Pulse-length-tolerant features and detectors for sector-scan sonar imagery

This paper presents a neural-network-based system to detect small man-made objects in sequences of sector-scan sonar images created using signals of various pulse lengths. The detection of such objects is considered out to ranges of 150 m by using an experimental sector-scan sonar system mounted on a vessel. The sonar system considered in this investigation has three modes of operation to create images over ranges of 200, 400, and 800 m from the vessel using acoustic pulses of a different duration for each mode. After an initial cleaning operation performed by compensating for the motion of the vessel, the imagery is segmented to extract objects for analysis. A set of 31 features extracted from each object is examined. These features consist of basic object size and contrast features, shape moment-based features, moment invariants, and features extracted from the second-order histogram of each object. Optimal sets of 15 features are then selected for each mode and over all modes using sequential forward selection (SFS) and sequential backward selection (SBS). These features are then used to train neural networks to detect man-made objects in each sonar mode. By the addition of a feature describing the sonar's mode of operation, a neural network is trained to detect man-made objects in any of the three sonar modes. The multimode detector is shown to perform very well when compared with detectors trained specifically for each sonar mode setting. The proposed detector is also shown to perform well when compared to a number of statistical detectors based on the same set of features. The proposed detector achieves a 92.4% probability of detection at a mean false-alarm rate of 10 per image, averaged over all sonar mode settings.     

Side-scan sonar image matching

This paper presents a method for the matching of underwater images acquired with acoustic sensors. As a final objective, the system aims at matching data from two-dimensional scenes. The proposed approach carries out a hypothetical reasoning based on objects, represented by shadows and echoes in the sonar images, and their available features. The problem of determining measures which are invariant to changes in sonar settings and noise characteristics is addressed by mapping robust features for sonar images to a qualitative representation. To cope with the viewpoint charging appearance, the method is based on the conservation of objects' relative position from one image to another. We attempt to match geometrical structures formed by the association of three objects. The hypothetical reasoning is conducted in a decision tree framework. A tree node is generated by two objects' association, each one belonging to a respective image. Hypotheses propagation consists of creating new nodes from neighboring associations. The matching solution is determined by the selection of the decision tree's longest branch. Thus, the association mechanism is a depth-first procedure. The proposed method has been applied to real high-resolution side-scan sonar images. The matching process has shown successful and promising results which have been further improved. In particular, the parceled shadows (during the segmentation procedure) problem has been tackled     

Robust tracking of multiple objects in sector-scan sonar imagesequences using optical flow motion estimation

The fast update rate and good performance of new generation electronic sector scanning sonars is now allowing practicable use of temporal information for signal processing tasks such as object classification and motion estimation. Problems remain, however, as objects change appearance, merge, maneuver, move in and out of the field of view, and split due to poor segmentation. This paper presents an approach to the segmentation, two-dimensional motion estimation, and subsequent tracking of multiple objects in sequences of sector scan sonar images. Applications such as ROV obstacle avoidance, visual servoing, and underwater surveillance are relevant. Initially, static and moving objects are distinguished in the sonar image sequence using frequency-domain filtering. Optical flow calculations are then performed on moving objects with significant size to obtain magnitude and direction motion estimates. Matches of these motion estimates, and the future positions they predict, are then used as a basis for identifying corresponding objects in adjacent scans. To enhance robustness, a tracking tree is constructed storing multiple possible correspondences and cumulative confidence values obtained from successive compatibility measures. Deferred decision making is then employed to enable best estimates of object tracks to be updated as subsequent scans produce new information. The method is shown to work well, with good tracking performance when objects merge, split, and change shape. The optical flow is demonstrated to give position prediction errors of between 10 and 50 cm (1%-5% of scan range), with no violation of smoothness assumptions using sample rates between 4 and 1 frames/s     

Undersea Target Classification Using Canonical Correlation Analysis

Canonical correlation analysis is employed as a multiaspect feature extraction method for underwater target classification. The method exploits linear dependence or coherence between two consecutive sonar returns, at different aspect angles. This is accomplished by extracting the dominant canonical correlations between the two sonar returns and using them as features for classifying mine-like objects from nonmine-like objects. The experimental results on a wideband acoustic backscattered data set, which contains sonar returns from several mine-like and nonmine-like objects in two different environmental conditions, show the promise of canonical correlation features for mine-like versus nonmine-like discrimination. The results also reveal that in a fixed bottom condition, canonical correlation features are relatively invariant to changes in aspect angle.     

