SONAR

Introduction to Remote Sensing GISC 6325 / GEOS 5325

What is SONAR?

So sound Na navigation and R ranging

A sensor is used to detect objects through the use of high or low frequency sound waves.

Who else uses sonar

Actually nobody but animals use echolocation and that is actually where we learned the technique Bats, whales, and dolphins are some of the best known animals to use echolocation

Sound Properties
Sound travels (slower than EMR) at 4,800 fps or 1460 meters per second we will use 1500 mps. (in elastic mediums - air, water, or earth NOT in a vacuum) Sound waves are measured in hertz (Hz). The human ear can detect frequencies ranging from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz.

How does Sonar work

Sound wave sent outward: Animals noises made with their bodies, seismic explosions or impact plates, ultrasound transducer converts sound to electricity and back, ships ping or emit a burst of acoustic energy. Sound waves returned: Animals waves sensed through ears (bats) or teeth and bones (whales), seismic waves sensed through geo-phones, ships waves sensed by hydrophones or (next)

How does Sonar work

Any listening system that consist of (1) a hydrophone (2) an electronic receiver (3) a bearing indicator (4) a speaker or headphones.

Sonar Noise

The sound-listening problem for the operator consists primarily of learning to distinguish between :

(1) sounds emitted by another ship's machinery through the hull and from the propeller (2) the multitude of other sounds that exist in the ocean.

Sonar Noise

Navigation and Ranging Issues

Depth is determined by dividing travel time of sound by 2 and then multiplying by 1500 mps 12 seconds travel time 12/2 = 6X1500 = 9000 meters deep The Doppler principle applicable to all wave motion was developed by the Austrian physicist, Christian Doppler (18031853). Frequency of sound appears to increase when an observer moves toward a source and appears to decrease when he moves away from it. Similarly, if the source is moving toward the observer, the frequency is higher; if the source is moving away from the observer, it is lower.

Sonar References

http://hnsa.org/doc/sonar/chap1.htm The Historic Naval Ship Association http://www.indepthconsulting.com/Sonar/Side scan.htm In Depth Consulting Side Scan Imaging http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov NOAA Office of Coast Survey

What do we use sonar for?

First developed in WWII to detect submarines Used to detect icebergs Water depth Locate sunken ships/or other historical objects Military uses it still to detect subs and aim weapons Locate fish or track animals that are being studied Mapping underwater features (we will do this)

How a map is made

A Sonar echo recorder is dragged behind a ship and is called a towfish It sends out a ping sound travels to the bottom and is reflected back to the hydrophone An instrument on the ship collects and analyzes the data These points of data are combined to create a picture of the seafloor A ship must travel over the area that is being studied multiple times this is called mowing the grass

Sea floor off of L.A. A mosaic map

Types of Imaging Sonar

Side-Scan Sonar Systems

Used for mapping the sea floor for nautical charts, bathymetric maps, maritime archeology, and surveys. The intensity of the acoustic reflections from the seafloor of this fan-shaped beam is recorded in a series of cross-track slices. When stitched together along the direction of motion, these slices form an image of the sea bottom within the swath (coverage width) of the beam.

Side-Scan Sonar Systems

The sound frequencies used in side-scan sonar usually range from 100 to 500 kHz; higher frequencies yield better resolution but less range.

Notice that the volcano casts a shadow to the left, and the slope facing to the right is very bright. Smaller bumps also cast small shadows making the topography look lumpy. Each image is 3 km (1.8 miles) wide.

Single-beam Sonar Systems

Single beam sonar data are collected along transect lines and typically cannot provide continuous coverage of the seafloor. The output resolution of the data are determined by the footprint size, sampling interval, sampling speed, and distance between transects. Used primarily for mapping channels and bathymetry for hydrologic and engineering applications.

Multi-beam Sonar Systems

Instead of just one transducer pointing down, multibeam bathymetry systems have arrays of 12 kHz transducers, sometimes up to 120 of them, arranged in a precise geometric pattern on ships hulls. The swath of sound they send out covers a distance on either side of the ship that is equal to about two times the water depth. The sound bounces off the seafloor at different angles and is received by the ship at slightly different times. the signals are then processed by computers on board the ship, converted into water depths, and automatically plotted as a bathymetric map with an accuracy of about 5 meters to less than a meter with differential GPS.

Multi-beam Sonar Systems

Tale of the Sea

USS Monitor A 987-ton armored turret gunboat Designed by John Ericsson, a Swedish born engineer 172 feet long with a 41.5 foot beam and a draft of 10.5 feet 59 officers and men a pair of eleven-inch Dahlgren smoothbore shell guns on a rotating turret. CSS Virginia (Merrimac) One of the earliest ironclad fighting ships. Designed by Lt. J. M. Brooke, CSN 275 feet long with a 38.5 foot beam and a draft of 22 feet 320 officers and men two 7-inch Brooke rifles, two similar 6-inch Brooke rifles, and six 9-inch Dahlgren smooth-bore cannons

Tale of the Sea (March 9, 1862)

The two Ironclads clashed in lower Chesapeake Bay around 10:00am.
They hammered at each other for four hours with no discernable damage to either ship.
A blast from the 7-in Brooke rifle, through the turret slit, temporarily blinded the Monitors Captain. The Monitor headed for shallow water. Thinking they won the battle, The Confederate Ship left the battle scene and headed South to retire. Later on May 10, 1862, unable to retreat downriver, the Captain ordered it blown up.

Tale of the Sea (Dec. 31, 1862)

While the design of Monitor was wellsuited for river combat, her low freeboard and heavy turret made her highly unseaworthy in rough waters. This feature probably led to the early loss of the original Monitor, which foundered during a heavy storm. Swamped by high waves while under tow by Rhode Island, she sank on December 31, 1862 in the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. 16 of 62 crewmen were lost in the storm.

Tale of the Sea

USS Monitor

For more than a century, the resting place of the USS Monitor remained undiscovered. There were numerous searches and occasional claims of discovery; however, no one could show proof of the Monitors location.

Then, in August 1973, scientists aboard Duke Universitys research vessel Eastward , using sonar, located 22 wrecks in the area where Monitor had reportedly gone down. The footprint included the size and shape of the hull and armor belt, the location of and details about the turret, pilothouse and other deck features, as well as the expected sonar signature. All but one site was eventually eliminated from consideration.

Tale of the Sea

USS Monitor

This object resembling the Monitor was located approximately 16 miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. The wreck was described as "lying in 220 feet of water on a hard sand and shell-strewn floor."

Although the size and shape matched the known dimensions of the Monitor, investigators were unable to quickly verify its identity.

Tale of the Sea

USS Monitor

During the first week of April 1974, a second cruise to the Monitor site produced detailed photographic and television tape records of the site. The ship was upsidedown!!

Tale of the Sea

USS Monitor

The wreck site was designated as the United States' first marine sanctuary. In 1998 the warship's propeller was raised to the surface. On 16 July 2001, divers from the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary brought to the surface the 30-tonne steam engine.

Tale of the Sea

USS Monitor

In 2003, after 41 days of work, the revolutionary revolving gun turret was salvaged by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and a team of U.S. Navy divers.