Case Studies

Our customers are so pleased with the results they’re seeing that they want to share them with us. And with you. This section includes submitted examples of what surveyors and educators have created with our software, just to give you a flavor of the broad range of results that are made possible with SonarWiz. Examples include many sonar maps and other images, plus some academic papers.

Nautical Archaeological Society webinar
Ongoing intensive remote sensing surveys of the seabed conducted by the Department of Classics and Archaeology (University of Malta), continue to expand our knowledge on the underwater cultural heritage of the Maltese Islands. The consensus was that sidescan sonar, often using SonarWiz post processing, is the best for surveying and locating targets. | Watch on YouTube

Dokuz Eylul University

The side scan sonar data was acquired using Klein 3000H in order to detect ripples on the seabed at
the Büyük  Menderes River mouth. Processed and mosaicked using SonarWiz software.  
Read Büyük Menderes Case Study

Dokuz Eylul University

The data was collected within the scope of the research project entitled “Mapping of marine key
habitats and assessing their vulnerability to fishing activities in Foça Special Environmental Protection
Area, Turkey” and processed in SonarWiz. | Read Foca Case Study

University of Malta Using CNN AI

Chesapeake Technology customer Timmy Gambin of the University of Malta was cited in an article in the New York Times recently. The article discussed how a type of artificial intelligence (AI) called convolutional neural networks (C.N.N.) can be used to save time and increase the accuracy in locating items of archaeological interest both on land and in water.
Read more

UDEL and Scripps Locate Aircraft

Long time SonarWiz users Project Recover, Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the University of Delaware helped find and recover three aircraft missing for 76 years. Also reported in NY Times, Fox News, CNN.

Read More | YouTube

Teaching Seafloor Mapping with SonarWiz 7

 "From our experience SonarWiz 7 provides a fantastic teaching tool that is robust, intuitive and provides a one-stop shop from acquisition to mosaic; enabling students to experience a full-cycle survey project in their first 6 months of study.”

Submitted by: Dr. Tim Scott, Lecturer in Ocean Exploration, Plymouth University UK

Scientists Use SonarWiz to help map bomb craters in Bikini Atoll for first time.

Atomic bombs were tested in Bikini Atoll between 1946-1954. The bomb testing sunk ships and created large craters on the seafloor. For the first time, a comprehensive seafloor mapping expedition was conducting revealing details of the craters and a dozen shipwrecks now more than 70 years later.

Click below to read the Abstract presented at the AGU Fall Meeting 2019. The authors  are long time users of SonarWiz. Arthur Trembanis, Ph.D., an associate professor at the University of Delaware and doctoral student Carter DuVal, describes the site as “the world's first simulated nuclear battlefield.” Read Abstract.  Read Fox News.

QPS Whitepaper: OWF Workflow Optimization

SonarWiz is an integral part of QPS partnership formed to achieve more seamless and efficient workflows in the dynamic and expanding OWF market...taking advantage of streamlined, integrated solutions is critical to keep up with ever-evolving industry demands.
Read white paper online MTR | Download PDF

By: Deborah Febres Urdaneta & Rian Brak

Submitted by: Tine Verner Karlsen

SonarWiz Identifies Wrecks During Transatlantic Fiber Cable Survey

Archaeological screening of geophysical data collected in 2018 for laying a transatlantic fibre cable in the North Sea. The data was analyzed using SonarWiz. One benefit of SonarWiz is that it enables automatically generated, detailed reports with sonar images, size and position of anomalies.

SonarWiz 7 Used to Survey Baltic Pipe

SonarWiz was used to process a large amount of data. Information on each target was quickly assembled, compared and automatically saved in SonarWiz, easing and securing the screening process. 71 targets were selected during archaeological screening, and 25 were categorized as potential cultural heritage.

By: P. M. Astrup, T. V. Karlsen, C. Skriver

Locating Offshore Sediment Resources

Identifying viable offshore sources of sediment is critical for a more cost-effective response to storm-driven shoreline erosion, enhanced by projected sea level rise. In the last few years, such a project was undertaken as part of a cooperative agreement between the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the Graduate School of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island. SonarWiz was used in this project. 

