AND MAGNETOMETER DATA

MINE HUNTING WITH SIDE SCAN SONARS AND MAGNETOMETERS IS PROVING TO BE A LOW COST MEANS OF LOCATING MINES AND MINE-LIKE OBJECTS ON THE OCEAN BOTTOM. IT IS ALSO THE MOST EFFECTIVE MEANS OF PRECISELY CHARTING NON-MINE BOTTOM OBJECTS (NOMBOS) THAT CONSITIUE THE CLUTTER IN A CHANNEL OR SEA ROUTE THAT ARE FALSE TARGETS TO MINE HUNTER PLATFORMS. HOWEVER, CURRENT SIDE SCAN SONAR AND MAGNETOMETER SEARCH TECHINQUES AND MANUAL AND SKILLED LABOR INTENSIVE. THE PROCESS ALSO INTRODUCES DELAYS AND PLOTTING ERRORS INTO THE PROCESS. THE PROGRAM PROPOSED HEREIN, WILL DEVELOP THE EQUIPMENT AND COMPUTER SOFTWARE TO HIGHLY AUTOMATE THE PROCESS THUS REDUCING SKILLED LABOR REQUIREMENTS. THE LEVEL OF AUTOMATION PROVIDED WILL SUPPORT REAL-TIME OPERATIONS ON SMALL CRAFT AND ELIMINATE THE POSTION LOCATION ERRORS INHERENT IN MANUAL CHARING OF OBJECT POSITIONS. THE RESULT WILL BE AT LEAST AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE INCREASE IN THE EFFICIENT INCREASE IN THE EFFICIENT USE OF THE SIDE SCAN SONAR AND MAGNETOMETER AS MINE HUNTING SENSORS.