Airborne bathymetry in ice covered waters

The Through-Ice Bathymetry System, or TIBS, is a helicopter electromagnetic system currently under development by the Canadian Hydrographic Service. The aim of the system is to provide reliable bathymetric coverage in areas where bathymetric data would otherwise be difficult to acquire. Development is currently focused on assessing the performance of the system in ice covered Arctic waters with depths up to 50 meters, but TIBS could also be used to map areas where the presence of shoals or other hazards renders conventional ship-borne bathymetric sounding dangerous or impractical.