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The Limits Of Spatial Resolution Achievable Using A 30khz Multibeam Sonar: Model Predictions And Field Results, John E. Hughes Clarke, James V. Gardner, Mike Torresan, Larry A. Mayer

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

A Simrad EM300 multibeam sonar was used to attempt to resolve small (-5m high) targets in 450m of water. The targets had previously been surveyed using a deeply towed 59 kHz sidescan sonar. Using multisector active yaw, pitch and roll compensation, together with dynamically altering angular sectors, the sonar is capable of maintaining sounding densities of as tight as 10m spacing in these water depths. This is significantly smaller than the largest dimension of the projected beam footprints (1 6-64m). The observed data suggest that the targets are intermittently resolved. The field results compare well to the output of a …