What’s New with Geodynamics

From fieldwork to data processing, you can be sure that we are working hard to bring you results. We invite you to follow us on Instagram @geodynamics_nc, Facebook Geodynamics of NC or Twitter @GeodynamicsNC.

Geodynamics Supports AUV training for NOAA’s Survey Response Team

May 15, 2014

Geodynamics assisted the NOAA survey response team during their AUV training missions at Cape Lookout, NC in early May.  NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey Development Lab is evaluating the use of AUVs (Autonomous Underwater Vehicles) for identifying and mapping submerged features including wrecks and hazards to navigation.  Completely un-tethered from a research vessel, the AUV is programmed to surface at a pre-programmed location for retrieval.  On board Geodynamics’ R/V Benthos, the survey response team ran the VCT and Remus AUVs simultaneously for 3 days in the Cape Lookout Bight.   Sidescan sonar data collected during the training operations will be reviewed by scientists at NOAA Center for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research for potential use in ongoing sea turtle or fisheries research.

Geodynamics partners with UNC-CH and NOAA CCFHR for BOEM Offshore Wind Energy Area Mapping

April 1, 2014

In summer 2013, Geodynamics was contracted to assess and characterize the seafloor in support of researchers at UNC-CH’s Institute for Marine Science and NOAA’s Center for Coastal Fisheries Habitat Research. Geodynamics developed a detailed survey plan to conduct preliminary environmental site characterizations using sidescan and multibeam sonar. The survey design balanced the need for appropriate sediment characterization and target identification with constraints to available shiptime and a limited budget. The survey efficiently mapped 437mi2 of seafloor in BOEM Call Area Wilmington-East off Cape Fear, NC aboard the NOAA research vessel Nancy Foster. Geodynamics oversaw all hydrographic operations, including 2700 line miles of full coverage (110%) sidescan sonar using an EdgeTech 4200 and ‘skunk stripe’ multibeam collection using a Reson 7125, both paired with an Applanix POS-MV inertial navigation system.

University of North Carolina Institute for Marine Sciences: BOEM Offshore Wind

Geodynamics collaborates with College of Charleston BEAMS Training Cruise

March 26, 2014

Geodynamics Chief Hydrographer, Dave Bernstein, joined Dr. Leslie Sautter in training students from the College of Charleston Benthic Acoustic Survey & Mapping Program in the use of multibeam and sidescan sonar data acquisition and processing. Using a Kongsberg 2040 multibeam system aboard the R/V Savannah (of Skidaway Institute of Oceanography), the students mapped the Transect Valleys and Cooper River Tee.

CoC Maps “Rivers Under the Sea”

Collaboration with NCSU: Coastal Terrain Monitoring and Modeling

May 21, 2013

Geodynamics Chief Hydrographer, Dave Bernstein, led NC State University students for a field research day in the study of Coastal Terrain Monitoring and Modeling. The field day covered concepts, methods and tools for monitoring and modeling of coastal terrain dynamics, with specific focus on the interface between ocean and land. The methods reviewed included bathymetric mapping technologies for shallow nearshore environments, shoreface, beach and foredunes. The day also included hands-on practice collecting data in field aboard Geodynamics R/V Echo, demonstration of RTK-GPS for coastal applications, and discussion about surveying platforms and instrumentation for hydrographic, geophysical, and topographic data collection. The course Field Investigation of Coastal Processes (MEAS 459) is led by Dr. Helena Mitasova, an expert in spatio-temporal modeling and data visualization and professor at NCSU’s Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences Department.