No.12 2006

Getting intimate with aquatic sediments

The Unisense profiler’s microsensors can measure a range of variables. (Photo: Lee Bryant, Virginia Polytechnic Institute)

NIWA’s new micro-profiler enables us to study biogeochemical processes in aquatic sediments at a remarkably fine scale.
The profiler can take measurements on the seabed (or lake floor) in up to 100 m water depth. Several microsensors automatically probe into the sediment at increments of as little as 50 micrometres (about the width of a human hair).

GeoEel sees beneath the seafloor

Profile of sedimentary basins in the Gulf of California. Scripps Institute of Technology

Ever wished you had Superman’s X-ray vision? Our new digital seismic streamer is the next best thing.
The ‘GeoEel’ streamer is an array of 768 hydrophones towed behind a ship. The hydrophones pick up sound signals reflected off sedimentary layers and geological structures up to 3 km beneath the seabed.

Smart buoy for coastal monitoring

Solar-powered C-SMART buoy.

NIWA Instrument Systems is developing a surface buoy to collect real-time coastal data on such things as weather, currents, waves, and water conditions.
Dubbed ‘C–SMART’ (Coastal Scientific Monitoring And Real-time Telemetry), the buoy will gather, process, and transmit data from sensors both above and below water.
Smart buoys are not new, but most are large, cumbersome, and expensive to develop and support.