NOAA scientists primarily use sonar to develop nautical charts, locate underwater hazards to navigation, search for and map objects on the seafloor such as shipwrecks, and map the seafloor itself.
Sonar sends a high frequency-sound to the bottom of the ocean. There, the sound waves bounce back when they hit an object. This “paints” a picture of what was hit. Sonar is used to see things at the bottom of the ocean.