Transient sonar signal classification using hidden Markov modelsand neural nets

In ocean surveillance, a number of different types of transient signals are observed. These sonar signals are waveforms in one dimension (1-D). The hidden Markov model (HMM) is well suited to classification of 1-D signals such as speech. In HMM methodology, the signal is divided into a sequence of frames, and each frame is represented by a feature vector. This sequence of feature vectors is then modeled by one HMM. Thus, the HMM methodology is highly suitable for classifying the patterns that are made of concatenated sequences of micro patterns. The sonar transient signals often display an evolutionary pattern over the time scale. Following this intuition, the application of HMM's to sonar transient classification is proposed and discussed in this paper. Toward this goal, three different feature vectors based on an autoregressive (AR) model, Fourier power spectra, and wavelet transforms are considered in our work. In our implementation, one HMM is developed for each class of signals. During testing, the signal to be recognized is matched against all models. The best matched model identifies the signal class. The neural net (NN) classifier has been successfully used previously for sonar transient classification. The same set of features as mentioned above is then used with a multilayer perceptron NN classifier. Some experimental results using “DARPA standard data set I” with HMM and MLP-NN classification schemes are presented. A combined NN/HMM classifier is proposed, and its performance is evaluated with respect to individual classifiers     

Detection of objects on the sea bottom using backscatteringcharacteristics dependent on the observation point

Sector-scanning sonar systems image the sea bottom to detect objects that can be distinguished from the background structure of the sea bottom. In current systems, images are displayed and discarded as new image data become available, In this paper, a method for improving sonar detection by utilizing all images in a sequence is investigated. The proposed method requires that sonar data are acquired with a sector-scanning sonar in a side-looking configuration. It is demonstrated that these data can be used to detect observation-point-dependent changes in sea-bottom backscattering characteristics. These changes provide additional cues for discrimination that can improve the detection of objects on the sea bottom. Results of applying the method to experimental data are presented     

可变尺度区域拟合模型的侧扫声纳分割方法

为解决现有侧扫声纳图像目标分割准确度不高的问题,提出一种联合最大熵去噪和可变尺度区域拟合模型的侧扫声纳图像分割方法。首先,计算图像一维熵,基于最大熵原则对侧扫图像进行降噪处理,提高图像质量,并根据峰值信噪比评判降噪效果;然后基于可变尺度区域拟合模型,采用高斯核函数对分割活动轮廓进行约束,分割降噪后的侧扫声纳图像。通过对含有不同目标物的侧扫声纳图像进行分割实验,验证了联合最大熵去噪和可变尺度区域拟合模型的有效性。     

Sidescan Sonar Segmentation Using Texture Descriptors and Active Contours

This paper is concerned with the application of active contour methods to unsupervised binary segmentation of high-resolution sonar images. First, texture features are extracted from a sidescan image containing two distinct regions. A region-based active contour model of Chan et al. [J. Vis. Commun. Image represent, vol. 11, pp. 130-141,2000] is then applied to the vector-valued image extracted from the original data. Our implementation includes a new automatic feature selection step used to readjust the weights attached to each feature in the curve evolution equation that drives the segmentation. Results are shown on simulated and real data. The influence of the algorithm parameters and contour initialization are also analyzed.     

一种基于MATLAB的声呐条带图像自动拼接算法

准确地实现侧扫声呐条带的拼接对于了解海底地形、提高对海床地物反映的准确度起着重要的作用,而相邻条带的配准是声呐条带拼接的重要前提.MATLAB以其强大的矩阵运算功能及具有丰富的图像处理函数等特点,在图像处理方面占据明显的优势.文中利用MATLAB的IPT工具箱实现了基于互信息方法的声呐条带图像的自动快速配准,通过实验验证了该配准方法的有效性.并用小波变换方法对配准好的条带图像进行融合,实现声呐条带图像的有效拼接和镶嵌.     

