Using a minehunting sonar for real-time environmental characterization

The Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVOCEANO) provides environmental support to Mine Warfare (MIW) in digital form for characterizing the environment. These data include bathymetry, sediments, mine burial probability, and climatology for currents, temperature, and salinity prior to an exercise or operation. In most cases high-resolution databases needed by MIW are on the order of centimeter spatial resolution, much higher than available databases. The minehunting phase of the operation using AN/AQS-14 minehunting side-scan sonar provides this information.