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Clearance Operation of Teulada Site (Italy): A Novel Approach for Short Term MCM Missions in Seafloor Hard Conditions
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Abstract
In May 2007, following a request by Italian Navy (ITN), NURC agreed to provide the
technology, developed during the port protection studies and 2006 MCM ops. in Baltic sea for Estonian Navy, to survey part of the Capo Teulada firing range (Sardinia Island, Italy), used by NATO Armed Forces.
The goal of the service, fully funded by ITN, was to survey part of the firing range with
acoustic, magnetic and optical instruments in order to detect and classify the ordnance
laying on the seafloor. The team operated from CRV Leonardo to produce a detailed acoustic and magnetic map of the area. The positions of the targets of interest have been provided to Italian Navy for further identification and disposal. The activities have demonstrated that the NURC Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) Remus type equipped with high frequency side scan sonar can detect and classify targets of the dimensions of unexploded ordnance laying proud on the sea floor. A multiple sonar images technique has also been used to
improve the classification performances. However, in some areas, targets that were
completely buried or concealed in Posidonia fields wouldn’t have been detectable with AUV sonar. To overcome this limitation, INGV supported the NURC team by using a new high definition magnetometer technique to detect and classify buried metal targets. A proton Overhauser sensor was towed from Leonardo vessel and a magnetometer reference station was set ashore in an appropriate site. A subset of interesting contacts (acoustic and magnetic) have been identified optically by
means of the video camera installed on the ROV (Pluto Plus type by Gaymarine) operated from Leonardo. The positioning accuracy achieved was fully compatible with the reacquisition by ROV and then by divers or mine hunters for future disposal ops. The
survey has also produced an accurate map of the Posidonia fields and a detailed bathymetry of the area. More than 300 contacts have been acquired and more than 200 were classified in less than 15 days.
The success of Teulada operation has convinced ITN to ask NURC for a common
development programme with the aim to validate at sea a fully integrated multi-sensor approach (sonar, magnetic and optical) in MCM short term ops. using USV/AUV
platforms