1. Home
  2. Multimedia
  3. Image of the Day
  4. August 26, 2020

August 26, 2020: Shipwrecks

In 2010, a team used a synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) system names PROSAS to generate this image of the wrecks of the Frank A. Palmer and Louise B. Crary. These coal schooners collided and sank in 1902.

Image courtesy of NOAA/SBNMS and Applied Signal Technology, Inc. Download larger version (jpg, 2.5 MB).

Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary sits astride the historic shipping routes used by mariners to access many of Massachusetts’ oldest ports. Beginning with European colonization nearly 400 years ago, much of New England’s maritime traffic has moved through the sanctuary. This high density of vessels combined with stormy weather and human error has resulted in the loss of hundreds of ships over time.

In 2010, a team used a synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) system named PROSAS to generate this image of the wrecks of the Frank A. Palmer and Louise B. Crary. These coal schooners collided and sank in 1902.

Want to know more about SAS? Check out this overview of SAS technology.