多波束声呐图像条带中央和边缘残差处理方法

多波束声呐图像是进行海底底质分类的主要数据源之一,由于受海洋噪声、声波散射和混响、仪器设备等因素影响,其经各项常规改正后仍存在明显残差,突出表现在中央波束区和条带重叠区,难以形成高质量的声呐图像。文中分析了多波束声呐图像残差的成因及影响,提出了一种基于多条带最小二乘拟合的多波束声呐图像残差处理方法。首先,得到相邻声脉冲(ping)信号中央区域、重叠区域以及整体趋势的拟合函数;然后,通过拟合函数计算得到中央和重叠区域的残差改正系数;最后,通过改正系数进行残差改正。实验分析表明,该方法在保留原始细节的基础上,有效削弱了残差对声呐图像的影响,对多波束声呐图像处理具有参考和应用价值。     

Curvelet变换域侧扫声纳图像增强算法

针对海底侧扫声纳图像对比度低、纹理弱、噪声严重等问题,提出了一种基于第二代Curvelet变换的声纳图像增强算法。首先对原始声纳图像进行多尺度、多方向的Curvelet变换分解,得到低频子带和高频子带;然后引入非线性S型函数对低频系数进行处理,提高图像整体的对比度;采用一种可以避免过度增强的新型非线性函数对各尺度的高频子带系数进行处理,提高图像整体的对比度,增强图像边缘和纹理细节,并通过估计噪声水平设定阈值进行阈值降噪。最后经Curvelet逆变换得到增强图像。实验表明,该方法不仅改善了海底侧扫声纳图像对比度低的问题,而且降低了噪声,突出了声纳图像的边缘和纹理细节。     

联合小波和NLM滤波的侧扫声纳回波信号降噪

为进一步降低侧扫声纳回波信号中非高斯分布的乘性噪声,获取更佳效果的侧扫声纳图像,提出了一种利用小波和NLM(nonlocal means)滤波的组合降噪方法.首先采用同态变换将侧扫声纳回波ping信号中的乘性噪声转换为加性噪声,然后利用小波阈值和NLM滤波对侧扫声纳每ping回波数据实施降噪处理,最后经过小波反变换和指...     

Object detection and tracking method of AUV based on acoustic vision

This paper describes a new framework for object detection and tracking of AUV including underwater acoustic data interpolation, underwater acoustic images segmentation and underwater objects tracking. This framework is applied to the design of vision-based method for AUV based on the forward looking sonar sensor. First, the real-time data flow (underwater acoustic images) is pre-processed to form the whole underwater acoustic image, and the relevant position information of objects is extracted and determined. An improved method of double threshold segmentation is proposed to resolve the problem that the threshold cannot be adjusted adaptively in the traditional method. Second, a representation of region information is created in light of the Gaussian particle filter. The weighted integration strategy combining the area and invariant moment is proposed to perfect the weight of particles and to enhance the tracking robustness. Results obtained on the real acoustic vision platform of AUV during sea trials are displayed and discussed. They show that the proposed method can detect and track the moving objects underwater online, and it is effective and robust.     

基于K-means聚类与数学形态学的侧扫声呐图像目标轮廓自动提取方法

针对侧扫声呐图像斑点噪声强、背景海底散射干扰严重,海底目标轮廓自动提取困难的问题,提出了一种基于K-means聚类与数学形态学相结合的海底目标轮廓自动提取算法。为克服噪声干扰,该算法首先利用中值滤波去除侧扫声呐图像中的强斑点噪声;然后采用K-means聚类算法对侧扫声呐灰度图像进行分割,并二值化,除去大部分海底背景噪声,初步提取出目标;接着利用数学形态学运算去除提取结果中的孤立噪点,并填充目标内部孔洞,得到连续化、圆滑的目标边缘;最后对处理后的侧扫声呐图像进行边缘检测,提取出目标轮廓。实验结果表明:该算法思想简单易行,具有很强的克服背景噪声的能力,自动提取的目标轮廓连续性较好,结果准确可靠。目前,在侧扫声呐图像目标轮廓提取过程中,主要采用人工方式,自动性较差,效率较低。本文算法可以实现目标轮廓的自动提取,提高效率,具有较强的实用价值。     

