Automated Optimisation ofSimultaneous Multibeam and SidescanSonar Seabed Mapping
Daniel Toal · 2007
Withthecostsinvolved inoffshore seabed mapping being very large anddominated principally bytheexpense of survey vessel time, any improvement intheplanning and execution ofseabed mapping, improvement inthequality ofthe resulting data, andespecially reduction insurvey costs are of significant interest tothemarineandoffshore community. This paper presents a terrain adaptive seabed mapping system, which simultaneously operates co-located high-resolution multibeam andsidescan sonar ofsimilar frequency. Theautomated system isbasedon theinterleaving ofsonar transmission-reception cycles toavoidinterference. Theproposed systemoptimises the execution oftheseabed mapping survey,improves thequality of thedataandreduces surveycosts. Index Terms-multibeam, sidescan, sonar, mapping, autonomous, optimal, simultaneous, seafloor.