Day 3 in Malta

Day 3 was a slightly uneventful day since weather conditions (mostly high winds which created choppy conditions) prevented us from deploying the IVER. Professor Gambin came in the morning to train everyone on using the Sonar Wiz software. This allows us to create geo-referenced images of the side scan sonar runs and also larger images with many different sonar runs overlaid on one another. This allows us to create much more accurate estimations of the positions of wrecks in data and much more information in general for identifying shipwrecks and planning paths. For example, with the overlay of different sonar scan paths, a scan of a wreck can be made with much less shadow which is much more crisp and has more detail. This could help us in identifying wrecks. For path planning, the sonar can be used to find the height off bottom of various wrecks, which is a useful term in identifying areas of high information gain.

Maori Wreck Sonar Image

In the afternoon we also had a lecture from Professor Keith, who discussed water treatment in Malta, and the unique challenges faced by an island with a fairly arid climate and a booming population. Most of the research that he has conducted has focused on wells and cisterns. Wells are able to retrieve water from deep aquifers while cisterns hold rainwater that has collected after storms. Professor Keith's lecture also covered the various types of rocks that are found on the island, their various permeabilities and the effects that they have on the formation of various freshwater sources on the island. Finally, Professor Keith also mentioned the effects that such buildups of fresh water affected the population growth and centers on the island, with Medieval Maltese people congregating around large sources of water. These sources are now at a critically low point, with the Maltese government compensating for them with a variety of water purification processes.

At the end of the day we also walked along the coastline of Sliema and explored a bit, getting some nice pictures and trying to scope out some good restaurants as well as swimming spots. (one was discovered on the southwestern part of Sliema's point). Below are some pictures of Sliema's waterfront along with some pictures of the abundant cranes