Dredged Channel Depth Monitoring

The condition of dredged channels in U.S. waterways is ever-changing due to sedimentation, shoaling, and the growing presence of submerged debris. Furthermore, the lack of the most current and accurate subsurface terrain data (specifically, channel depth as a function of position) at the time of a ship¿s transit introduces a level of uncertainty that prevents optimal safety and navigational efficiency. The proposed Phase I SBIR research effort will demonstrate the feasibility of collecting GPS position and single-beam sonar water depth data from a large quantity of mobile marine platforms, then harvesting and processing the data to dynamically maintain waterway nautical charts.