Abstract : The long term research objective is to develop a cost effective technique for mapping the top 20 meters of sediment properties using acoustic remote sensing. In previous years, a chirp sonar was developed to provide quantitative, wideband reflection measurements of the seabed with a vertical resolution of 10 cm. Neural network and fuzzy logic techniques have been used to automatically detect subsurface layer interfaces and to find the boundaries between sediment layers. Signal processing techniques were developed to estimate vertical profiles of impedance and attenuation. The procedures for remotely estimating sediment properties are being verified using core data and in situ measurements. New signal processing techniques have been developed that allow several sources transmitting simultaneously in different bands to build a wideband FM pulse in the far field. That wideband data is being used to improve the accuracy of the sediment classification procedures and to provide the capability of measuring phase dispersion.