Azimuthal ambiguities in synthetic aperture sonar and syntheticaperture radar imagery

It is shown that azimuthal ambiguities are not eliminated by the nulls of a sonar (or radar) beam pattern and have a definite influence on image quality. In synthetic aperture systems that are strongly limited in spatial sampling, particularly in ocean borne synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) and spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR), azimuthal ambiguities will corrupt the images unless special measures are taken. These azimuthal aliases may be reduced by emphasizing the centermost portion of the available synthetic aperture length, and deemphasizing the endmost portions. This minimizes the effects from synthetic array elements that most strongly contribute to aliases     

基于声呐图像的深海采矿车组合定位导航算法

实现高精度的定位导航是深海采矿车完成海底工作任务的基础条件。在采矿车行进过程中,声呐设备生成的图像信息能够反映海底场景的变化,从而体现采矿车本身的运动,由此建立了一种声呐图像里程计,并将其与轮式里程计和USBL测量数据相结合提出了一种深海采矿车组合定位导航算法。首先对多波束前视声呐图像进行预处理,然后使用Canny算法进行特征检测并对特征点云进行配准,再结合声呐成像原理构建了声呐图像里程计运动模型,最后通过轮式里程计运动模型推导预测方程、声呐图像里程计运动模型和USBL测量数据推导更新方程,利用EKF（extended Kalman filter）算法实现基于多传感器融合的定位与姿态估计。海试数据验证了该组合定位算法能实现轮式里程计、声呐里程计和超短基线在速度、位置、艏向角估计、定位速率的精度互补,具有一定的有效性和精确性,该算法为深海采矿车的定位与导航算法研发提供了参考。     

Underwater vehicle obstacle avoidance and path planning using amulti-beam forward looking sonar

This paper describes a new framework for segmentation of sonar images, tracking of underwater objects and motion estimation. This framework is applied to the design of an obstacle avoidance and path planning system for underwater vehicles based on a multi-beam forward looking sonar sensor. The real-time data flow (acoustic images) at the input of the system is first segmented and relevant features are extracted. We also take advantage of the real-time data stream to track the obstacles in following frames to obtain their dynamic characteristics. This allows us to optimize the preprocessing phases in segmenting only the relevant part of the images. Once the static (size and shape) as well as dynamic characteristics (velocity, acceleration,…) of the obstacles have been computed, we create a representation of the vehicle's workspace based on these features. This representation uses constructive solid geometry (CSG) to create a convex set of obstacles defining the workspace. The tracking takes also into account obstacles which are no longer in the field of view of the sonar in the path planning phase. A well-proven nonlinear search (sequential quadratic programming) is then employed, where obstacles are expressed as constraints in the search space. This approach is less affected by local minima than classical methods using potential fields. The proposed system is not only capable of obstacle avoidance but also of path planning in complex environments which include fast moving obstacles. Results obtained on real sonar data are shown and discussed. Possible applications to sonar servoing and real-time motion estimation are also discussed     

Wavelet analysis of bathymetric sidescan sonar data for the classification of seafloor sediments in Hopvågen Bay - Norway

In this paper we examine the use of bathymetric sidescan sonar for automatic classification of seabed sediments. Bathymetric sidescan sonar, here implemented through a small receiver array, retains the advantage of sidescan in speed through illuminating large swaths, but also enables the data gathered to be located spatially. The spatial location allows the image intensity to be corrected for depth and insonification angle, thus improving the use of the sonar for identifying changes in seafloor sediment. In this paper we investigate automatic tools for seabed recognition, using wavelets to analyse the image of Hopvågen Bay in Norway. We use the back-propagation elimination algorithm to determine the most significant wavelet features for discrimination. We show that the features selected present good agreement with the grab sample results in the survey under study and can be used in a classifier to discriminate between different seabed sediments.