Characterization and scattering measurements from rock seafloors using high-resolution synthetic aperture sonar

Abstract

Automated target detection systems are known to perform poorly in shallow water environments having high levels of reverberation and strongly varying scattering, such as rock outcroppings. Prediction of the scattering statistics is difficult because scattering from rock seafloors is not well understood. There is a lack of characterization methods, scattering strength measurements, and accurate approximate models for such interfaces. This research aims to measure the scattering strength of rock seafloors using an uncalibrated synthetic aperture sonar (SAS). An effective calibration has been made using a seafloor with a known scattering response. Scattering strength measurements will be used in conjunction with local slope information provided by interferometric SAS to characterize the rough interface.