The HAWAII MR1 is a seafloor imaging system developed by the Hawaii Mapping Research Group (HMRG) in 1991.
HAWAII MR1 is short for HIGP (Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology) Acoustic Wide Angle Imaging Instrument, Mapping Researcher 1.
[ This system is the first to use all-digital signal processing.][ See section titled HAWAII MR1/MR2.] It has been used in the discovery of several objects and locations of note, examples being the USS ''Yorktown''
Description
The MR1 system is relatively small and stable, and is towed at a depth of 80 to 100 meters. Because it is not hull-mounted, this data collection system has the ability to withstand rough conditions.[
The HAWAII MR1 also has the capability to measure and collect ]bathymetric
Bathymetry (; ) is the study of underwater depth of ocean floors (''seabed topography''), lake floors, or river floors. In other words, bathymetry is the underwater equivalent to hypsometry or topography. The first recorded evidence of water de ...
and backscatter
In physics, backscatter (or backscattering) is the reflection of waves, particles, or signals back to the direction from which they came. It is usually a diffuse reflection due to scattering, as opposed to specular reflection as from a mirror, a ...
data simultaneously, and record raw acoustic data
independently of human supervision. After collecting data, the data can be processed with software available from HMRG.[
The width of a scan produced by the system varies, depending upon whether it is producing a bathymetry swath or a sidescan swath; the swath while recording bathymetry data is 3.4 times the water depth and the swath while recording sidescan data is 7.5 times the water depth.HAWAII MR1: Swath Capability]
. Retrieved 2009-9-05.
Discoveries
The HAWAII MR1 was chosen to be used on an expedition headed by Robert Ballard
Robert Duane Ballard (born June 30, 1942) is an American retired Navy officer and a professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island who is most noted for his work in underwater archaeology: maritime archaeology and archaeology of ...
, the person who discovered the RMS ''Titanic''.[ The goal of the expedition was to find the USS ''Yorktown'', which they did successfully. Ballard said of the sonar, "It was the niversity of Hawaii mapping team's sonarthat enabled us to find it."][ Bruce Appelgate, at the time director of field operations at HMRG, noted that they were fortunate in finding the ship, as it was at the very edge of the MR1's resolution.][ The ship was 17,000 feet (5.2 km) underwater.]Challenger Deep
The Challenger Deep is the deepest-known point of the seabed of Earth, with a depth of by direct measurement from deep-diving submersibles, remotely operated underwater vehicles and benthic landers, and (sometimes) slightly more by sonar bathym ...
).[
]
References
External links
Data archive of surveys done with the HAWAII MR1Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawaii Mr1
Geographical technology