Year
2019
Operation Area
Gulf of Mexico
Purpose
Saildrone partnered with the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to launch a Saildrone unmanned surface vehicle (USV) equipped with a shallow-water multibeam echo sounder in the Gulf of Mexico to test the accuracy and longevity of the platform. SD 1024 spent 10 days sailing narrow transects in key areas of the gulf. The mission was designed to show that the saildrone could steer accurately enough to conduct a multibeam survey in shallow water and that the saildrone power budget could handle the significant requirements of a multibeam system operating 24/7.
Results
With minimal post-processing, Saildrone data was found to meet or exceed International Hydrographic Organization standards for safety of navigation surveys.
