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www.sea-technology.com May 2016 / st 33 not need to supply thrusters, and a LiFe- Po battery pack with 500 Wh is already suffcient for 8 to 12 hr. of operation with maximum power consumption. Furthermore, the power consumption can be greatly reduced with the use of the scheduler. When sampling data, the system does not need to run con- tinuously, and a periodic triggering of the subsystems, including video and illumination, extends the available de- ployment duration by magnitudes. In towed operation mode, the system can be supplied through the umbilical. Cable and Reel Depending on the length of the cable, different confgurations are of- fered. For fat-water applications with cable lengths up to 600 m, a multipo- lar cable with Kevlar-reinforced shield (2,000 kg of tensile force) is offered. Normally these units are deployed from small vessels or boats, and the ca- ble is drummed on a hand-driven reel. This confguration is easy to use, cost effcient and easy to transport. For deeper-going applications, elec- tric winches or hydraulic driven units are necessary. Often, steel armored ca- ble is necessary, and for lengths above 1,500 m a fber-optic component is imperative. Depending on the ship and its equipment, there is the possibility to use existing winches or capstans; cus- tomization is necessary. Additional Equipment The Observer III can be equipped with any kind of modern sensors or camera systems. For example, HD cameras with integrated laser point- ers are becoming standard tools on these vehicles. In addition, CTDs, carbon dioxide sensors, methane sniffers or Chla sensors can be in- stalled on these units. Imaging so- nars, obstacle avoidance sonars or other acoustic equipment are also perfectly adaptable. Case Study The School of Marine Science of the National University of Comahue, located in San Antonio Oeste city (Río Negro province, Argentina) has recently incorporated one Mariscope Observer III underwater system for supporting research activities and pro- grams in San Matías Gulf (northern Pa- tagonia). This system is being used in scientifc and technological projects dealing with the assessment of fshing resources and marine biodiversity, as well as with innovation in fshing gear designs to reduce the discards, bycatch and seabed impact of trawl nets. Among the various applications of the Mariscope equipment are video re- cording of the reactive behavior to the gear of the different fsh species, crus- taceans, mollusks and marine mam- mals. For this purpose, the Observer III system is operated in autonomous mode, attached into the square panel or the extension piece of bottom trawl nets, or deployed on the seabed near the fshing gear operating area in the case of no mobile fshing gear. The studies are focused on bottom trawl nets targeting hake and shrimp, bottom and mid-water longlines, crab traps and gillnets. This aims to identify pat- terns of reaction to fshing gear from the species, which may be used to de- velop technological solutions that help avoid catching unwanted and small size (noncommercial) specimens and improve the effciency of the gears. For studies of the marine benthos and seabed, the Observer III is operat- ed in towed mode (live operation) with the umbilical cable. The video records obtained in this mode are processed through an image analysis software and used for studies dealing with the Control software for programming the system. info@edgetech.com USA 1.508.291.0057 Clearly Superior Imaging SONAR SYSTEMS SUB-BOTTOM PROFILERS BATHYMETRY SYSTEMS SIDE SCAN SONARS