CE16012 INFOMAR (Seabed Mulitbeam) Survey

The INtegrated Mapping FOr the Sustainable Development of Ireland’s MArine Resource (INFOMAR) programme is a joint venture between the Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI) and the Marine Institute (MI). The programme is a successor to the Irish National Seabed Survey (INSS) and concentrates on creating a range of integrated mapping products of the physical, chemical and biological features of the seabed in the near-shore area. This cruise took place on board the R.V. Celtic Explorer in 2016 from 14th-22nd of September approximately 150 Km south of the Cork coast. In order to avail of the offshore seagoing capabilities of the R.V. Celtic Explorer, an area relatively far from the coast and very exposed to weather was deliberately selected. Surveys conducted include: Multibeam Echo Sounder (MBES) hydrographic survey to International Hydrographic Organisation (IHO) Order 1a standard. Bathymetry survey: to produce bathymetry shaded relief and backscatter mosaic products which provide depth, seabed features and seabed hardness information. Sub Bottom Profiler (SBP) survey: to acquire data of the shallow (up to 30 metres) sub seabed to determine the existence of buried objects and ascertain the sub-seabed character. Groundtruthing was performed with a vibrocorer. 10 vibrocore samples were collected. An area of 715km2 was covered during this survey. High resolution multibeam mapping of the seabed. High resolution shallow seismic data and magnetometer data. Testing SBP and MBES configurations for the 2017 season where we anticipate using the CE for a longer time period and vibrocoring operations to circa. 100 metres, using stern of the ship's position.