Issue 12, June 2010

High Accuracy Achieved with VPS in Local Lake

A team from VEMCO's R&D department recently deployed a VR2W Positioning System (VPS) in Lake Banook, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia to determine how receiver location accuracy might dramatically improve the accuracy of study results.

VR2W receivers and reference transmitters were deployed on the underwater cables used for attaching the marker buoys for competitive canoe racing lanes at Lake Banook. The cables were very accurately surveyed so equipment position measurements were accurate to better than one metre.

The calculated positions for one of the reference transmitters is shown, where each interval on the scale represents one metre. This study demonstrated that with highly accurate measurements of receiver locations, better than one metre accuracy is possible with the VPS.

VPS has been successfully deployed in dozens of locations around the world. Charlie Huveneers of Flinders University in Adelaide, South Australia had this to say about VPS:

"For many years, scientists have been looking at accurate ways to monitor the fine-scale movements of marine organisms within specific areas. VEMCO's new VR2W Positioning System, which uses the same off-the-shelf equipment used in conventional VR2W-based studies, enables us to record the swimming pattern of organisms such as fish and sharks within less than 3-metre accuracy. We have successfully used this technology to study the residence patterns and habitat use of wobbegong sharks in NSW Australia. This project has so far provided us with information about the ecology of wobbegongs never known before."

For more information on VPS visit our website, view the VPS tutorial or contact VEMCO Sales.