Authors: Brian Caccioppoli, URI; Carol Gibson, URI; Fred Hegg, Falmouth Scientific. SeaTech Nov 2019 digital issue, pgs 24-28

Testing the reliability of paper seismic record to SEGY conversion on the surface and shallow sub-surface geology of the Barra Fan (NE Atlantic).

Where appropriate archival paper data is available for conversion it could be used to assist efficiency of forthcoming surveys and may be used to provide time series evidence of seabed processes.

Submitted by: Dr. Matthew Owen, Dept Of Geography, University College London

SonarWiz 7 Used to Explore HMS Vanguard in Scapa Flow, Orkney

“The wreck of HMS VANGUARD is a complex site and difficult to interpret. The use of remote survey techniques, specifically sidescan sonar, was invaluable in order to identify the extent of the wreck site and wider debris field and to inform the in-water activity."

Submitted by: E. Turton & B. Wade

SonarWiz 7 Used to Discover Wreck of the Edindoune in Orkney

“In January 2016 during a sonar survey being conducted for the local harbour authority, SULA Diving detected what appeared to be wreckage on the seabed at a site in the eastern area of Scapa Flow, Orkney. Post processing of sonar data was achieved using SonarWiz 7.”

By: M. Thomson & K. Heath, SULA Diving

A Novel Approach to Surveying Sturgeon Using Side-Scan Sonar and Occupancy Modeling

"An EdgeTech 4125-P sidescan sonar was used with SonarWiz software to survey six coastal rivers in North Carolina and South Carolina, to determine site occupany rates for Atlantic sturgeon."

Submitted by: Jared Flowers, North Carolina State University

Underwater Surveys of Lake Champlain Vermont

"This 2004 paper describes a sonar mapping project, using both sub-bottom and sidescan sonar, to chart historical artifacts, bottom bathymetry, and underwater slumps. Klein 3000 digital sidecan sonar and an Edgetech 3100 system with SB-216 sub-bottom CHIRP profiler at 2-16khz were used. This CHIRP unit gets 80m penetration it clay!"

Submitted by: Middlebury College

Estuarial mapping with SonarWiz 5 in Charleston, South Carolina

"Coastal shelf surfaces and sediments of coarse shelly sand, fine sand, and mud were explored using Klein and Edgetech sidescan and sub-bottom sonar, recorded and post-processed with SonarWiz 5."

Submitted by: Dr. Scott Harris, College of Charleston

Drift B, Lake Champlain – Prime Location for a Paleoclimate Study

"Ms. Weeks’ 2012 research report investigates the age of Drift B in Lake Champlain, and its importance in paleoclimate study of the Champlain Basin. Seismic reflection was collected using an Edgetech model SB216 swept frequency CHIRP sonar, and processed with SonarWiz."

Submitted by: Flora Weeks, Department of Geology, Middlebury College, VT

Analysis of the Four Brothers Slump, Lake Champlain – Identifying “At Risk” Locations

"This 2012 research paper investigates the composition and age of the Four Brothers Slump in Lake Champlain, as well as the possibility that a seismic event, circ. 2600-3800 BP, created the slump. Research was conducted using the Edgetech model SB216 swept frequency CHIRP, and the seismic profiles processed and key reflectors digitized using SonarWiz."

Submitted by: Supriti Jaya Ghosh, Department of Geology, Middlebury College, VT

Meridian Pipeline Survey - Massachusetts Bay, Boston, MA

"This open water survey collected sonar imagery over a 10 mile stretch of LNG pipelines in order to find any exposed areas of these pipelines. Chesapeake's SonarWiz software was the enabling technology that was utilized to render the high-resolution sonar images acquired during the missions."

