Using the NAVOCEANO wide swath sidescan sonar Seamap-C to locate and differentiate man-made objects from natural features on the seafloor

Abstract

The Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVOCEANO) and Nauticos Corporation conducted a Seamap-C survey that delineated small regions of high reflectivity material in an abyssal plain northwest of Midway Atoll. The survey in the Midway area was based on a Nauticos Corporation RENAV/sup TM/ analysis of the possible location of the Japanese carrier, Kaga, sunk during the Battle of Midway in June, 1942. Seamap-C imaged three potential targets for further investigation with the higher frequency EG&G 960 system. A subsequent operation in the Midway area was conducted some months later using NAVOCEANO's Towed Oceanographic Survey System with higher resolution sidescan sonar (50/500 kHz), video cameras, and digital still photography. The optical survey identified a debris field, composed of twisted wreckage and the associated debris from one of the Japanese aircraft carriers sunk during the Battle of Midway.