Qimera Sonar Source Data Import Capabilities
Qimera Raw Sensor Files
This document explains in detail what Qimera is extracting from the raw sensor source files on import.
The import and processing of raw data formats is dependent on licensing. In Qimera, go to the Help drop-down menu and choose View License Status to view your current license coverage.
Please also see Qimera Supported Import Data Formats for additional information on each format.
Qimera attempts to initially extract as much information as possible from the raw sensor files at the point of import. Some files provide much of the information necessary to begin data processing immediately while others only provide some. In some cases, some information is provided but metadata is missing. For example, the .ALL format provides SVP casts but it does not provide the geographic position of the SVPs.
Qimera will recommend the best workflow for source files that a user attempts to import as either Raw Sensor or Processed Points. Qimera if presented with Raw Sensor files as Processed Points Source Files will ask you to import as Raw Sensor to enable full use of file contents during the dynamic processing.
DB | Processed MB | QPD from QINSy used if it exists. |
|---|---|---|
RAW MB | Yes. | |
Water Column Imagery | Water column imagery is supported for the following manufacturers: Kongsberg (.all and .kmall format), Reson, R2Sonic (Water Column - WCD0 and TruePix - TPX0 → D1 magnitude and direction) and Norbit. | |
Vessel Configuration | Yes. | |
SVP | Yes, if it exists. Users may wish to correctly set the acquisition date and location of the SVP during entry into QINSy to enable space/time based SVP lookup. | |
Surface Sound Speed | Yes, if it exists. This would be raw sensor data. The value stored in the multibeam record, i.e. that used in beam forming, is extracted as a separate time-series as well. | |
Orientation | Yes, all streams. | |
Position | Yes, all streams. | |
Height | Yes, all streams. | |
Tide | Yes, all tide stations. Qimera only allows use 1 station however for v1.0. | |
Pressure | Yes, all streams. | |
Sonar Settings | Sonar settings are only used to populate GSF sensor specific records during export from Qimera. QINSy must be configured to record these records. Please consult the QINSy knowledge base to verify which records you may need. | |
Other | Seabed imagery records (snippets, etc) are only used to populated GSF sensor specific records during export from Qimera. QINSy must be configured to record these records. Please consult the QINSy knowledge base to verify which records you may need. |
ALL (mb56,mb58) | Processed MB | Yes, if Direct to QPD enabled. |
|---|---|---|
RAW MB | Yes. | |
Water Column Imagery | Yes. | |
Vessel Configuration | Yes, from the Installation datagram. | |
SVP | Yes. No position is available for SVP. Observation time is available but may be incorrect depending on the original source of the SVP provided to SIS. | |
Surface Sound Speed | Yes, if raw sensor data is available. The value used in beamforming is extracted from the Range/Angle datagram as well as a separate time-series. | |
Orientation | Yes. Raw sensor values are calculated by removing angular offset corrections applied by Kongsberg and by removing lever arm corrections applied by Kongsberg. | |
Position | Yes, all streams. Raw height is extracted from NMEA strings to circumvent Kongsberg "motion correction" of position. | |
Height | Yes, but users should note that some NMEA data streams do not specify the geoid/ellipsoid separation. If no geoid/ellipsoid separation exists, then the NMEA height may represent a value that is referenced to a geoid, but the specific geoid is not encoded in the data stream. | |
Tide | No. | |
Pressure | Yes. Depth can be extracted from the Depth (104 record) or from the position record. This is only done for subsurface platforms (based on setting of DSH field in the Installation datagram). | |
Sonar Settings | Sonar settings from the Runtime datagram, Installation datagram and sonar records (depth, range/angle, seabed imagery) are only used to populate GSF sensor specific records during export from Qimera. | |
Other | Seabed imagery datagrams are only used to populate GSF sensor specific records during export from Qimera. |
S7K | Processed MB | Not available in this format. |
|---|---|---|
