Side Scan Sonar

Related terms:

Transducer, Path Planning, Submarines, Remotely Operated Vehicle, Bathymetry,

Profilers, Sonar System

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Subsea Surveying, Positioning, and

Foundation
Yong Bai, Qiang Bai, in Subsea Engineering Handbook (Second Edition), 2019

4.2.2.2 Side-Scan Sonar

Side-scan sonar is a category of sonar system that is used to efficiently create
an image of large areas of the seafloor. This tool is used for mapping the seabed
for a wide variety of purposes, including creation of nautical charts and detection
and identification of underwater objects and bathymetric features. Side-scan sonar
imagery is also a commonly used tool to detect debris and other obstructions on
the seafloor that may be hazardous to shipping or to seafloor installations for subsea
field development. In addition, the status of pipelines and cables on the seafloor can
be investigated using side-scan sonar. Side-scan data are frequently acquired along
with bathymetric soundings and sub-bottom profiler data, thus providing a glimpse
of the shallow structure of the seabed.

A high-precision, dual-frequency side-scan sonar system can obtain seabed infor-

mation along the routes for example, anchor/trawl board scours, large boulders,
debris, bottom sediment changes, and any item on the seabed having a horizon-
tal dimension in excess of 1.64 ft (0.5 m). Side-scan sonar systems consist of a
dual-channel tow-fish capable of operating in the water depths for the survey and
contain a tracking system. The equipment is use to obtain complete coverage of the
specified areas and operates at scales commensurate with line spacing, optimum
resolution, and 100% data overlap.
The height of the tow-fish above the seabed and the speed of the vessel are adjusted
to ensure full coverage of the survey area. The maximum tow-fish height is 15% of
the range setting. Recorder settings are continuously monitored to ensure optimum
data quality. Onboard interpretation of all contacts identified during the survey is
undertaken by a geophysicist suitably experienced in side-scan sonar interpretation.

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Sunken and Submerged Oil

J. Michel, K.A. Hansen, in Oil Spill Science and Technology (Second Edition), 2017

13.3.2.1 Acoustic Systems

Side scan sonar and multibeam sonar systems are frequently considered to map the
distribution of submerged oil on the seafloor. Several benefits include (1) they can
operate in low or no visibility settings; (2) they provide good visualization of the
seafloor contours, which aids in identification of potential accumulation areas; (3)
they provide geo-referenced data that can be used to locate targets and estimate
volumes; (4) they have a good range of areal coverage; and (5) systems are generally
available on short notice. Improvements in hardware and software and increased
availability have made acoustic systems to be a key component of the response to
sunken oil spills. The value of side scan sonar to map the extent of the oil on the
bottom and to confirm removal to cleanup endpoints for the T/B Apex 3508 is a good
example. However, the targets identified on sonar imagery have to be verified as oil,
and sonar imagery cannot detect sunken oil that has been buried. Thus, there is
always a need to have multiple methods in place during a response.

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Geophysical and Geotechnical Design

Jean M. Audibert, Jun Huang, in Handbook of Offshore Engineering, 2005

Advantages and Limitations

Side-scan sonar is probably one of the most useful tools developed for imaging the
seabed. The clarity of the image, especially from the latest systems, is extraordinary.
Developments in sonar imaging continue to move forward rapidly. Its use in the
seabed classification systems is discussed below.
Side-scan sonars in towed fish require a powered winch and a suitable system for
running out the cable; normally an A-frame. The smaller, shallow water systems
can be deployed from most vessels but the deeper towed systems operating at, say
1000 m depth, require a cable some 5000 m long and, therefore, a large winch.
The so-called “deep-tow” systems are very large towfish, 4 or 5 m long, and are
heavy. They require a large powered winch and special launch and recovery systems
and, therefore, are restricted to specialist survey vessels. The normal tow speed for a
side-scan survey is about 4 knots; however, as operating depth increases, so the drag
and strain on cables increase. A deep-tow system operating at 2000 m will reduce
tow speed to 1 or 2 knots, greatly adding to the time (and cost) required for a survey.

Owing to the long length of the tow cable, surveyors have to allow for a “run-in”
and “run-out” equivalent to the length of the tow to ensure that the required area is
covered.

