New Z-offset (depth offset) Feature

Some of our customers have requested the ability to make their maps even more accurate by eliminating the distance between their transducer and the bottom.  We listened! 
Depth calculations (z) using hydro acoustics are calculated from the source (transducer) to the bottom. Because a depth finder transducer is typically mounted below the water surface, depth readings are always off by the distance between the bottom of the transducer and the surface of the water . . . not anymore!   With the new z-offset feature, any user can now recalculate depths by entering this distance and reprocessing the trip.  For example, if your transducer is 6 inches below the surface, all of your depth readings should have a half foot added to them.  A 10 foot z should actually be 10.5” deep.  With a .5” z-offset, all of your depths will be reprocessed for better accuracy.  This is very important when calculating water volumes! 
The z-offset feature can also be used for calculations to high water marks or draw downs.  By using the z-offset for a 5 foot draw down scenario, our users can identify which bottom structures will be exposed as land (see below).  In addition, lake and pond managers can determine total water volumes at a high water mark by measuring this distance.  By simply offsetting all depth readings with a single z-coordinate offset, your trip will be reprocessed the way you want it.  Water volumes, blue scale, and plant biovolume will all be recalculated in your account.  Simple!
Below is an example of the z-offset in action for a simulated draw down.  We took an accurate trip from Trout Lake in Wisconsin and offest the z-coordinate by 20 feet to simulate a 20 foot draw down.  The new blue scale reflects the changes and displays the new land in green:

Auto Blue Scale Bathymetry Mapping

Contour Innovations (CI) is announcing the addition of a new feature of our BioBase System.  As many of you know, each trip uploaded to your account is processed for depths and plant canopy heights to automatically create maps and output the layered data in your interactive online account.  From now on, depth contours will be displayed in blue scale after launch of our new blue scale image feature.  When loading your vegetation layer, blue scale will disappear but transparent contour lines will display beneath the % biovolume output. 
This feature is great for lake and pond managers that are interested in getting a quick assessment of any sized water body to understand where the deep spots are for diffuser placement and overall management.  We still employ a TIN anlysis for accurately estimating total water volume.  On a pay per upload plan, our customers can get this data quickly for as little as $100 per water body and in as short as 10 minutes.   You collect the data with your low cost Lowrance HDS depth finder, upload it to a secure account from your computer, and the raw sonar is processed in the cloud in minutes.  Images of the blue scale can be exported with ease to be included in management plans (images in this blog are direct exports from the BioBase System).  State agencies are using the System for bathymetric output to update their existing lake maps provided to anglers.    This is just another great feature added to the powerful BioBase System.
To further demonstrate the power of automation and centralization anyone that has already uploaded trips to the BioBase System can now get blue bathymetry for those uploads with little effort.  To try it out, log into your account and click the interactive viewer for any trip.  Using the REPROCESS tab, check “contours” and resend the trip to our servers.  Within minutes you will get an email letting you know that your reprocess has been completed and blue scale will be provided for this trip.  Using an online account there are no software updates or manual processing of older trips.  Let our servers do the work.  That’s what they’re there for.  Anytime we add a new feature to BioBase, anything you’ve already uploaded to your account can be updated.   It’s pretty cool stuff!

Please contact us with any questions at matt@ContourInnovations.com or 715.864.9347.  Pond managers can contact our exclusive partner, Aquatic Eco-Systems (Orlando, FL) at mattr@aquaticeco.com or 407.462.4697.  Let us know what you think!

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