(From CAS Website) With the support of the National High-tech Development Program (dubbed "863" Program), a research project for the development of a new probing system for making deepwater bathymetric investigations has recently kicked off. The launching meeting was convened on 28 March at the CAS Institute of Acoustics (IOA) in Beijing.

As a key component of the marine technology sector of the "863" Program in 2007, the project is aimed at developing a prototype of the seabed multi-beam bathymetric system. Coordinated by IOA, it will be jointly conducted by researchers from IOA, the No. 715 Research Institute of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, and the Second Institute of Oceanography under the State Administration of Oceanography.

According to the blueprint of the project, the system is expected to carry out vertical profiling operations on land forms and geomorphologic surveys in the depth ranging from 20 to 11,000 meters. The enforcement of the project, the scientists believe, is of special significance in speeding up the disciplinary development of China's marine acoustics, bathymetry and related technologies, leading to an all-round upgrade of China's oceanographic R&D level and its hi-tech equipment.