Submitted by: Keith Mackenzie, UMass Dartmouth Advanced Technology & Manufacturing Center, MA

Solving the Mystery Wreck with SonarWiz 5

Submitted by: Carter DuVal, University of Delaware

Evaluation of Wind Energy Areas along the Mid-Atlantic Bight with SonarWiz 5

Submitted by: Trevor Metz, University of Delaware

Two Ways to See a Shipwreck with SonarWiz 5

"A deep-water scan of San Francisco Bay with Klein 3000 sidescan sonar and a SeaSpy magnetometer reveals a shipwreck time forgot."

Submitted by: Garry Kozak, GK Consulting

SonarWiz 5 used in mapping shoreline seafloor in Misquamicut, Rhode Island

"Seafloor deposition boundaries invisible from the surface are revealed using Edgetech 272 sidescan sonar recorded using SonarWiz 5."

Submitted by: Bryan A. Oakley and Jon C. Boothroyd, University of Rhode Island

Near-shore depositional platform sand sheets profiled in Matunuck, Rhode Island

"Off-shore sites were surveyed with Edgetech 216 sidescan sonar to locate optional areas to deposit dredging materials, using SonarWiz 5."

Submitted by: Bryan A. Oakley and Jon C. Boothroyd, University of Rhode Island

Dramatic Images of an Unexpected Shipwreck Discovery

"High resolution Klein 5000 images of an unexpected discovery in Holland were collected, while on a routine sonar test run."

Submitted by: Garry Kozak, Klein Associates

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A Tale of Two Fish: 2011 Scuppernong River Side Scan Survey Report

"Daniel Brown and Dr. Nathan Richards used SonarWiz Map to answer the question of how Columbia, Tyrrell County, and the Scuppernong River’s functioned as a microcosm of economic and cultural forces active in the maritime trade system of the eastern seaboard between the 18th and 20th centuries."

Submitted by: Dr. Nathan Richards, East Carolina University

Hard Times for Small Craft: An Archaeological Survey of the Wright’s Creek Abandoned Vessel Complex

"Dr. Nathan Richards and Jacqueline Marcotte conducted an archaeological study of vessel abandonment attempts to understand economic, social, and technological changes in small communities and provide a model for explaining the evolution of local maritime history and vernacular shipbuilding. They used SonarWiz Map for post processing and target reporting."

Submitted by: Dr. Nathan Richards, East Carolina University"

Copicut Reservoir Sidescan Sonar

"Underwater acoustic images of the shoreline and dam subsurface of the Copicut Reservoir were collected. Chesapeake’s SonarWiz5 software was the enabling technology that was utilized to generate high-resolution imagery of the bottom features of the reservoir. These detailed pictures provided a comprehensive idea of the integrity of the reservoir’s shoreline, as well the structural characteristics of the Copicut Reservoir Dam."

Submitted by: Keith Mackenzie, UMass Dartmouth Advanced Technology & Manufacturing Center, MA

Archaeological Survey of the Potomac River

"A thorough survey of the Potomac River, Virginia, USA, at the site of George Washington’s maritime landscape, searching for remnants of the sunken miniature ship Federalist."

Submitted by: Brendan Burke, St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum

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Revealing an Ancient Landscape

"Survey to identify where to accurately predict and groundtruth archaeological sites from some of our earliest North American ancestors."

Submitted by: Brendan Burke, St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum

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Sounding a Creek

"Survey to monitor small tributaries around our nation’s oldest port for abandoned historic watercraft such as canoes, flat boats, and small sailing craft."

Submitted by: Brendan Burke, St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum

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At The Crossroads:​ ​Maritime Systems in Transition and the Elizabeth City Ships’ Graveyard, North Carolina

"Dr. Nathan Richards and Lindsay S. Smith studied abandonment behavior patterns and site formation processes in an urban setting in order to illuminate historic trends in marine technological adaptation, the economic environment, as well as prevailing social behaviors that are not likely found elsewhere in North Carolina. They used SonarWiz Map for post processing and target reporting."

Submitted by: Dr. Nathan Richards, East Carolina University