A REVIEW OF THE ACID SYNTHETIC-APERTURE SONAR AND OTHER SIDESCAN SONAR SYSTEMS

The ACID project was part of the MAST Programme and was funded by the European Communities, to develop a synthetic aperture sonar for high r esolution mapping of the seafloor. The collaboration of several Europe an Institutions has enabled the ACID synthetic aperture sonar to be de veloped and tested during sea trials in May 1993. This paper discusses how the ACID synthetic aperture sonar system fits into the existing f ield of conventional sidescan sonar systems and the potential advantag es to be gained using synthetic aperture processing techniques. The ma in advantage of the ACID sonar is that its azimuth resolution is indep endent of range and of the transmitted signal frequency. Sonar designe rs can, therefore, use lower operating frequencies and still obtain hi gh azimuth resolutions. However, this paper also highlights the need f or developing techniques which can increase the area mapping rate of s ynthetic aperture sonars which is essentially limited by the azimuth s ampling constraint. Images from sea trials during May 1993 are present ed which show areas of the seafloor before and after synthetic apertur e sonar processing.