RAW MB | Yes. Raw MB Bathymetry is read from the 7027 record or the 7004 & 7006 record (7004/7006 must be paired, one has range and one has angle). For Hydrosweep systems, the 7047 record is read. | |
Water Column Imagery | Water column imagery is supported for older style packets (7018) and also the newer compressed water column format (7042). | |
Vessel Configuration | Relative offsets between transmitter and receiver are imported from the 7503 record. Full vessel geometry is extracted from the 7030 record but this record only exists in files coming from PDS2000 and not from the Sonar User Interface (SUI). For Integrated Dual Head (IDH) systems, only the 7503 record is considered, as advised by Teledyne-Reson. | |
SVP | Yes, if it exists. Position can be available if entered by user during acquisition. Time of observation is not available. SVP/CTD information is imported from the 1009 or 1010 record. | |
Surface Sound Speed | Yes. This is the value used for beamforming, it is extracted from record 7000. The raw sensor values are not stored separately in the file and the value used for beamforming may have been filtered by the acquisition system. | |
Orientation | Yes, if it exists. Heading is imported from the 1013, 1015, or 1016 record. Roll/Pitch/Heave is imported from the 1012 or 1016 record. | |
Position | Yes, if it exists. File format supports single stream only. Position is imported from the 1003 or 1015 record. | |
Height | Yes, if it exists. File format supports single stream only. GNSS/GPS Height is read from the 1003 or 1015 record. | |
Tide | No | |
Pressure | Yes, depth (not pressure) is extracted from Depth datagram (1008). | |
Sonar Settings | Yes. Sonar Settings are used to help Qimera understand if the sonar is roll stabilized and are also used for speed of sound, sampling rate, etc. The sonar settings are read from the 7000 record. | |
Other | Snippets are read from the 7028 or 7008 record; Qimera does not use these records but will pass this information into an exported GSF for use in FMGeocoder Toolbox (FMGT). Ancillary Measurements are read from the S7K. If these are missing, Qimera will still allow the data to be imported, but alternate sources for this information will need to be provided. Norbit sonars use this format as well, some deviation from general comments may be experienced by end users. |
HSX | Processed MB | Not available in this format. |
|---|---|---|
RAW MB | Yes. | |
Water Column Imagery | No. | |
Vessel Configuration | Yes, if available. Hypack is sometimes set up without offsets and zero values will be found in the HSX file. Users may need to enter offsets in Qimera in this case. | |
SVP | Yes. Position and time of observation are not available. | |
Surface Sound Speed | Yes. The RMB record provides the surface sound speed, if available. | |
Orientation | Yes. | |
Position | Yes. Project coordinates in HSX file are reprojected if necessary into the Qimera project projection. The user must specify the coordinate frame of the HSX files coordinates regardless. | |
Height | No. There is no "height" record and position records only contain X/Y. | |
Tide | Yes, if it exists. The tide record, however, can contain GPS heights and the contents of this record cannot be determined from the HSX file alone. | |
Pressure | n/a | |
Sonar Settings | Sonar setting records are not stored in HSX data and are thus not immediately available to Qimera. GSFs exported may have the correct sensor ID but they will not have any sonar specific records completed. | |
Other | Seabed imagery snippet records are not stored in HSX data and are thus not immediately available to Qimera. GSFs exported will not have any imagery data. .raw and .7k files logged alongside the HSX are not used by Qimera. |
JSF | Processed MB | Not available in this format. |
|---|---|---|
RAW MB | Yes. | |
Water Column Imagery | No. | |
Vessel Configuration | Not available in this format. | |
SVP | Not available in this format. | |
Surface Sound Speed | Yes. | |
Orientation | Yes, if available. | |
Position | Yes, if available. | |
Height | Yes, if available. | |
Tide | Not available in this format. | |
Pressure | No. | |
Sonar Settings | Not applicable. | |
Other | Imagery data is not currently supported. This includes sidescan and water column. |
GSF | Processed MB | Yes, but these are not used by default as of version 2.2.0. Users can convert the processed MB to to QPD using the "Direct to QPD" operation under the Tools menu. |
