Rapid scan sonar using Generalised Cross-Correlation

The article considers a new approach to processing sonar signals used to determine the sea-bed profile. This is based upon a recent development termed Generalisation Cross-Correlation which allows the correlation parameters to vary over the domain of interest and in turn this makes it viable to exploit to the full the coherence properties of the sonar signals used for bottom profiling. A variety of potential advantages accrue from this including lower cost, faster scanning and lower acoustic emissions. The work is in its very early stages and concentrates mainly on the processing algorithms rather than acoustic issues. Typical error estimates are produced via numerical simulations used to illustrate the analytic results presented.