In sonar education, it is often useful to review the process of sonar design: historic, current, and prospects for the future. Sound navigation and ranging equipment for subsea navigation, target detection, and imaging has undergone many iterations, with improved developments in the technology since World War II. Today, we may take these developments for granted, and it is easy to forget the underlying fundamentals for processing such data. This may lead to an improper handling of sonar data and a misunderstanding of what a specific transducer is capable of doing and what its output is telling the operator. This tutorial is designed to facilitate development of next generation engineering professionals, sensors, and automation techniques for maritime surveillance, reconnaissance, navigation and communication. The material will cover the history of sonar systems, review important sonar signal processing techniques, and practice converting raw sonar signals into meaningful output.