|---|---|---|
RAW MB | Yes, if beam travel-times and angles are available. | |
Water Column Imagery | No. | |
Vessel Configuration | Yes, if available. | |
SVP | Yes, if available. Position and time may be present but these should be verified upon import. | |
Surface Sound Speed | Yes, but only if the sonar specific subrecords are available. There is no generic surface sound speed field in the standard GSF ping header record. | |
Orientation | Yes. Update rates may be low if the raw motion data is not stored in the file since the only other source is the ping header, in which case the ping rate may be too low to provide enough motion sensor data. | |
Position | Yes, a single stream of information only, the position is stored in the ping header and its update rate is thus limited by the sonar ping rate. | |
Height | Yes, a single stream of information only, the height is stored in the ping header and its update rate is thus limited by the sonar ping rate. | |
Tide | Yes, if populated in the ping header record. | |
Pressure | Yes, from the depth corrector field in the ping header record. | |
Sonar Settings | Sonar settings in the sonar specific subrecords are not used. | |
Other | Seabed imagery, if present, will be carried across during re-export into another GSF but only for Kongsberg, Reson and R2Sonic systems. |
XSE | Processed MB | Not available in this format. |
|---|---|---|
RAW MB | Yes. | |
Water Column Imagery | No. | |
Vessel Configuration | Yes, from Ship Frame. | |
SVP | Yes, if available. No position information is available. | |
Surface Sound Speed | Yes, if available. | |
Orientation | Yes, if available. | |
Position | Yes, if available. | |
Height | Yes, if available. | |
Tide | Yes, if available from the Tide Frame. | |
Pressure | No. | |
Sonar Settings | Sonar settings are not used. | |
Other | Imagery data is not currently supported. This includes sidescan and water column. |
R2SC | Processed MB | Not available in this format. |
|---|---|---|
RAW MB | Yes. | |
Water Column Imagery | No. | |
Vessel Configuration | Not available in this format. | |
SVP | Not available in this format. | |
Surface Sound Speed | Yes, if available. | |
Orientation | Not available in this format. | |
Position | Not available in this format. | |
Height | Not available in this format. | |
Tide | Not available in this format. | |
Pressure | Not available in this format. | |
Sonar Settings | Sonar settings are only used to populate GSF sensor specific records during export from Qimera. | |
Other | Seabed imagery datagrams are only used to populate GSF sensor specific records during export from Qimera. |
KMALL | Processed MB | Support for processed soundings being directly converted is not currently implemented. Will be implemented after further joint testing with Kongsberg. Qimera will compute its own footprint solutions. |
|---|---|---|
RAW MB | Yes. | |
Water Column Imagery | Yes. | |
Vessel Configuration | Yes, from the Installation datagram. | |
SVP | Yes. Contrary to the .ALL format, it is possible to record the cast position. This is decoded and operators are encouraged to populate these fields during acquisition. Observation time is available but may be incorrect depending on the original source of the SVP provided to the acquisition system. | |
Surface Sound Speed | Yes, if raw sensor data is available. The value used in beamforming is extracted from the Range/Angle datagram as well as a separate time-series. | |
Orientation | Yes. Raw sensor values are calculated by removing angular offset corrections applied by Kongsberg and by removing lever arm corrections applied by Kongsberg. | |
Position | Yes, all streams. Raw height is extracted from NMEA strings to circumvent Kongsberg "motion correction" of position. | |
Height | Yes, but users should note that some NMEA data streams do not specify the geoid/ellipsoid separation. If no geoid/ellipsoid separation exists, then the NMEA height may represent a value that is referenced to a geoid, but the specific geoid is not encoded in the data stream. | |
Tide | No. | |
Pressure | Not currently implemented. | |
Sonar Settings | Sonar settings are only used to populate GSF KMALL sensor specific records during export from Qimera. | |
Other | Seabed imagery datagrams are only used to populate GSF sensor specific records during export from Qimera. |