Analysis of swath bathymetry sonar accuracy

The practical limitations of many bottom mapping sonars lie in their ability to accurately estimate the angle of arrival. This paper addresses the accuracy of angle estimation when employed to determine the location of an extended target such as the bottom. A Gaussian model is assumed for the bottom backscatter and the corresponding Cramer-Rao lower bound for the variance of the angle estimate is determined for multi-element linear arrays. The paper focuses on determining the performance of high-resolution swath bathymetry sonars and, therefore, concentrates on the ability to determine bottom location with short pulses. Two error mechanisms, footprint shift and uncorrelated noise, are identified as important contributors to measurement errors. The two-element interferometric sonar configuration is investigated in detail. It is shown through the use of probability distributions, the Cramer-Rao bound, and simulation that it is difficult to get a good estimate of performance through simulation alone. Performance enhancement through pre-estimation and post-estimation averaging of multiple snapshots and changes in performance with pulse length and pulse rise time are also considered. Bottom estimation performance employing multi-element arrays is compared and contrasted with that of the two-element interferometric array. It is determined that there is little benefit associated with the multi-element array in terms of angle estimation performance alone. However, when other considerations such as angle ambiguities, multiple angles of arrival, and physical shortcomings associated with practical arrays are taken into account, the multi-element array is favored.