Modeling and analysis of sonar backscatter intensity for ocean bottom classification

Reports on methods to analyze the backscatter intensity from wide swath multibeam sonar systems in order to classify the ocean bottom roughness and sediment type. Towards this end, a package of programs written in the MATLAB analysis system was developed to process the original raw reverberation data and extract information and features necessary for bottom classification. The processing algorithms correct the data for transmission loss (spherical spreading and range) and also use local slope calculations to correct for illuminated bottom area size and beam interception angle with the bottom. Current accomplishments and future directions are presented