Qinertia chosen for marine geophysical data post-processing

SBG's PPK software used to post-process INS data for the precise positioning of marine geophysical surveys

The SBG Systems hardware and software have certainly met our expectations!

Luke Garlick, Hydrographer & Marine Geologist at Namdeb

Namdeb Diamond Corporation is an alluvial diamond mining company located in Oranjemund, Southern Namibia. They perform exploration, mining and rehabilitation operations. Namdeb’s rich history goes as far back as 1920.

The company use several innovative mining techniques to extract diamonds from alluvial deposits of ore bodies. For the survey, they adopt a wide range of methodologies in the terrestrial and marine environment to quantify mining activities and conduct exploration for potentially new mining sites.

 

Robust and cost-effective hardware

Namdeb team was looking for an upgrade of their old Inertial Navigation System and found the SBG’s Navsight Apogee to be of very similar specifications compared to their previous equipment, and at a far lower cost.

Navsight Apogee with subsea IMU and processing unit

 

Our customer also found some appealing features in the hardware configuration to assist users during the initial setup and figured out that Qinertia PPK software offers more value than their previous solution, allowing for third-party data integration and delivers a photogrammetry module for precise georeferencing.

Namdeb waiting for a gap in the surf
Surveyors waiting for a gap in the surf

 

Their primary need for PPK software was to post-process INS data for precise positioning of marine geophysical survey. Qinertia is being used on a daily basis to post-process the Navsight Apogee missions from MBES surveys and PPK data from a Trimble GNSS receiver in SBES surveys. More recently it is used for photogrammetry processing from a DJI UAV.

 

Seamless Integration

No major challenges were faced regarding the hardware upgrade. The plug and play conception offers seamless integration of the INS system on the customer survey vessel.

Regarding the software, Namdeb was particularly satisfied with the system configuration and Qinertia GUI, graphically aiding the user in potential installation errors and data bias. In addition, the SBG team has always responded quickly to provide support.

About PPK software and MBES

Multibeam Echo Sounder Survey (MBES) is a geophysical survey method that uses sound waves to create high-resolution maps of the seafloor and subsurface structures. They are commonly used in hydrography and geophysical exploration to determine water depths, bathymetry, and the location of geological features. However, the accuracy of MBES surveys are sometime limited by the accuracy or disturbances of the INS positioning system used to collect data about the vessel position.

PPK software solve these issues by processing INS data collected during the mission to provide highly accurate positions of the MBES survey vessel. To do so, they use advanced algorithms to correct GNSS data for errors, such as ionospheric and tropospheric delay, and to remove any biases that may be present. This results in a highly accurate and reliable position for the survey vessel, which is then incorporated into the MBES data to increase their accuracy.

Qinertia Pro

Your Full-featured INS/GNSS Post-processing Solution

  • All SBG sensors and supported Third-party IMUs
  • All applications
  • All processing: INS/GNSS and GNSS Only
  • Photogrammetry: geotag image with precise position and orientation
More info ››
About Qinertia
About Namdeb