Using cruise tracks
This page covers:
Displaying cruise tracks
Displaying a GPS fixes cruise track
To display a GPS fixes cruise track:
- On the View menu, point to Cruise Track.
- If your EV file contains multiple filesets, point to the fileset that contains the required position variable.
- Click the name of the position variable, e.g. position GPS fixes.
- OR -
- Display the Dataflow window.
- Double-click the required position variable.
- OR -
On the Filesets window, select a position GPS fixes variable and click Cruisetrack.
Notes:
- If the cruise track appears erratic and does not accurately represent the path of the logging vessel, you may wish to apply different processing and/or smoothing settings. See Processing and smoothing cruise tracks for more information.
- If you want to view more than one window of the same cruise track, hold down the CTRL key when opening additional instances.
- Displayed or created regions can be integrated.
Displaying an along-track display cruise track
To display an along track display you must:
- Choose what to display for a single beam variable
- Display the results
Choosing what to display for a single beam variable
To select what information to display in an along-track display for a single beam variable:
- Display the echogram of the single beam variable for which you wish to display an along track display cruise track.
- Click the Variable Properties
button.
- On the Display page, select Cruise track from the Display properties for text box
- On the Display page, in the Cruise Track section, choose an analysis variable to display on the along track display and enter other display settings as required.
- On the Grid page, define a time/distance grid that is suited to your analysis.
Example1: If you set Show time/distance grid to Ping number and set Number of pings between grid lines to 10, Echoview will break the cruise track into a series of segments that are 10 pings long. Each segment will display the mean value of the selected analysis variable across the 10 pings. The distance represented by each segment on the cruise track will be determined by the GPS position assigned to the first and last ping in the segment.
Example 2: If you set Show time/distance grid to GPS distance (m) and set Distance between grid lines to 50, Echoview will break the cruise track up into a series of segments that are 50 meters long. Each segment will display the mean value of the selected analysis variable across all pings within the 50 meter range.
- On the Data and Analysis pages, enter thresholds and exclusion as required.
- Click OK.
Displaying the results
To display an along-track display cruise track:
- On the View menu, point to Cruise Track, and then click an acoustic variable.
Note: If you have created multiple filesets or virtual variables you will have to point to the fileset that contains the variable after pointing to Echogram.
- On the Filesets window, select an acoustic variable and click Cruise Track .
- On the Dataflow window, right-click on an acoustic variable icon then click Cruise Track.
Notes:
- If the along-track display appears erratic and does not accurately represent the path of the logging vessel, you may wish to apply different processing and/or smoothing settings. You will need to apply these settings to the GPS fixes cruise track that is linked to the same platform as the variable from which the along-track display was created. See Processing and smoothing cruise tracks for more information.
- If you want to display the along-track display cruise track with a white background (e.g. for clearer printouts) press the Y key to switch to the alternate color scheme. If the alternative color scheme does not have white background you can create a custom color scheme using Echocolor.
- If you want to view more than one window of the same cruise track, hold down the CTRL key when opening the additional instances.
- A message that can appear is 'No valid GPS found for this along-track display'. This indicates that the position variable for the Position source of the Position page of the Platform Properties dialog box does not overlap in time with the cruise track you want to show as an along-track display. If you can, select a more suitable position variable.
- Displayed or created regions can be integrated.
Displaying a 3D cruise track
To display a 3D cruise track within a scene:
- Click Scene properties on the Shortcut menu (right-click).
- On the Objects page of the Scene properties dialog box, select Cruise track
- Click Ok.
Note: You can use a 3D cruise track to control scene animation.
Zooming
Zoom actions are available through the: Zoom controls, the mouse wheel, the Zoom toolbar, keyborad shortcuts and the View menu.
To zoom in on a cruise track, use the mouse wheel, Zoom toolbar or the following keyboard shortcuts:
- Make a selection around the area you wish view in more detail (click and drag).
- Do one of the following:
- Press the S key.
- On the Shortcut menu (right-click), click Zoom In.
To zoom out, do one of the following:
- Press the W key.
- On the Shortcut menu (right-click), click Zoom Out.
To unzoom (return to the default zoom setting), do one of the following:
- Press the U key.
- On the Shortcut menu (right-click), click Unzoom.
Note: Other navigation is also possible using Cruise track keyboard shortcuts.
Synchronizing cruise tracks and echograms
Echoview allows you to synchronize any open echogram windows with a selected cruise track position.
To synchronize echograms to a cruise track position:
- Bring the cruise track into focus.
- Point to fix on a position on the cruise track.
- On the Shortcut menu (right-click), click Synchronize.
Auto-synchronizing cruise tracks and echograms
To display a cross hair on a cruise track which is synchronized with your echogram navigation, you can add the cruise track to an auto-synchronized group. See Auto-synchronization of echograms and cruise tracks.
Note: The Video window can also be a member of an auto-synchronized group.
Keeping the latest fix in view when live viewing
Cruise tracks can be displayed while live viewing. To keep the end of the cruise track in view, click Follow latest fix on the Shortcut menu (right-click).
Define and integrate a region
Define a region
The Vertical band tool enables you to make a selection on a cruise track which extends the entire depth of the echogram at a defined time/GPS position.
To define a region on an echogram from the cruise track window:
- Bring the cruise track window into focus.
- Click the Vertical band tool
.
- Point to a start position on the cruise track, drag to the end position.
- On the Shortcut menu (right-click), click Define Region.
Notes:
- Use the Define Region feature when the cruise track window and the echogram window are displayed side by side. This allows you to use both hydroacoustic and cruise track information to make analysis decisions.
- For more information about the region, refer to About cruise tracks - Define and integrate a region.
- Region shortcuts for the cruise track or along track windows are available.
Integrate a region
You may view the integration results for a region whose region type is set to Analysis.
To integrate a region displayed on the cruise track window:
- Bring the cruise track window into focus.
- Shortcut menu > Variable Properties.
- Analysis page > Select a variable from the Linked acoustic variable list.
- Click on a region > Shortcut menu > Integrate Region.
Notes:
- An Along track window is by definition (already) linked to an acoustic variable. As a result, the Linked acoustic variable setting is absent from the Along Track Variable Properties.
- Use the Linked setting on the Integration Results dialog box to display results from selected regions.
Displaying map or waypoint data
To display supported map or waypoint data with cruise tracks see Adding map or waypoint file to Echoview.
Displaying a WMS map
To display a WMS map with cruise tracks see Adding a WMS map to Echoview.
Calculating area in the cruise track window
You can display the area of a rectangle or polygon selection on the cruise track window:
- Display the cruise track window.
- Click the Rectangle or Polygon tool and define an area of interest on the cruise track window.
- The area of the selection is displayed on the Echoview status bar in nmi2 and m2.
Note: The area calculation uses a cartesian coordinate system, and is only valid for relatively small areas.
See also
About cruise tracks
Map and waypoint files