat mapping as part of their research.

The EM 2040C bathymetric datasets have captivated all of the professionals who worked during the acquisition and post-processing tasks. The research also included processing backscatter datasets which were extremely useful for habitat mapping studies and applications.

The Marine and Freshwater Sciences research group focuses on the ecology and management of coastal marine and estuarine ecosystems, cutting edge technologies for mapping marine habitats, the effects of a drying climate on ecological function and biodiversity in rivers and streams, river restoration, the ecology and management of marine wildlife, population genetics of marine invertebrates and sustainable aquaculture.