Contracted by 4D Ocean to provide a ASV Hydrographic Surveyor for the SSEN Pentland Firth HVAC Survey project. A replacement cable between the Orkney Islands and the mainland electricity network is to be installed, requiring initial cable routing and landfall surveys.
Very shallow bathymetric surveys of the proposed landfall sites at Rackwick Bay (Orkney) and Murkle Bay (mainland) were conducted at high water using 4D Ocean’s ASV Harry, a SeaRobotics 2.5m unmanned surface vehicle with an integrated Applanix POS MV and R2Sonic 2020 multibeam echosounder. Transported by road trailer, the deployment cart allows access to remote or inaccessible locations.
Topographic surveys were conducted at low water using 4D Ocean’s eBee UAV, a fully autonomous drone, which is used to capture high-resolution aerial photos that can be transformed into accurate orthomosaics and 3D models using photogrammetric techniques.