The NORBIT Wide Band Multibeam Sonar (WBMS) is the most compact high resolution wide-swath multibeam sonar available. With a sonar dry-weight of less than 4.5kg (10lbs), beam widths of only 0.9°, and low power draw the stand-alone multibeam sonar easily mounts to any sized survey platform and may be powered by a small battery (ex. laptop extension battery pack) or standard AC plug.
The WBMS emits a frequency modulated (FM) sound wave centred at 400kHz (the optimized frequency). From the returning sound energy, 256 or 512 beams are formed within a user-selectable 5° to 210° fan shaped swath using the integrated sound speed probe and curved receiver array that allows for narrow beams with significantly less beam spreading than linear arrays. Repeatable bottom detections from 0.2m to 280m (Seattle, WA USA – salinity @ 29ppt – water temperature 11°C) are determined using automatic gain compensation, adaptive gating technology, and amplitude and phase proprietary algorithms for bottom detections. All processing and export of time-stamped bottom detection occurs within the sonar head.