Hydrographic Meter Deployment.
	Spiny Sunstar (Crossaster papposus).

Survey Planning and Management
Xodus AURORA provides a range of survey services to our customers from baseline surveys as part of environmental impact studies, to the design and implementation of ongoing monitoring programmes.  

Our in-house ecologists are trained in undertaking terrestrial, coastal, freshwater and intertidal habitat surveys. Where necessary specialist sub-contractors are brought in to supplement skills (e.g. bird surveys). Baseline and ongoing monitoring survey capabilities also include electro-fishing and inshore water column and sediment sampling in order to support the full suite of physical, chemical and biological analysis requirements. In-house biologists and environmental scientists are trained in detailed interpretation of survey results, including review of ROV and photographic survey where required.

The environment team has extensive experience of undertaking inshore hydrographic, bathymetric and meteorological surveys in support of consent applications and EIA throughout Scotland. Equipment held in-house includes Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCP), meteorological stations and depth sounders. Other specialist equipment can be sourced as required. Hydrographic and bathymetric survey work is fully supported by our in-house modeling (e.g. Depomod and AutoDepomod) and GIS mapping capabilities.

Visual impact assessment is a common requirement for inshore and coastal planning applications and our environmental team has wide experience in undertaking visual and landscape impact surveys. This is fully supported by the Xodus CAD team and our GIS mapping capabilities.

The environment team also has many years' experience of designing and managing offshore survey. Such surveys may include seabed sampling (chemical and biological) either for baseline or ongoing monitoring, cetacean surveys (e.g. marine mammal observers) and other surveys such as ROV, side-scan bathymetry and photographic habitat surveys.