Ch. 4— Technologies for Exploring the Exclusive Economic Zone • 129 



Figure 4-6.— Operating Costs for Some Bathymetry 

 and Side-Loolcing Sonar Systems 



1,000 



10 



100 



1,000 



10,000 



Depth (meters) 



NOTES: 1. Operating costs are not really system characteristics but are primarily determined by platform (ships, etc.) costs 

 (including positioning system operation). Platform costs are highly variable. Variability is influenced more by eco- 

 nomic conditions, ship operating costs, etc. than by survey system requirements. 



2. For shallow water imaging systems, work generally takes place in relatively protected areas not far from a port. 

 Shallow water surveys can be performed using small (30-60 ft long) vessels at costs of from $500-$12G0 per day, 

 but operations would likely be limited to daylight hours. Considering daily transits, it would be difficult to survey 

 more than 8 hours per day in an area or, given downtimes caused by inclement weather, to average more than 4 

 hours daily. 



3. Acquisition of deep water acoustic data commonly requires use of a larger, oceangoing vessel that can operate 

 24 hours a day. At this time, operational costs range from $5K-$15K a day for such vessels. With a system cap- 

 able of withstanding 10 knot towing speeds, it should be possible to survey, on the average, 100 nautical track 

 miles a day. Production goals for the Surveyor and the Davidson are 85 linear nautical miles per day. 



4. Several imaging systems can be operated in different modes to give higher resolution data, but this will be at a 

 penalty to the cost of coverage. 



5. Experience with only three bathymetric systems is adequate enough (and not classified) to estimate operating 

 costs. These are Sea Beam, BSSS/Hydrochart II, and the Simrad EIVI100. 



6. Bathymetric system operating costs are based on the assumption that 100 nautical miles of seafloor a day can be 

 surveyed using a vessel costing $5K-$15K per day. 



7. Costs of processing data (whether side-looking or bathymetric) are not included. 



SOURCE: D. Pryor, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 



