Water Column Display

The Water Column provides an easy and intuitive time-based image of the seafloor, along with fish target icons. This mode displays a historical view of the section under your boat. Note that even if the boat does not move, the picture will continue to scroll to show the evolution of the water column (fish that may move) under your boat.

Fish targets are displayed on screen using small sphere ("bubbles") colored according to depth (or target intensity in case of WASSP):

IMPORTANT: although the Water Column seems to render a basic 3D map of the seafloor, it is actually not! To have an accurate spatial rendering of the bottom, the "3D Cube" WorkSpace should be used. The Water Column behave more like a traditional Sounder view where time is used to move the picture forward (and not distance or speed). For example, if you stand still, the rendering of the Water Column will continue to advance. This allows you to view a time history of what happens under your boat even if you are standing still or trawling at low speed.

With WASSP generation 3, Fish Targets can be colored according to depth or intensity by selecting "Fish Strength Shading" or "Fish Depth Shading" from the "Display" button located in the Ribbon. With the DFF-3D, Fish Target can only be colored according to depth (only the "Fish Depth Shading" mode is available).

When Fish Depth Shading is selected, a color scale will be indicating on the right and left side of the grid (scale). By default the Color Scale will be in "Auto" mode using red for the surface and dark blue for the deepest point on the screen:

You can switch the Fish Depth Shading in manual mode by clicking on the color scale "Auto/Manual" located at the bottom left of your screen:

In Manual mode, you can put your cursor over the minimum and maximum value and use the scroll wheel to adjust the value. Note that fish targets that are outside of the boundary will not be displayed on screen. This can be useful if you only want to display fish target in between specific depth values.

When Fish Strength Shading is selected (WASSP only), the color of the fish targets varies according to target echo strength. Fish with stronger return will be displayed in red while small fish or plankton will be displayed in blue. By default, the Fish Strength Shading is in Manual mode and set up to display all types of fish return. Just like adjusting the Depth Shading, you can adjust the minimum and maximum strength. Please note that this will not only adjust the color, but also alter the fish target size if "Dynamic Size" is selected from the "Display" button located in the ribbon.