Synthetic Aperture Sonar on Bottom Crawling Platforms for Littoral Warfare Mine Hunting and Mapping

Dynamics Technology, Inc. and our hardware/vehicle partner, Foster-Miller, Inc., propose to explore the potential for synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) mounted on small bottom-crawling vehicles (SAS Snoops) to map mines and obstacles covertly in shallow water and surf-zones. We considered other sensor and platform approaches and find them unlikely to yield a comprehensive solution to the operational/technical problems. In Phase I, we propose to measure motion characteristics of bottom crawlers in several environments. We will estimate the acoustic and medium stability properties of these environments from existing databases and use this with the motion information to emulate sensor performance of a SAS system. We will assess the broad trade space available to SAS and determine what additional data must be collected to verify the feasibility of a SAS Snoop system. We will develop a conceptual design for a SAS Snoop to measure this data and to demonstrate operational potential. In Phase II, we would fabricate the prototype SAS Snoop. We would conduct critical surf tests, develop operational concepts and system designs in cooperation with the mine warfare community and commercial/academic organizations who require precise bottom maps in shallow water.