Motion Compensation for Improved Sidescan Sonar Imaging

Sidescan sonar imaging systems are useful mapping tools in bathymetric mapping for geologic survey, subseabed interrogation for mineral prospecting, and search and recovery. Under ideal conditions, the sonar platform will maintain a uniform trajectory as it surveys the ocean floor. However changes in attitude and velocity cause registration errors and other distortions in the acoustic images. Therefore it is desirable to compensate for the effects of perturbations in the sonar platform trajectory. The authors present a technique for monitoring the motion of the sonar platform using digitized echoes obtained from a sidescan sonar. The information obtained from applying this technique is used to form acoustic images with improved cross-range resolution, and reduced speckle noise