Case Studies

iSURVEY

Survey

iSURVEY, a company that provides survey and positioning services to the oil and gas, offshore renewables, and telecommunications industries, was founded in 2004 by seven ex-colleagues in Oslo, Norway. Today, the company operates bases in Norway, Singapore, and the UK, and employs over 100 people. iSURVEY has expertise in geologic surveys, rig positioning, marine construction, and cable installation, and serves a global client base.

A viable Alternative to Top-Side Processing

iSURVEY acquired its first Sonic series multibeam echosounder over a decade ago to meet the needs of a client maintaining subsea cables. The processor unit being subsea, rather than top-side, was a crucial factor in iSURVEY's interest in the Sonic 2024. iSURVEY now owns seven or eight sonars, and using the same brand for everything has proved much more convenient as everything works the same way and everyone knows how to operate them. When iSURVEY operates in high-fly mode or puts the multibeam sonar on a surface vessel, they use the quad mode of the Sonic 2024, which offers high resolution and increased density of soundings.

Clean Data, Rapid Processing

Clean data is a must for iSURVEY, and with the R2Sonic multibeams, they generally receive data with minimal noise, even when surveying trenches and dealing with changes in topology. Good synchronization and communication between different sensors are necessary for a hydrographic survey, and iSURVEY's team increasingly uses the Integrated Inertial Navigation System (INS) to provide accurate and robust geo-referencing and motion compensation. This reduces processing times and improves data quality. iSURVEY finds it easy to do post-processing with the R2Sonic, as there are no artifacts on the seabed, and they obtain high-quality multibeam data. Leverskjær concludes that collecting good data with the Sonic 2024 is crucial for project success.

The Woods