Synthetic Aperture and Mapping Sonars

Expanding  conventional Side Scan Sonar capabilities

iXblue has developed  a new type of Synthetic Aperture Sonar, Sams ( for Synthetic Aperture Mapping Sonar) based on 2 features :

• fine coupling between acoustic data, inertial navigation and acoustic positioning. Thus it enables focusing on each pixel in the mosaic, avoiding distortion of the projection of the waterfall on the mosaic
• Wide aperture in transmission coupled to multi-channel reception and multi-ping integration. It ensures full coverage even on towed/passive platforms in challenging navigation conditions.

Sams drastically improves the range-resolution ratio of the produced images compared to traditional side-scan sonar. Images produced by Sams are generated and geo-referenced in real time thanks to the integrated iXblue inertial-acoustic navigation system Phins coupled with the medium-range Gaps (or long-range Posidonia 2) acoustic positioning. Sams allows very high productivity survey by improving the coverage rate per hour with constant high resolution on the full swath.

Multibeam interferometric bathymetry

To improve the performance of Sams, iXblue developed a bathymetry functionality while maintaining a compact a cost-efficient inertial SAS. This new generation of built-in interferometric array allows to compute a full swath bathymetry by gathering multiple interferometric swaths obtained for each received beam.

Sonar kit for flexible integration

Sams Series comes into 2 kit version Sams-150  & Sams-50 . The kits can be integrated on a multitude of platforms: towfish, ROTv, ROV, USV, AUV  and submersibles down to 6000 meter deep.

Sams-150 offers a full swath of 500 m for a constant resolution of 6 cm. This sonar is best suited for cable route or site survey and has unique capabilities in strong current conditions (Marine Renewable Energy site survey) and up to sea state 3.

Sams-50 is a high-productivity sonar mapping system providing 1.8 km full swath and achieving 8 km²/h of real-time pixel georeferenced images of the seabed.  SAMS-50  is the state-of-the-art tool for deep geophysical or search and rescue surveys.

Sams Series can be integrated on our deep-tow DT-6000 platform. Thus it can exploit the synchronous acquisition and positioning capabilities of multi-sensor data to offer a fully integrated survey platform. In addition to positioning systems and SSS, the DT-6000 can embed a sub-bottom profiler, a gap filler a pinger locator and a magnetometer. All of the synchronized sensors and navigation data are processed and displayed in real time in a 3D environment using iXblue’s Delph Geo Software. This allows the implementation of data fusion method to improve the survey area analysis and provide a much better performance than on board an AUV.

• EEZ mapping
• Continental shelf extension & marine boundaries delimitations
• Law of the sea
• Wreck research
• Debris survey
• Cable route survey
• Deep-sea mining
• Marine renewable energy

Delph SAS streamlines synthetic aperture sonar processing within the industry leading Delph Sonar Interpretation software. Advanced side-scan sonar processing, mapping and analysis now share common tools with regular side-scan sonars and benefit from Delph optimized workflow.

More info about Delph Geo Software suite