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10 st / November 2014 www.sea-technology.com today's UXO complement. Side scan and ahead-looking so- nars are used in mine hunting to search-classify-map (SCM) sea mines over relatively large areas. Following an SCM mis- sion, close-up camera or diver "eyes-on" inspections, opera- tions known as reacquisition-identifcation (RI) missions, are conducted to determine whether or not a contact is indeed a mine. Environmental conditions in shallow coastal and in- land waters pose signifcant technical challenges to existing S ince the advent of gunpowder warfare, expended and discarded ordnance has been making its way into our oceans, lakes and rivers. Aside from military engagements, munitions contamination is caused by weapons testing and training, accidents and dumping. Worldwide, it is rec- ognized that the expansion of population centers and in- creasing economic and recreational activity around coastal and inland waters will require the remediation of prior war zones, as well as active and formerly used defense sites. There is, however, a signifcant technological shortfall in our ability to detect and localize seabed unexploded ord- nance (UXO), especially in discriminating UXO from other natural and man-made objects and in the sensing of buried munitions. Considering the large quantity of natural and man-made items often found in such areas, the rejection of clutter is essential to minimize unnecessary diver inspec- tions during remedial activities. Current commercial-off- the-shelf (COTS) sensors have limited capability to detect UXO, especially those that are buried, and to reject clutter. Challenges and Advances For UXO Survey Interestingly, there are signifcant parallels between the technical re- quirements for sea-mine hunting and UXO survey; in fact, sea mines from past generations that are neither re- covered nor neutralized are part of Advanced Sensors For Underwater Unexploded Ordnance Detection Increased Capabilities for Seabed Survey Using Unmanned Systems By Dr. Ted R. Clem • Dr. Daniel D. Sternlicht • Stephen A. Hurff (Above) Photograph of bridge (top) and synthetic aperture sonar image of bridge pillars (bottom) with inset dis- play of small synthetic aperture mine- hunter (background) and magnetic classifcation system (foreground). (Be- low) Sample acoustic images from side scan sonar (top row) and synthetic ap- erture sonar (bottom row) coregistered with magnetic contact localizations displayed by white squares. (Image Credit: U.S. Navy) (Image Credit: U.S. Navy)