Construction of submarine outfalls, placement of communication cables, marine prospections, construction of docks and ports, artificial reefs, etc. are some of the actions that thuman beings make at sea and that affect the seabed. Knowing the distribution of many of the species that inhabit these funds is necessary to protect them and not damage them with this sort of actions.

Our company realizes high-resolution underwater mapping, using the latest generation equipment and instrumentation. The transversal labor of this department serves as a support unit for realization of cartographies for different ongoing projects and currently is developing an extensive mapping research with the use of remote video and side-scan sonar within the project «Cymodocea nodosa Cartography on Tenerife and La Gomera”.

At the moment, remote video is essential to map underwater species populations and, its use with the sonar, gives much more detailed and accurate results. In this «Things we do in CIMA» video, we briefly explain how we use the video in these plant species cartography projects.

Side-scan sonar (SBL) is a type of sonar system (uses the propagation of sound underwater) to obtain digital images of the surface of the seabed, ie a vision or «pseudophoto» of its appearance without the water that covers it.

Its most common applications include detailed mapping of habitats and communities of large sectors of the seabed, location of pipes, viaducts or cables, searching for objects or submerged archaeological sites and shipwrecks location.

Do you want to know more about the cartography we do? Here you have an article (in Spanish) in which we explain its importance for our projects.