Acoustic 3D reconstruction of underwater infrastructure – possibilities, problems & potentials

This work presents a review of the state of the art in generating three-dimensional models of underwater scenes with acoustic sensors. For each of the sensor types multibeam echosounder, forward looking multibeam, sidescan sonar (conventional and synthetic aperture), the physical properties of the sensor are investigated, specifically with regards to acoustic range, range resolution and angular resolution. Secondly, for each sensor a review is provided on the past and current strategies to generate or enhance three-dimensional information from the sensor data. The limitations of these methods are analyzed and future research fields are identified to maximize the potential derived from the physical sensor properties.