Affordable

Proven Reliability

Low Power

Minimal Monitoring

Modular

Highly Portable

Rugged

The Model SS-01 is a low-power, rugged, and highly portable system originally designed to be deployed in remote Alaska to count the abundance of smolt migrating down a river. It supplements or replaces hand or net counting and allows for continuous monitoring. SS-01 is an upward looking, single beam, narrowband transducer sonar system. The system gets power and stores data via custom underwater cables to a terminal box. Each sonar pod has a custom electronic circuit board designed for power distribution and signal conditioning. (click here for PDF of specifications)

Because of its low power, it only requires daily recharges, leaving more time for other tasks. It is cost-effective, needing minimal monitoring by any technician or biologist. Real-time backup ensures no data loss. System can be accessed at any time to get counts when needed. Modular design allows customized fit to any river system using a simple shore-based deployment. Echoview software provides proven analysis and reporting.

Following several years of successful deployment in the harsh climates of Alaska, this system has demonstrated the reliability and accuracy needed for a wide range of related applications including: monitoring fish behavior near turbines, dams, barriers, or industrial structures to ensure fish safety and distances maintained between structures and fish. The low cost, modular design of the system also makes it ideal for integration in offshore wind and tidal energy projects.

Recent Applications

• Simpson, P.  Sonar Systems to Support Monitoring of Marine and Hydrokinetic Energy Sites, White Paper, February 2011.
   
• Wade, G. D., D. J. Degan, M. R. Link, and S. W. Raborn. 2010. Evaluation of an uplooking sonar system designed to enumerate sockeye salmon smolts on the Kvichak
  River, 2008. Report prepared by LGL Alaska Research Associates, Inc.,
  Anchorage, AK, and Aquacoustics, Inc. Sterling, AK, for the Bristol Bay Science
  and Research Institute, Dillingham, AK, 45 p + Appendix.
   
• Scientific Approach to Ugashik Salmon Returns

Sonar Specifications
(click here for PDF of specifications)