Ultra-Short Baseline Acoustic Positioning System

Ultra-short baseline systems calculate the position of a subsea target by measuring the range (distance) and bearing from a vessel mounted transceiver to an acoustic transponder fitted to the target. This is combined with vessel attitude, heading and GPS sensor information.

The technique is widely used by the offshore and oceanographic industries as it offers high accuracy performance combined with ease of operation. Typical applications for the USBL technique include tracking ROVs, AUVs and towfish or as a position reference input for vessels equipped with a Dynamic Positioning (DP) system. One of the main advantages of the USBL technique is that no other in-water acoustic equipment has to be deployed before underwater operations can commence. Only the targets being tracked need to be equipped with a transponder.

Example of an Acoustic Positioning System - Ultra-Short BaseLine (USBL)
Photo Courtesy of Sonarydyne

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT OUR MARINE CONSTRUCTION DIVISION:

Lafayette (Headquarters)
Division Manager - Jake Klara
Supervisor / Project Manager - Eric Granger

Houston
Survey Advisor - George Buhler
Marketing Manager - Rex Jones