DIDSON™ SOFTWARE

Click to see a pdf document outlining DIDSON's Additional Software Features

DIDSON window display Topside Display
    Topside display and control software comes with all of our DIDSONs. The software runs on Windows and allows a laptop to be the control and display console. A number of software features enhance the operation of DIDSON for specific applications.
    The software has many more features than we can explain here. DIDSON purchasers have obtained free upgrades to the latest version of software at no additional cost.
DIDSON Big Tool Bar
The Toolbar
    The toolbar has a number of control features. One way to record a file is to click on the red button. Files are played back using the folder icon to find the file, the sideways arrows to quickly move through files within a folder, and the playback icons to play the file forwards, backwards, pause, or loop it. The icons on the far right allow one to subtract the static background from the image, apply the autofish count algorithm, enhance imaging moving objects, apply transmission loss, and generate an advanced echogram.
DIDSON Control and Display Control and Display
    DIDSON records video-quality data and thus can require a lot of disk space (1.8 gigabytes/hour). As a result many features have been developed to allow one to record only the data of importance. In Alaska where fish are counted in the thousands per hour, the timer mode allows the DIDSON to count fish in samples of time at different frequencies and ranges within each hour, or day. The sonar can be left unattended while it collects data in preset patterns and times. Some rivers and streams in other states may have a very small run – maybe a 1000 fish in a two-month period. In this case DIDSON can implement a motion detection algorithm and record data only while a fish or a fish-sized object passes through its field of view. This saves gigabytes of recorded data and makes final processing and counting much, much easier.
DIDSON Count Composite Count Composite
    This composite shows two of the processing capabilities of DIDSON software. The image on the left shows four fish in a shallow, rocky portion of the Copper River in Alaska. They are very hard to find. The center image shows those same fish with background subtraction activated. Now you can see the four fish. The image on the right shows the same fish with motion-enhancement activated. Now the four fish are better defined and can better be detected and sized with auto-count and auto-size software also included in the DIDSON software package.
Clustergram Overview Clustergram
    The clustergram graphically indicates the presence of moving objects that exceed certain intensity and size parameters. It allows analysts to sift through days of data at a rate of 800 frames/s (200 times real-time if data are collected at 4 frames/s). The fat long mark at left, indicates the presence of a large fish among a number of smaller fish. The analyst can draw a box around the mark and get a "tape loop" of the source DIDSON data for verification and sizing.
3D Image 3D Imaging
    An optional feature allows three dimensional presentations of DIDSON data. A 1° concentrator lens mounted on the standard DIDSON provides 96 beams, each 0.3° horizontal by 1° vertical. As the DIDSON pans or translates through the field of interest, it collects data that can be presented in 3D format during the collection. One can obtain precise measurements within the work area and use the data as input to sophisticated modeling software.