Seabed characterisation using a low cost digital thin line array: Results from the Target and Reverberation Experiments 2013

During TREX-13 experiments in the Gulf of Mexico in May 2013, the use of a low cost digital thin line array (DTLA) developed at the Acoustic Research Lab, National University of Singapore was explored towards sea-bottom characterisation. The array, developed for use from AUV platforms, was hosted on a Sea-eye ROV from UT Austin and towed using R/V Smith, as no AUV platform was available during the course of the above experiment. The ROV was also hosting a wide-band acoustic source sending out chirp waveforms in the frequency range of 3 to 15 kHz. It has been observed that despite the complexity of set-up used, the array dynamics could be maintained well during the tow test and also the data collected were useful in estimating the bottom type from reflection coefficient measurements and comparing with the models available. Our analysis by matched filtering the received data and estimating the bottom reflection coefficient showed that the bottom type at the experimental site was sandy-silt, which fairly com...