# Performance Assessment of Feature Detection Methods for 2-D FS Sonar Imagery

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.07004 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.07004/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 3 of its 23 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 11 Sep 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 3 of 3)

- [Microsoft COCO: Common Objects in Context](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1405.0312/) (2014)
- [VoxelMorph: A Learning Framework for Deformable Medical Image Registration](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1809.05231/) (2018)
- [End-to-End Unsupervised Deformable Image Registration with a Convolutional Neural Network](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1704.06065/) (2017)

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [uScenes: A Multimodal RGB and 3D Sonar Dataset for Underwater Robot Perception](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.27795/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Underwater robot perception is crucial in scientific subsea exploration and commercial operations. The key challenges include non-uniform lighting and poor visibility in turbid environments. High-frequency forward-look sonar cameras address these issues, by providing high-resolution imagery at maximum range of tens of meters, despite complexities posed by high degree of speckle noise, and lack of color and texture. In particular, robust feature detection is an essential initial step for automated object recognition, localization, navigation, and 3-D mapping. Various local feature detectors developed for RGB images are not well-suited for sonar data. To assess their performances, we evaluate a number of feature detectors using real sonar images from five different sonar devices. Performance metrics such as detection accuracy, false positives, and robustness to variations in target characteristics and sonar devices are applied to analyze the experimental results. The study would provide a deeper insight into the bottlenecks of feature detection for sonar data, and developing more effective methods