Applications of AUVs with SAS

Autonomous underwater vehicles with high-resolution synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) are now becoming available as products. The main benefit of such a system is very high and range-independent resolution (typically 2-5 cm both along- and across-track) across a very wide swath (typically 100-200 m). High-end SAS systems can also deliver additional products such as high resolution bathymetry. The technology was originally developed for naval mine countermeasures due to its requirements for very high resolution imaging and high area coverage rates. However, SAS clearly also has other uses. This article discusses and illustrates some of the potential applications for this technology, in particular in the civilian sector.