Oceanographic Surveys
Multi-disciplinary oceanographic survey services are provided to marine construction, civil engineering and renewable energy projects, utility companies and maritime industries.
Both public and private sector industries are being increasingly required to monitor their associated works and its impact on the environment, ranging from seabed profiling and classification, current monitoring and sediment contamination to the effect of marine construction projects on tidal patterns, benthic testing, turbidity monitoring and measuring the discharge of pollutants within both near-shore coastal regions and offshore environments.
Our survey and consultancy services are based on knowledge, innovation and experience with stringent quality assurance via our ISO 9001:2008 accreditation.
Our oceanographic services include current monitoring over short or long periods with hull or seabed mounted ADCP, single point impellor meters, electromagnetic current sensors or even traditional logship.
We are able to carry this out in most riverine, estuarine and coastal environments utilising our wide variety of survey platforms. It is also possible to simultaneously measure wave and swell heights in order to inform either engineering projects or as part of an assessment process for renewable energy devices. Wave measurement can also be done independently with stand-alone surface buoys or seabed mounted pressure sensors.
When dispersal studies are required, we utilise a combination of drogues tracked via RTK GPS over long or short period observations and dye tracing using Rhodamine or other similar environmentally-friendly long-lasting solutions.
Information on seabed sediments and sub-strata composition can be derived via grab sampling or vibrocore techniques, with full laboratory analysis and reporting provided to agreed UKAS standards.
Water quality data sets can be obtained on parameters such as Conductivity, Salinity, Temperature, Depth, pH/ORP, Dissolved Oxygen, Turbidity, Ammonium, Nitrate, Potassium, Chlorophyll & Blue-green Algae.
The multi parameter sondes and sensors used can be placed in-situ over long periods to monitor changes at a given point or monitored in real time, mounted on a vessel or other platform, to assess variability over an area at a point in time.
Equally, these sensors can be used to create a profile of the water column at a specific point or on undulating profilers, towed from a survey vessel, to assess variability with depth over a geographical area at the same time as looking at variability over the water column.
Water samples can be recovered remotely, at intermittent depths as required by the client, utilising a Niskin bottle. Water visibility and the penetration of photosynthesising radiation is undertaken using a dipping PAR sensor and ground truthed with a Secchi disk.
Imagery of underwater objects and structures can be obtained via high resolution multibeam data sets, side-scan sonar imagery, ROV / UAV systems or underwater cameras.
All oceanographic data is archived on permanent storage devices and can be made available on client networks for further investigation or for use on future research and development projects.
