Marine Measurement Forum Success

The 53^rd Marine Measurement Forum was organised by Xylem Analytics (UK) and hosted by the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton on Thursday 28^th November 2013. The event was particularly well attended with over 60 delegates benefitting from a full programme of presentations, 12 small exhibition displays and a number of fully-subscribed tours.

The day began with a welcome and introduction from David Goldsmith, Director of Ocean and Coastal Business for Xylem Analytics, and Geraint West, Director of National Marine Facilities at NOC Southampton. In the first session, Travis Mason from the Channel Coast Observatory explained how backscatter data combined with swathe bathymetry could be used for mapping seabed sediments and habitats. Mark Jonas of Oceanwise Ltd gave an overview of the new Port of London Authority tidal system currently being commissioned, and Dr Martin Bishop of Emeritus Solutions Ltd spoke about the complexities of underwater acoustic processing.

To showcase some of the excellent facilities available to scientists at NOC Southampton, delegates were treated to tours of the RRS Discovery (NERC’s latest research vessel), the Marine Autonomous and Robotics Systems division, and the British Ocean Sediments Core Research Facility.

Tom Hiller of Teledyne Gavia started the second session of talks explaining how AUV’s can support investigations around offshore infrastructures, and Robin Plumley of NOC Southampton gave an insight into the planning, construction and features of the RRS Discovery. Dr Thomas Mitchell of Sea-Bird Scientific outlined best practice for successful missions with profiling floats, followed by Geraint West of NOC Southampton who highlighted the capabilities of the marine autonomous systems operated by NERC.

The final session of the day began with Alastair Stagg of Fugro GEOS explaining the attention to detail required to moor a wave buoy in deeper water for longer periods. Tim Thornton of TeamSurv showed how, with careful assessment of data quality, crowdsourcing bathymetric data can be a valuable resource. The last talk of the day by Ramsay Lind of Nortek UK, introduced the new long range Signature Series instruments.

Summarising the day, David Goldsmith said: “As a manufacturer of oceanographic instrumentation, the MMF events provide a great opportunity to network with industry colleagues, and both existing and prospective customers.

“We were delighted that so many people were able to attend and it was pleasing to hear how much they enjoyed the event. The variety of presentations was excellent and the mini exhibition and tours all proved to be very popular.”

The next MMF, which will be hosted by Aquatec Group Ltd, will take place mid-2014.