An Acoustic and Optical Dataset for the Perception of Underwater Unexploded Ordnance (UXO)

We present a dataset for acoustic and optical sensing of unexploded ordnance (UXO) underwater.

UXO in the sea pose an environmental problem and a challenge for the growing offshore economy. It is best practice to perform the recovery of ammunition without explosions to protect anthropogenic structures and marine mammals. During explosive ordnance disposal (EOD), experts often rely on optical images. However, visibility underwater may be limited in harbor areas, after storm events or in waters with very mobile sediments. Thus, visual inspection is not always possible. EOD experts therefore use high-frequency sonars with large vertical apertures like the ARIS Explorer 3000 for acoustic imaging. While efforts have been made to use the available information for 3D reconstruction, existing solutions can be limited to predefined motion patterns. 

The topic is inherently sensitive, and most of the data is acquired by and for private companies and not made available to the public, which impedes research in this area. Additionally, in-situ data often lacks sufficient pose information. To facilitate further research, we created a validation dataset that was recorded in a controlled experimental environment. It has the following properties:

• Close to 100 recordings of 3 different UXO.
• More than 74000 matched and annotated imaging sonar and camera frames.
• UXO ground truths in the form of photogrammetric 3D models.
• Precise position and attitude sensor data with respect to the targets.
• Realistic motion trajectories achievable in non-experimental environments.

This dataset allows quantitative analysis with different algorithms. 3D models and trajectories can be compared against each other to evaluate different solutions.

The accompanying paper is:

@inproceedings{dahn2024uxo,
    author = {Dahn, Nikolas and Bande, Miguel and Sharma, Proneet and Christensen, Leif and Geisler, Oliver and Mohrmann, Jochen and Frey, Torsten and Sanghamreddy, Kumar and Kirchner, Frank},
    title = {An Acoustic and Optical Dataset for the Perception of Underwater Unexploded Ordnance (UXO)}
    booktitle = {OCEANS},
    year = {2024},
    month = {09},
}

A preprint is available on researchgate.

Files:

• data_export_recordings.7z: main dataset
• data_export_polar.7z: contains only the polar-transformed sonar frames
• data_export_3dmodels.7z: 3d models of the UXO
• data_processed.7z: extracted and cut unmatched raw data