2019_programme: PRELIMINARY TARGET MEASUREMENTS FROM A PROTOTYPE MULTISPECTRAL SYNTHETIC APERTURE SONAR

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  • Session: 21. Target Echo Strength-Measurements and Modelling
    Organiser(s): Williams Duncan, Nunn David, Nijhof Marten
  • Lecture: PRELIMINARY TARGET MEASUREMENTS FROM A PROTOTYPE MULTISPECTRAL SYNTHETIC APERTURE SONAR [invited]
    Paper ID: 945
    Author(s): Rymansaib Zuhayr, Hunter Alan, Bowen Christopher, Dillon Jeremy, Charron Richard, Shea David
    Presenter: Hunter Alan
    Presentation type: oral
    Abstract: The AquaPix Multispectral Synthetic Aperture Sonar (SAS) is a next-generation seafloor imaging product in development by Kraken Robotic Systems Inc. It will operate in multiple bands widely spaced over a wide acoustic spectrum, enabling acoustic spectroscopy, buried object detection, and enhanced target classification. This paper presents early results from opportunistic target measurements carried out during development and testing. Various multispectral data products are presented from an aluminium pipe target suspended in the water column in a controlled lake experiment. The data products include circular SAS images from multiple spectral bands, a multispectral image fusion, and an acoustic colour signature. The multispectral imagery is shown to simultaneously expose the acoustic features of the target corresponding to its geometric shape and its elastic response. These early results demonstrate the feasibility and potential of the system, which is expected to provide a powerful new capability in seafloor mapping.\nEarly development and testing of a prototype system has been carried out in a controlled lake experiment. The wide-band receiver array and multiple projectors were used to collect measurements from a 12 inch outer diameter (OD) aluminium pipe target suspended in the water column. The pipe was rotated to create a semi-circular synthetic aperture and SAS images were generated in each of the bands. Multi-aspect acoustic colour representations were extracted and the images from multiple bands were fused to provide a false colour representation of the target; this simultaneously exposes features corresponding to the geometric shape as well as features corresponding to the elastic response.\nThese early results demonstrate the feasibility and potential of this new system, which is expected to provide a powerful new capability in seafloor mapping.
      Download the full paper
  • Corresponding author: Dr Rymansaib Zuhayr
    Affiliation: University of Bath
    Country: United Kingdom
    e-mail:

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