Method for producing an image of a submerged object (3), e.g. a shipwreck
or the sea bottom, comprising the steps of emitting acoustic waves from a
first transducer toward a first chosen volume (2), receiving acoustic
waves reflected from said volume, the receiver (4) including a
two-dimensional array of acoustic sensors being capable of measuring the
phase and amplitude of the received waves, from the measured phase and
amplitudes calculating the direction of the reflected waves, detecting the
maximum amplitude or amplitudes of the waves received from each angular
segment and the distance to the reflecting object, the combination of
directions of the reflected waves and distances providing a
three-dimensional model of said volume, emitting acoustic waves toward a
second volume (6) at least partially overlapping said first volume, and
repeating steps described above, detecting at least one common feature (3)
in the overlapping parts (7) of the measured volume (2, 6) and combining
said models by adjusting the relative position(s) and size(s) of said
feature(s) for generating a three-dimensional image based on the
combination of said models.