
Vessel-mounted current profiler
Signature VM
The Signature VM package delivers vessel-mounted AD2CP capabilities based on present-day technology
Highlights
- Five beams for current and depth
- Outstanding bottom-track performance
- A coherent system that is quick and convenient to operate
Overview
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Until now, ADCP current surveys have been complex and time-consuming processes. A successful current survey depends on highly skilled personnel and the hardware set-up is unique, and challenging, for each vessel. This leads to concerns regarding interfacing, synchronization, offsets and mounting. A miscalculation in connection with any one of these factors can lead to errors that affect the final velocity data quality.
Nortek’s vessel-mounted ADCP current survey package – called Signature VM – opens up new and unprecedented opportunities to the community, while offering operational convenience and reduced complexity. Data quality can be safeguarded, and both errors and initial installation time can be substantially reduced by using an integrated system where each is module is pre-qualified
Applications
- Coastal research
- Port and harbor mapping
- Studies of tidal currents
- Sediment transport studies




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Water velocity measurements for Signature VM1000
Profiling range* 30 m Cell size 0.2–2 m Max no. cells 128 Min. blanking 0.1 m Minimum accuracy 0.3% of the measured value ± 0.3 cm/s Velocity resolution 0.1 cm/s Maximum sampling rate 14 Hz No. of beams 4 slanted at 25 degrees *) Maximum range depends on acoustic scattering conditions and transmit power. -
Water velocity measurements for Signature VM500
Profiling range* 70 m Cell size 0.5–4 m Max no. cells 128 Min. blanking 0.5 m Minimum accuracy 0.3% of the measured value ± 0.3 cm/s Velocity resolution 0.1 cm/s Maximum sampling rate 6 Hz No. of beams 4 slanted at 25 degrees *) Maximum range depends on acoustic scattering conditions and transmit power. -
Bottom velocity measurements for Signature VM1000
Single ping std @ 3 m/s 0.5 cm/s Long-term accuracy ± 0.1% / ± 0.1 cm/s Minimum altitude 0.2 m Maximum altitude 30 m Velocity resolution 0.01 mm/s Maximum sampling rate 4 Hz -
Bottom velocity measurements for Signature VM500
Single ping std @ 3 m/s 0.5 cm/s Long-term accuracy ± 0.1% / ± 0.1 cm/s Minimum altitude 0.3 m Maximum altitude 70 m Velocity resolution 0.01 mm/s Maximum sampling rate 2 Hz -
Depth measurements for Signature VM1000
No. of beams 1 vertical Maximum sampling rate 2 Hz Max. range 30 m Vertical resolution / accuracy 0.001 m / 1% of the measured value** **) Assuming a constant speed of sound -
Depth measurements for Signature VM500
No. of beams 1 vertical Maximum sampling rate 2 Hz Max. range 70 m Vertical resolution / accuracy 0.001 m / 1% of the measured value** **) Assuming a constant speed of sound -
Echo intensity
Sampling Same as velocity for slanted beams Resolution 0.5 dB Dynamic range 70 dB slanted beams No. of beams 4 slanted at 25 degrees Beam width 2.9° -
Other
Temperature sensor range /accuracy -4 °C to 40 °C / 0.1 °C Pressure Piezo resistive Standard range 0-100 m (inquire for options) Accuracy/precision 0.1% FS / better than 0.002% of full scale Compass and tilt Solid-state magnetometer Data recording 16 GB (inquire for options) Data cable 20 m Ethernet cable (inquire for options) IO Ethernet DC Input 12–48 V DC -
Environmental
Operating temperature -4 °C to 40 °C Storage temperature -20 °C to 60 °C Shock and vibration IEC 60068-1 / IEC 60068-2-64 EMC approval IEC 61000 Depth rating 300 m – Bottom track is limited to surface vessels Connectors Straight fitted MCBH6F (Ethernet) Housing Small instrument housing Material POM with titanium fasteners -
Rack-mount processing unit
Processor/memory Intel i7, 8 GB Hard disk SSD 240 GB Operating system Windows® 10 Housing 19" rack-mountable 1 HE Dimensions 480x45x220 mm (19" rack-mountable 1 HE) PC Input 100-240V AC, Max. 25W Interface box Input 100-240V AC as standard or 12-34V DC. Max. 15W Dimensions 240x45x300 mm (0.5x19” rack mountable 1 HE) Total weight 4 kg PC, 3 kg Interface box Connections Power, Signature VM, GNSS, Ethernet, USB,HDMI, VGA Operator control Optional 19" rack mount LCD panel Optional 19" rack mount -
Nortek Signature VM acquisition software
Acquisition Signature VM - binary, GNSS compass - binary Timing < 0.6 s, IEEE1588/PTP for absolute timestamping (GNSS compass/Signature VM) Configuration Signature VM (partly)Advanced navigation GNSS compass Display Vessel track in map, Bottom-track velocity, Velocity magnitude and direction, Echo amplitude, Echo correlation, Vertical depth Status Signature VM + GNSS compass Output NMEA data string online (velocity and depth) CSV, ASCII VMT, MATLAB VMT, KML -
GNSS compass
Brand and model Advanced navigation GNSS compass Position accuracy (with dGNSS) / post-processed Horizontal: 0.6 m / 0.01m, Vertical: 1.0 m / 0.02 m Heading accuracy / post-processed 0.2°/ 0.09° Supported navigation systems GPS L1, GLONASS G1, GALILEO E1, Beidou B1 Optional High AccuracyRTK variant GPS L1_L2, GLONASS G1_G2, GALILEO E1_E5b, BeiDou B1_ B2 Motion 9-axis IMU Communication Ethernet 10/100 Timing PTP, NTP timeserver functionality Protocol NMEA0183, AN Packet protocol, TSS1, Simrad
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Technical drawings
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Approvals
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Main product
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Signature1000 VM
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Signature500 VM
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Probe type /Head
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5-beam head
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Housing
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Short, no room for battery (external battery canister for bottom mount use)
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Memory
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16 GB SD card data logger
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64 GB SD card data logger
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Pressure sensor
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Pressure sensor 0-100 m, 0.1% (standard) All other available Signature1000_500
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Cables
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AD2CP: 20 m Ethernet cable with MCIL6MP, Power/RJ45 at dry end (standard)
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AD2CP: 10-100 m Ethernet cable (specify length) with MCIL6MP-PWR/RJ45
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GNSS: GC-POE-CABLE-20M Ethernet cable for GNSS Compass 20 m (please inquire for other length)
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Mounting
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Vessel Mounted over the side
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Vessel Hull mounted
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Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) mounted (please inquire)
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Other
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Compass and Tilt sensor
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Serial to USB driver
Virtual COM port driver to allow Nortek's serial-to-USB converters to function.
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Signature VM
This package includes the acquisition and review software
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Signature VM 1000kHz
New features, fixes and functionality
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Signature VM 500kHz
New features, fixes and functionality
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