Test and Evaluation of Interferometric Sonar Technology

Sea Technology, Mar 2007 by Gostnell, Caleb, Yoos, L T

Future Studies

While many aspects of this study were successful and a number of the suggestions from prior work were integrated, there are several things that could he done to make future comparisons of this nature more robust, Motion artifacts due to pole motion were visible in much of the data and had a significant effect on the bathymetric data quality. In future tests or operational deployments, it is strongly recommended that highly rigid mounts he used, particularly tor PDBS systems whose wider swaths of bathymetry tend to exaggerate any motion at their outer limits. For more consistency and control over data processing and cleaning, it is recommended that in future studies all datasets be fully cleaned and processed within a single software package to ensure an equitable evaluation.

Summary and Conclusions

The enhanced safety of operations and improved efficiency offered by POBS makes the technology very attractive for use in hydrographie survey work. While the point data provided by the technology tends to be relatively noisy, grids generated from that data are very similar to grids made from MBES data. NOAA's move towards surface-based survey products makes the use of PDBS technology feasible. Ouring the course of this and prior studies, objects of navigational significance were detected in every known instance, thus. NOAA is moving forward with the operational integration and evaluation of POBS sonar during the 21107 field season.

As gridded data tend to reduce the overall height of discrete objects. POBS is not yet considered an adequate method for determining the least depths over hazardous obstructions to navigation. It is therefore advised that PDBS technology initially he used solely for charting generalized ballnmelry and object detection, with traditional methods such as MBES. divers, or vertical beam echosounder used to determine least depths over discrete features until advances improve the accuracy of the point data or confidence is built in the surface based deliverables.

Acknowledgments

This study was supported and funded by NOAA. but would not have been possible without the support and participation of a number of partners. The sonar systems and accompanying software used in these tests were generously provided, along with expert system operators, by GeoAcoustics Inc., SEA (Group), and Teledyne Benthos Inc. -all of whom were exceptionally forthcoming wild information about their respective sonar systems and provided technical assistance throughout the course of the study. Technical advice was provided by University of New Hampshire's Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping, particularly Lloyd Huff and Brian Calder. Also, mans thanks to the crew of the NOAA S/V Bay Hydrographer for their hard work and long hours spent acquiring the data for this study. A detailed description of this study was published in "The Hydrographie Journal." in Jan. 2007. /si/

Disclaimer:

Mention of a commercial company or product does not constitute an endorsement by NOAA's National Ocean Service, Office of Coast Survey. Use of information from this publication concerning proprietary products or the tests of such products for publicity or advertising purposes is not authorized.