DESIGN OF A HIGH SPEED, HIGH RESOLUTION SIDE SCAN SONAR SYS TEM

SIDE SCAN SONAR HAS DEVELOPED TO THE POINT WHERE IT IS NOW AN ACCEPTED PART OF HYDROGRAPHIC CHARTING PROJECTS, AS WELL AS A BROAD RANGE OF OCEAN SEARCH AND SURVEY APPLICATIONS. ONE LIMITATION ON ITS UTILITY, HOWEVER, IS THE REQUIREMENT TO OPERATE THE SYSTEM AT RELATIVELY LOW SPEEDS (5 KNOTS OR LOR LESS) IN ORDER TO ACQUIRE HIGH-QUALITY DATA. ANY INCREASEIN VESSEL SPEED CAPABILITY WOULD RESULT IN GREAT SAVINGS IN SHIP TIME AND WOULD ENCOURAGE MORE WIDESPREAD USE OF THE TECHNOLOGY. THE INTENT OF THIS PROJECT TO INVESTIGATE THE FEASIBILITY OF DEVELOPING A COMMERCIALLY VIABLE SIDE SCAN SONAR SYSTEM THAT IS CAPABLE OF BEING USED AT SURVEY SPEEDS OF 10 KNOTS OR MORE WHILE STILL PROVIDING HIGH QUALITY DATA. THE STUDY WILL CENTER ON A TECHNIQUE OF FORMING MULTIPLE DYNAMICALLY FOCUSSED BEAMS THROUGH THE USE OF PROGRAMMABLE TIME DELAYS. THE BASIC CONCEPT IS NOT NEW, BUT THE POTENTIAL FOR TRANLATING CONCEPT INTO A LOW-COST, EASILY USED, PORTABLE SYSTEM IS. A PROTOTYPE OF A WORKING SYSTEM, SUITABLE ONLY FOR EVALUATION WORK, HAS BEEN BUILT. PHASE I WILL ANALYZE THTHE STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF THAT SYSTEM BOTH IN THE LABORATORY AND IN THE FIELD. THE FINAL OBJECTIVE IS TO DETERMINE WHETHER AND HOW THE BASIC IDEAS CAN BE MANIFESTED IN A COMMERCIAL VERSION. PHASE II WOULD BE DIRECTED TOWARD TURNING THE RESULTS OF THE PHASE I STUDY INTO A MORE ADVANCED PROTOTYPE SYSTEM. THE POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATION AS DESCRIBED BY THE AWARDEES: IF THIS INVESTIGATION IS SUCCESSFUL, IT WILL LEAD TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SIDE SCAN SONAR SYSTEM WHICH CAN COMPETE IN THE COMMERCIAL MARKET ON THE BASIS OF INCREASED PERFORMANCE AT REASONABLE COST. OTHER USERS OF THE TECHNOLOGY BESIDE NOAA WOULD INCLUDE THE UNITED STATES AND ALLIED NAVIES, AND COMMERCIAL OCEAN SURVEY COMPANIES.