Likewise, the turning time with long cables increases such that a deep-tow can take
several hours to complete a line turn. These factors must be taken into consideration
when planning and costing an operation.

Typical seafloor records are shown on fig. 16.5. Reflected signals normally appear
as dark areas on the record, whereas shadows behind the objects appear as light
areas. Features less than 1 ft in height can be detected. These data are used to map
boulders, sandwaves, reefs, seafloor instability features, pipelines, wellheads and
ship wrecks.

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Geomorphological Mapping
Aaron Micallef, in Developments in Earth Surface Processes, 2011

2.1.2 Side-Scan Sonar

The side-scan sonar is a category of sonar system that is used to create an image of
large areas of the seafloor. The system consists of a sonar device that is towed from a
research vessel and emits fan-shaped pulses down towards the seafloor across a wide
angle perpendicular to the path of a sensor. The intensity of the acoustic reflections
from the seafloor is recorded as a series of cross-track slices that have a nominal
resolution of tens of centimetres. Acoustic soundings have been principally used to
obtain information about seafloor morphology, although recent studies have shown
that they can reveal additional information on surface sediment properties, such as
density, water/sediment density ratios, texture, compaction, porosity and benthic
vegetation cover (Urick, 1975; Mitchell and Clarke, 1994; Medialdea et al., 2008).

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It’s the Little Things That Matter

Robert D. Christ, Robert L. WernliSr., in The ROV Manual (Second Edition), 2014

22.3.5.1 Side scan sonar operations

To perform a proper side scan sonar survey of an area, survey lines must be followed
and tow fish altitudes must be maintained within fairly tight tolerance to achieve
area coverage with a high degree of certainty. A high-quality GPS receiver with
the capability for survey line input, as well as course deviation indication, is very
helpful. Complete the survey of the entire area in the survey phase before attempting
to switch to the identification phase of the mission (with diver or ROV). Many
operations have been inefficiently run by stopping the survey to look at each
suspected target (only to discover it was not the proper item). The switchover time
between equipment can be considerable. Consult the equipment manufacturer’s
performance specifications to obtain the proper tow speed and altitude require-
ments. And do not be afraid to request corrective action of the boat operator if those
parameters do not meet the mission requirements.

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Engineering Site Survey for Submarine

Optical Cable
In Submarine Optical Cable Engineering, 2018

5.1.2.2 Seabed Condition and Obstacles on the Seafloor

The condition of the seabed surface and the existence of natural or manufactured
obstacles, directly related to the routing selection and construction safety, is an
important part of the route survey. The side-scan sonar scanning and combination
with a certain amount of sediment sampling are used as the main means of survey.

1.

2.
 Artificial obstaclesArtificial obstacles, such as wrecks, waste, seabed structures,
and so on will directly affect the construction and operation safety of sub-
marine optical cable, and is an important matter that should be identified
in the route survey.a.ShipwrecksHuman sailing activities have a long history,
and shipwrecks often occurred. Shipwrecks are obstacles that the submarine
optical cable routing should avoid. Fig. 5.10 shows a submarine shipwreck
detected by side-scan sonar. It can be seen from the image that the shipwreck
is located in the sand wave area and has not yet been buried, and it is about
30 m long.Figure 5.10. Shipwreck detected by side-scan sonar (East China Sea
continental shelf ).b.Submarine pipelinesEstablished submarine pipelines and
cables will have an impact on the new optical cable construction project. In
the route survey, it is necessary to identify the exact location of the submarine
pipeline and the intersection of the optical cable routing. Relevant coun-
termeasures or engineering measures should be taken in the route design
and construction. Exposed submarine pipelines can be detected by side-scan
sonar. Fig. 5.11 shows the detected submarine pipeline. As can be seen from
the figure, there are several sections of the pipeline showing a suspended
state. For the buried submarine pipelines, magnetic detection is usually used
to determine the location of the pipeline, and when the magnetometer passes
through the submarine pipeline, there will be obvious magnetic anomalies.-
Figure 5.11. Submarine pipeline detected by side-scan sonar (East China Sea
continental shelf ).c.Other seabed structuresWith the development of marine
resources, increased numbers of seabed structures may have an impact on new
submarine optical cable engineering. This type of structure can be detected
by side-scan sonar. Fig. 5.12 shows the drilling platform image detected by
side-scan sonar.Figure 5.12. Drilling platform detected by side-scan sonar
(underwater part).

