NOAA to Buy REMUS 600 AUV

Hydroid has received a contract from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for a new REMUS 600 AUV system. The REMUS 600 will provide NOAA's Office of Coast Survey with full bottom coverage depth sounding data in conformance with NOAA standards for nautical charting.  

 

The REMUS 600 will be used to conduct surveys in navigable waters in port, harbour, and coastal environments frequented by vessel traffic, including commercial shipping, fishing, and recreational vessels.

 

According to Christopher von Alt, president and one of the co-founders of Hydroid, this REMUS 600 will pave the way for the NOAA to use AUVs in future bathymetric mapping endeavors.

 

Coast Survey is responsible for acquiring hydrographic data for NOAA's nautical charting programme, which provides navigational products and services for the maritime industry and recreational boaters. The REMUS 600 will be used to evaluate whether depth soundings collected by an AUV provide data that meet NOAA bathymetric mapping requirements. Survey plans are developed to ensure 100% ensonification of the seafloor, so the REMUS 600 will initially be operated as a test system aboard NOAA survey vessels. Once standard operating procedures are established and the data validated, it will be used for operational bathymetric mapping surveys.