Visualization of sonar performance within environmental information

In this paper we present a demonstrator that visualizes simulations of sonar performance in a geographical information system, based on detailed bottom topography. The sonar performance predictions are calculated by the acoustic ray trace model LYBIN, which will be described briefly. The main purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how visualization of acoustic data in a geographical information system can improve sonar operations, by obtaining better knowledge of how the marine environment influences the sonar performance. We will point out how to make sonar performance modelling tools both easier to use and how to improve the user intelligibility.