The overall objective of this program is to develop a low cost, high performance Coded Scanning Echo sounder (COSES) suitable for bathymetric surveys in shallow water (<100-m). A system will be developed favorably compete in performance with the most sophisticated multibeam and interferometric sidescan sonars available today, but at a small fraction of their cost. The performance goal is to achieve swath widths about 4 times the water depth, angular resolution of 2 deg or less, and depth resolution of about 10 cm at vessel speeds of up to 6-8 kts. COSES utilizes frequency coding and a single scanning narrow-beam transmit transducer to achieve a broad swath while maintaining high depth resolution. The proposed phase I project will establish the feasibility of COSES through the development of a numerical model that simulates the characteristics of the system as well as the operational conditions. The project also included laboratory tests with a scaled prototype and engineering system analysis.
