ISIS Data Acquisition Equipment

Sidescan-Sonar and
Chirp Subottom Towfish:

Datasonics Model SIS-1000

Data Collection Platform:

Triton Elics International ISIS™

Windows 95 based Pentium machine

Saves sidescan-sonar data via network interface or on an Exabyte 8200 tape subsystem

Will accept up to 5 channels of data

Serial I/O ports (i.e., for navigation)

Parallel (Centronics) ports for printing the sidescan-sonar data

Array processor handling the digitized sidescan-sonar signal

12 bit analog to digital converter OR:

DSP card for digital signals

The topside data acquisition computer the USGS uses to collect and store the digital signal is the ISIS™ system, which runs under the Windows 95 operating system and is built by Triton Elics International, Inc., Watsonville, CA using a 12-bit (72 db effective dynamic range) A/D converter in conjunction with an array processor. ISIS™ is capable of digitizing up to four channels of information at aggregate rates of up to 750 kHz, thus preserving the content and the dynamic range of the sidescan-sonar signal. An installed Digital Signal Processing (DSP) board is an alternative to handling signals digitized at the towfish (SIS-1000). Port and starboard sidescan-sonar data are displayed in real-time on a high-resolution color display (1280 x 1024 pixels). Telemetry from navigation systems and the towfish, including full towfish attitude information, is displayed in separate windows. The backup data storage media used is 8 mm Exabyte tape. The USGS Woods Hole Field Center is currently recording directly to disk on separate computer systems using the Network File System (NFS) protocol and archiving the data to CD-ROM.