Application of Side Scan Sonar to Disposed Material Analysis at the Bottom of Coastal Water and River

Abstract

Due to the growth of population and industrial development at the coastal cities, there has been much increase in necessity to effective control of the wastes into the coastal water and river. The amount of disposal at those waters has been increased rapidly ana it is necessary for us to track of it in order to keep the waterway safe and the water clean. The investigation and research in terms of water quality in these regions have been conducted frequently but the systematic survey of the disposed wastes at the bottom was neglected and/or minor. In this study we surveyed the status of disposed waste distribution at the bottom of coastal water and river from the scanned images. The intensity of sound received by the side scan sonar tow fish from the sea floor provides information as to the general distribution and characteristics of the superficial wastes. The port and starboard side scanned images produced from two arrays of transducers borne on a tow fish connected by tow cable to a tug boat have the area with width of 22m~112m and band of 44m~224m. All data are displayed in real-time on a high-resolution color display ( pixels) together with position information by DGPS. From the field measurement and analysis of the recorded images, we could draw the location and distribution of bottom disposals. Furthermore, we could make a database system which might be useful for navigation and fundamental for planning the waste reception and process control system.