One of the most common work environments for Triton systems is within the offshore industry. Through years of experience, our products have been tailored to address the needs of this multi-faceted industry -- from data acquisition, to real-time or office processing, to final presentation of the data and results.

Triton has a proven track record as a systems integrator. Our topside acquisition systems typically log and process data from survey operations consisting of multiple and sensors active simultaneously – e.g., sidescan sonar, single-beam and multibeam echo sounders, sub-bottom profilers, shallow seismic systems, magnetometers, and gravimeters.

The tools provided in our product line support a multitude of industry activities and engineering requirements. The GIS capabilities of TritonMap™ coupled with application-oriented software modules enhance and simplify interpretation procedures. Emphasizing data fusion, our versatile processing software can merge and correlate data sets for complete analysis.

• Pipeline and Cable Route Surveys
• Pipeline Inspection Surveys
• Site Surveys
• Environmental Assessment Surveys

Pipeline and Cable Route Surveys

As these survey operations typically require acoustic backscatter imagery, swath bathymetry, and sub-bottom profiles, Triton offers a combination of Isis® Sonar, BathyPro™, and Isis® SS-Logger™ for the logging and processing of data. Data from ancillary sensors like a magnetometer, single-beam echo sounder, and gravimeter can also be collected in Isis® and then further processed to create TIN models. All of these information types can be analyzed in real-time in TritonMap™, allowing geologic problems to be identified along the surveyed route and decisions to be made regarding alternative routes.

Pipeline Inspection Surveys

For this application Triton offers Isis® Sonar, our acquisition and processing package for sidescan sonar data. Isis® Sonar™ provides all tools required to further enhance imagery, smooth navigation, and generate a geo-referenced mosaic that can then be analyzed in TritonMap™. Pipelines can be inspected for spans and classified for burial status using PipeClass™, the automated pipeline inspection module. Since the data are geo-referenced, the PipeClass™ module provides quantitative data on location, distance and span height, thereby enabling the user to make critical decisions in an efficient manner.

Site Surveys

These surveys cover a wide range of applications, including search and recovery operations, hazard surveys, archeological surveys, and object detection missions. Triton’s concept of merging data sets together has been proven to be an effective solution no matter the application. Analyzing sidescan sonar, sub-bottom profiler, and bathymetric data sets in Triton’s new three-dimensional viewing environment can highlight subtle relationships between information types.

Environmental Assessment Surveys

Marine habitat mapping has become an important topic for a number of government agencies and industry organizations. Triton offers the tools to not only acquire data from such surveys but also to accurately analyze, classify, and monitor the results. This is particularly beneficial to marine biologists when conducting quantitative analyses regarding regional distribution of bottom types or species presence. In the case of sidescan sonar data, once the data are mosaicked the SeaClass™ module of TritonMap™ can be used to create a classification database based on texture qualities of the imagery. This database can then be applied to the mosaic for automatic identification of class tyspes and their distribution. The resultant digitized polygons can be used to derive surface areas, and this new information can be correlated to other data sets from another point in time.

  

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Small Object Search

Triton has a long history in the field of search surveys. A seafloor search is the process of detecting and recognizing a seabed anomaly using sonar for the purpose of identification, disposal, or retrieval. Detection is a function of sonar design, acoustical physics, and image enhancement while recognition is highly dependent upon the eye-brain interface and operator experience. Typically the objects for which the search is being conducted are either partially or completely buried, or, moored in shallow or deep configurations. In the past, small objects were detected by sidescan sonar imagery and in particular the size and shape of the acoustic shadow, which is a derivation of the acoustic reflection, fish altitude, and grazing angle at which the acoustic signal strikes the object. More modern systems are including other types of information (e.g., swath bathymetry, magnetometers). Triton offers all the tools required to log, process, and analyze the different data sets associated with a search survey. Applications for marine search include: Explosive Ordnance Disposal, Q-Route Survey, Site Clearance, Search and Recovery of Downed Aircraft and Sunken Shipwrecks.

Mine Countermeasures

The search and disposal of underwater mines requires constant effort on the part of militaries worldwide. Shipping channels must be kept open and free from mines. Over the past decade, the Triton Isis® Sonar™ data acquisition and image processing system combined with TargetPro™ has played a critical role in the identification of underwater mines worldwide. Triton Products have been used internationally, including the Persian Gulf, the Baltic, the coastal regions of Australia, and in the harbors of New Zealand.

Aircraft Search and Recovery

Triton Products and personnel have aided in the search and recovery of downed commercial and military aircraft worldwide. Accurate target capture and geo-location of objects identified across a seabed is achievable through TargetPro™ and our real-time mosaicking capabilities ensure that 100% coverage of the seabed is attained. Triton systems played a prominent role in the attempt to find the Space Shuttle Columbia blackbox and consistently remain the acquisition and analysis system of choice whenever an air disaster occurs. Some of the most publicized include: The 1998 Swissair MD-11 (Atlantic), the 1996 TWA Flight #800 (Atlantic), the United Airlines cargo door (mid-Pacific), Air India (mid-Atlantic), Korean Airlines (West Pacific) and South African Airlines (West Indian Ocean).

Search and Recovery of Shipwrecks

The unique capability of Triton's Isis® Sonar™ application to simultaneously log and co-register information from multiple sensors and other Triton applications (e.g., BathyPro™, Mosaic, TritonMap™) to process, fuse, and display the results makes the product line ideally suited for shipwreck surveys. Mosaicked sidescan imagery can be draped over bathymetry and in turn overlain on a TIN model of magnetometer data. Some of the world's most highly publicized shipwrecks have been found with Triton Products and technology. They include:The USS Central America (West Atlantic), The Benedict Arnold Gun Boat (Lake Champlain), John Barry (East Indian Ocean) and The Lacona (Mediterranean).

Seafloor Search / Survey

Whether searching for a specific object or characterizing a known seabed region, Triton has a broad range of tools to ensure your mission is a success. Survey planning tools (e.g., DelphNav™ Survey Planner™) allow an operator to select a region and construct survey routes, thereby increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of an object search survey. Survey acquisition tools (e.g., Isis® Sonar™ and Isis® SS-Logger™) ensure raw data are logged properly. Survey management tools (e.g., TargetPro™ and TritonMap™) monitor the results of a mission and include automated feature extraction, contact classification and location, and report generation. Triton offers powerful tools for processing and visualizing survey data in real-time. All survey data (e.g., sidescan sonar, bathymetric, sub-bottom profiler, or others) may be merged into a single viewing environment. This viewing environment can extend into three-dimensional space, thereby providing an excellent tool for identifying a target lying on the seabed. Triton also offers tools for the correction and direct comparison of different vintages.

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Compatible Sonar