NAVAL MINE-HUNTING operations could be made easier with an acoustic sensing system that can provide a detailed model of the seabed, including information such as sediment composition. A project led by Prof Dick Simons at Holl-land's Delft University aims to replace expensive in situ sensors with a remote sensing technique that uses sonar technology to gather information about the top few centimeters of the seabed. It will also be able to classify the sediment, distinguishing mud, clay, fine sand, coarse sand and gravel, which is not possible in existing commercial sensor systems. 'In general navy operations, such as mine-hunting, you will have a higher probability of success if you know the seabed. Advance warning of whether it is clay or coarse sand, at least by acoustic means, lets you know how the mines behave on the seabed and how they can be distinguished from it,' said Simons.
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