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Readiness to Drill
Peter Aird, in Deepwater Drilling, 2019

Establish Water Depth

The combined drillstring and ROV utilization is probably the most accurate and
commonly used method to establish water depth. As the drillstring is lowered, the
ROV shall continuously monitor the position of the drillstring with its side-scan
sonar. Water depth readings from ROV and drillstring measurements can be corre-
lated to a desired degree of accuracy, i.e., within a few feet. The ROV cameras then
monitor that the drillstring and bottom hole assembly (BHA) is not being swept away
by an abnormal current or deflected by an unknown solid seabed. The ROV therefore
assures that a vertical penetration of the drillstring results into the soft seabed before
pumping and drilling commences, termed as spudding the well.

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Development of hybrid control archi-

tecture for a small autonomous under-
water vehicle
Zhenzhong Chu, in Fundamental Design and Automation Technologies in Offshore
Robotics, 2020

6.2 Design scheme of SAUV

As shown in Fig. 6.1, “Beaver III” is an SAUV. It can perform a variety of tasks, such as
target search and image acquisition. It can also be used as a carrier equipped with a
manipulator, side-scan sonar and other equipment for autonomous operations. The
overall design scheme of “Beaver III” consists of two parts: actuators system scheme
and sensors system scheme.

Figure 6.1. Appearance of “Beaver III”.

Due to the diversity of tasks, the actuators system scheme has a clear distinction from
the traditional SAUV. The main task of traditional SAUV is underwater detection.
In order to reduce energy consumption, it is usually designed as an underactuated
system, such as a combination of thruster and rudders [20,21]. Such an actuator
system makes SAUV difficult to achieve dynamic positioning control or multiple
degrees of freedom (DOF) trajectory tracking control. So that it is difficult to
complete the task of continuous video transmission for a fixed target and other tasks.
Based on the above considerations, “Beaver III” is equipped with five thrusters to
control the five degrees of freedom (DOF), that is, surge, sway, vertical, yaw, and
pitch. In addition, taking into account the limitations of volume, energy, and other
 conditions, as well as the efficiency reduction of vertical thrusters while sailing at
high speed, two independent fins are used. For different tasks, different actuators
can be used. In the process of long-distance sailing, the main thruster, two horizontal
thrusters, and two fins can be used to reduce energy consumption. In the complete
image acquisition, manipulator operations, and other tasks, five thrusters can be
used for dynamic positioning or trajectory tracking. Meanwhile, if there is current
interference in dynamic positioning, two independent fins can be used to reduce
the rolling movement.

Considering the dynamic positioning and trajectory tracking, the sensors which
can get their own information about position and attitude must be employed. In
“Beaver III”, the Doppler Velocity Log (DVL), electronic compass, and depth gauge
are used for dead reckoning. In order to perform underwater target search, image
acquisition, and other tasks, a camera is also included. Considering the complexity
of the underwater environment, an ultrasonic distance measuring device is used.
Meanwhile, in order to monitor the operation status, “Beaver III” is also equipped
with a battery voltage detection sensor and a water leakage detection sensor.

The major technical indicators of “Beaver III” are shown in Table 6.1.

Table 6.1. The major technical indicators of “Beaver III”.

Size Length: 1.95 m, diameter: 0.3 m

Weight 89.6 kg
Actuators One main thruster, forward thrust: 5.5 kg, reverse
thrust: 3.1 kg
Two horizontal thrusters, forward thrust: 2.6 kg, reverse thrust: 2.4 kg
Two vertical thrusters, same with horizontal thrusters
Two fins driven by stepper motor
Drive High speed sailing: main thruster, two horizontal
thrusters, and two fins
Low speed sailing and dynamic positioning: five thrusters
Dynamic positioning under current disturbance: five thrusters and two fins
Maximum speed 2 kn
Sensors Doppler Velocity Log, electronic compass, depth
gauge, camera, ultrasonic distance measuring
device, battery voltage detection sensor, and wa-
ter leakage detection sensor
Endurance 4 h (1 k)
Maximum depth 100 m

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