A new algorithm for high-precision submarine topography imaging

Abstract

In this paper, a new algorithm for high-precision submarine topography imaging is proposed. The innovative idea comes from the most effective and widely used instruments: Multibeam echo sounder (MBES) and side scan sonar (SSS). The MBES can acquire bathymetric information with high precision, but its along-track resolution is related to the result of the beam angle multiplied by the slant range. The SSS combined with synthetic aperture sonar technology can achieve a high-precision along-track imaging resolution, but it cannot acquire bathymetric information directly below it. The proposed algorithm uses the beam footprints of the MBES in the along-track direction to perform the aperture synthesis and uses the time-domain and beam-domain imaging algorithms to acquire high-precision along-track imaging resolution and bathymetric information, to improve the along-track resolution and obtain the bathymetric information with high precision at the same time. Finally, an experiment is performed to evaluate the effectiveness of our method. Experimental results demonstrate that two targets, 13 cm in size, can be clearly observed from the obtained imaging. Moreover, their bathymetric information can be calculated by using the beamforming angle information.