Saturday, July 14, 2012

New TEMA Achievements

The TEMA


Working on the TEMA

New LED lights and camera with laser scaller in the center.

Rich and myself removing one the central access cover

TEMA survey at the acquisition station with live video on the upper right screen

TEMA being lowered onto the boat using a dock crane.
The Towed Electromagnetic Array (TEMA) was an important component of the recent survey we performed in Southeast Alaska.  The TEMA is the sensor that Rich and myself designed and built over the last couple of years.  We were fairly impressed by how the TEMA performed on this survey. We operated the TEMA in over 100 meters of water and were able to collect data that no other towfish in the world could collect.

We are always trying to think of new ways to improve the TEMA.  In the days before this survey Rich and I worked long hours installing lights, a laser scaler and a camera on the TEMA.  While the video quality was not very good, having a camera on board allowed us to fly the TEMA with a new level of precision.  Rather than relying on the altimeter and tilt sensor alone now we could see the bottom and achieve very very low flight heights without dragging along.

With the TEMA back in the warehouse I have a few days worth or repair and I will focusing on how to make some of the structural components stronger or less vulnerable to damage. Our next survey job for the TEMA will be much shallower water and in someways will seem easy compared to working in Southeast Alaska.

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