Hydrographic Survey Equipment

Find manufacturers of hydrographic survey equipment for unmanned and automated underwater vehicles (UUV, AUV, UAV) for underwater mapping and surveying.
Overview Hydrographic Survey Equipment
By Staff Writer Last updated: April 14th, 2025

Equipment for Hydrographic Survey & Underwater Mapping

Hydrographic surveying is the measurement and description of marine and maritime environmental features such as shorelines, seabeds and riverbeds, currents, and tides. In addition to manned vessels, it can also be carried out by USVs (unmanned surface vehicles) and UUVs (unmanned underwater vehicles) equipped with acoustic technologies, or by UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) carrying specialised LiDAR payloads.

Using drones and other autonomous unmanned vehicles for hydrographic surveying saves time and manpower, and surveyors can easily plot pre-programmed routes and edit them during a mission as required. UAVs can be used at low tide to scan for obstructions, and this data can then be used to inform the paths of USVs and UUVs that complete the surveying works during high tide.

Seafloor Systems Hydrographic Survey USV
Seafloor Systems Hydrographic Survey USV

Equipment and Applications for Hydrographic Survey

Applications for hydrographic survey include maritime navigation, dredging, offshore drilling and marine construction.

Sonar and Echo Sounders
Used for acoustic hydrographic surveying, sonar technology measures the reflection of acoustic pulses in order to construct an image of the surveyed area.
Read more about Underwater Sonar and Echo Sounders >>

Depth Sensors and Underwater Altimeters
Often paired with temperature sensors, depth sensors and underwater altimeters utilize sonar pulses to measure the depth/distance of the seabed and information relating to the features of the seafloor.
Read more about Depth Sensors & Underwater Altimeters >>

Profiling Floats
Profiling floats or drifters are preprogrammed underwater units used to autonomously relay information concerning currents, salinity and temperature from different points within a vertical water column.
Read more about Profiling Floats >>

Tethered Boats
Unmanned tethered boats are remotely operated autonomous surface vehicles (ASVs) used to monitor and exact information relating to a fixed point at sea / on the water.
Read more about Tethered Boats >>

Bathymetric LiDAR
UAV LiDAR scanners are typically used for shallow-water bathymetry (underwater depth) measurements, whereas USVs and UUVs with acoustic equipment can be used for a wider range of surveying applications. Unmanned systems can also be used as a force multiplier in conjunction with manned survey vessels and aircraft.
Read more about Bathymetric LiDAR >>

Products (17)

Sams 50 Synthetic Apeture Sonar

Synthetic aperture sonars for towfish & UUVs

Synthetic aperture sonars for towfish & UUVs
...erformance for hydrographic surveying and subsea mapping. Based on unique new technology that... ...es time during survey and post-processing...
Hydrus Micro Hovering AUV

Micro-AUV for benthic survey and point inspection

Micro-AUV for benthic survey and point inspection
Hydrus is a compact AUV designed for a variety of mapping, inspection and monitoring applications. I...
HydroBoat 1500 USV

Versatile USV for underwater topographic survey

Versatile USV for underwater topographic survey
The HydroBoat 1500 is a versatile USV driven by four powerful thrusters and designed to carry out un...
HydroBoat 1200 USV

Multipurpose uncrewed vessel for hydrographic survey & monitoring

Multipurpose uncrewed vessel for hydrographic survey & monitoring
...nt sensors and equipment for multi-mission convenience. Designed with cutting-edge CFD technology,...
HydroBoat 990 USV

High-efficiency USV for bathymetric survey

High-efficiency USV for bathymetric survey
The HydroBoat 990 is a portable USV designed specifically for bathymetric surveys. Featuring a robus...
RIEGL VQ-840-G

Compact Topo-Bathymetric Airborne Laser Scanner

Compact Topo-Bathymetric Airborne Laser Scanner
The RIEGL VQ-840-G is a compact and lightweight laser scanner for combined bathymetric and topogr...
MS400C

All-in-one multibeam echo sounder for compact USVs

All-in-one multibeam echo sounder for compact USVs
...onal speed and survey efficiency, the MS400C features factory-aligned sensors and...
D270 Echosounder

Versatile single-beam echosounder for bathymetric survey

Versatile single-beam echosounder for bathymetric survey
...cy bathymetric survey applications such as cross-sectional river surveys and reservoir capacity...
APACHE3 Pro Unmanned Surface Vessel

Professional survey USV with autonomous obstacle avoidance

Professional survey USV with autonomous obstacle avoidance
...al bathymetric survey applications in challenging waters. Capable of full autonomy and requiring...
MS400U All-in-One Multibeam Echo Sounder

Multibeam Built in SVS & IMU + GNSS for USV Hydrographic Survey

Multibeam Built in SVS & IMU + GNSS for USV Hydrographic Survey
The MS400U is a low-SWaP (size, weight and power) multibeam echo sounder that has been specially des...
SVP1500 Sound Velocity Profiler

High Accuracy of 0.05 m/s for Underwater Exploration

High Accuracy of 0.05 m/s for Underwater Exploration
The SVP1500 sound velocity profiler provides accurate speed of sound information and depth measureme...
SVS1500 Sound Velocity Sensor

Real-Time Sound Velocity Sensor for USV & ROV Underwater Survey

Real-Time Sound Velocity Sensor for USV & ROV Underwater Survey
......It can be easily integrated with other underwater equipment such as echosounders....
ES Series Embedded Side Scan Sonar

Multi-Frequency-Optional Side Scan Sonar for USVs, ROVs & AUVs

Multi-Frequency-Optional Side Scan Sonar for USVs, ROVs & AUVs
The ES Series of embedded side scan sonars for USVs and UUVs features frequency options of 450 kHz, ...
Solstice MAS – Side-Scan Sonar

Multi-aperture side-scan sonar

Multi-aperture side-scan sonar
Solstice is an ultra-high resolution multi-aperture side-scan sonar system for AUVs, ROVs and towfis...
APACHE 6 USV

USV with Norbit multibeam echosounder

USV with Norbit multibeam echosounder
...3D bathymetric survey, underwater object positioning, offshore construction, underwater archaeology,...
APACHE 3 USV

Cost-effective single beam marine drone

Cost-effective single beam marine drone
The APACHE3 is a portable shallow-draft hull with a single beam echo sounder for bathymetric surveys...
APACHE 4 USV

USV with integrated ADCP and echosounder

USV with integrated ADCP and echosounder
... the efficient hydrographic, bathymetric, and hydrological surveys, the APACHE 4 USV brings together...

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