Introduction to Sonar

Program Overview

Ideal for those new to sonar design, naval personnel, procurement managers, and engineers, it covers topics such as acoustic waves, transducers, noise, propagation, signal processing, and sonar system design. No prior experience is required, but basic mathematics knowledge is beneficial.

Program Outline

Outline:

This course covers the following content:

• Introduction
• History of sonar
• Active and passive sonar
• The sonar environment
• Acoustic waves
• Wave motion
• Doppler effect
• Understanding and manipulating decibels
• Simple spreading loss
• Wave synthesis and analysis
• Transducers and arrays
• Piezo-electric materials
• Hydrophones
• Transducer types
• Beamforming, shading and steering
• Noise and reverberation
• Noise sources and spectra
• Self and ambient noise
• Reverberation
• Acoustic propagation
• Absorption
• Sound velocity profile
• Effect of boundaries
• Refraction and ray diagrams
• Signal processing and displays
• Processing systems for broadband passive, narrowband passive and active sonars
• Format of operational sonar displays
• Passive ranging
• The sonar equation
• Sonar parameters
• Target strength
• Active Sonar equation
• Passive Sonar equation
• Sonar system design
• How requirements and platforms influence sonar design
• Military sonar system design including ASW, weapon and mine hunting sonars
• Commercial sonar design including survey, fish finding and AUV sonars
• Hardware and software design engineers new to sonar system design
• Naval personnel involved in sonar commissioning or its application
• Procurement/purchasing managers requiring to prepare tenders or specifications.
• Design managers
• Project managers
• Installation and maintenance engineers
• Sales engineers

Other:

• The course aims to provide a good understanding of the theory and practice of sonar technology, and its applications in the defence industry, environmental surveying and related fields; placing emphasis on the practicalities of sonar systems rather than on rigorous mathematical analysis.
• The course is 2 days long.
• No previous experience is necessary, but a knowledge of basic mathematics (equations and simple trigonometry) would be beneficial.